The 'Freedom to Present Christmas Music in Public School Classrooms or Assemblies' initiative
Posted by
zeitgeist
Nov 3 '09, 11:57
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The 'Freedom to Present Christmas Music in Public School Classrooms or Assemblies' initiative
Mandatory Christmas music? Ho-Ho-no!
One California woman is pushing for a measure that would put more Christ in Christmas at schools. According to Josh Richman of Inside Bay Area, the state gave Merry Susan Hyatt and her brother David Joseph Hyatt (Joseph and Merry, get it?) permission to start collecting signatures for their Freedom to Present Christmas Music in Public School Classrooms or Assemblies initiative. The draft of the initiative for mandatory Christmas music in schools states:
52710. The people of California find and declare both of the following:
(a) Listening to, or performing, Christmas music during the holiday season is a longstanding American tradition and a significant element of our cultural heritage as Americans.
(b) The parents and guardians of public school children should have the right to decide whether or not their children may hear Christmas music in the classrooms and assemblies at those schools.
Therefore, the Hyatts propose the following:
52711. As used in this article, "Christmas music" includes, but is not necessarily limited to, carols, songs, and instrumental works whose subject matter relates to the celebration of the Christmas holiday or to the season during which that holiday is observed.
52712. (a) Each public elementary and secondary school shall provide opportunities to its pupils for listening to or performing Christmas music at an appropriate time of year. The appreciation or performance of the Christmas music may be incorporated into the subject matter of an arts or social studies class, presented for cultural enrichment during a school assembly, or both.
In other words, schools must offer Christmas music via songs, carols and or instruments in classrooms or assemblies during the holiday season and not, say, in June before summer break. Parents can also excuse their children from the festivities.
So what spurred the Hyatts into action? What was the straw that broke the magi camels' backs? Merry Hyatt says she was dismayed by a holiday celebration at a school where she worked as a substitute teacher. She told New America Foundation: "We were having Christmas without Jesus."
The problem is, the draft doesn't explain the difference between a Christmas song and a holiday song (see above). This leaves open the possibility of more secular ditties about a red-nosed reindeer, a big snow guy, and grandma's unfortunate Christmas Eve accident. In other words, no Jesus. One critic has his own problems with the initiative, which he believes is trivial and raises First Amendment issues.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=50872&tsp=1#ixzz0VpO2uTMZ
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=50872&tsp=1#ixzz0VpO2uTMZ
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