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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to be annoyed the teacher was telling the children how she didn't believe in the moon landings ?

120 replies

SpaceAhoy · 09/11/2018 23:03

My 10yo DS came home from school today and told me that his teacher didn't believe in the moon landings.

I asked how this conversation started but he wasn't sure as he was reading his book as instructed.

He said the teacher did a class wide poll and everyone agreed with her accept him and one other pupil.

AIBU to be annoyed at the teacher for bringing her personal beliefs into the classroom?

OP posts:
elephantoverthehill · 10/11/2018 00:23

Right I give up but you get the gist of where to search Grin

PickAChew · 10/11/2018 00:25

Again? We had a thread about this, other day.

How is this such a new thing when the moon landings were almost 50 years ago?

fairypuff · 10/11/2018 00:31

Bridgetreilly has it nailed. She is a human being with opinions and is teaching the children that it's ok to have their own opinion. Why do so many people expect teachers to be robots?! I don't believe in a magic wizard in the sky who talked to people by setting bushes on fire or impregnating virgins but I respect people who do believe because it is their right to believe what they want. It is literally their human right.

garethsouthgatesmrs · 10/11/2018 00:41

I am torn on this. As a secondary school teacher I would expect to be able to share my beliefs and opinions without being in trouble however they would always be presented as my beliefs Polling the class is a bit odd and the results of that poll also strange.

i think it is unfair to compare this to believing the earth is flat or just 4000 years old. These are indisputable scientific facts. You can't study science effectively if you believe that the earth is flat.

Also, and I might get flamed for this, it doesn't matter that much in comoarison with the other examples given. Not believing in evolution throws everything we know to be true into disarray, what are the real repercussions of not believing in the moon landings?

garethsouthgatesmrs · 10/11/2018 00:42

I don't believe in a magic wizard in the sky who talked to people by setting bushes on fire or impregnating virgins but I respect people who do

Hiw respectful of you to call their God a magic wizard in the sky

Atchiclees · 10/11/2018 00:48

There is a lot of discussion in my child’s school about Fake news and how to tell the difference. Maybe that was the context?

Racecardriver · 10/11/2018 00:55

A lot of idiots in the profession. I had one teacher who though that the Nazis were around in wwi and one thought that communists weren’t bad. They were both set straight by me.

Racecardriver · 10/11/2018 01:01

@elsesmelsa is it though? I mean there isn’t much by way of evidence either way with god. On the one hand you have the existence of various holy books, religions, miracles etc and on the other hand you have an absence of evidence. With the moon landings you have all of the people who worked there, the scientific break throughs they made, the video footage etc etc, vs supposed inconsistencies in the footage and political pressure. I think that the difference between god and the moon landing is that god is a personal belief and there isn’t really any good reason to believe that god does or doesn’t exist. It’s impossoble to say unless you purport to have experienced some kind of miracle. With the moon landing however you have a lot of evidence suggesting that they were real but not much of a rational basis for believing otherwise. A belief in god/no god is belief in the absence of proof. A belief in moon land conspiracy theory if belief despite proof.

Walkingdeadfangirl · 10/11/2018 03:20

You are lucky they weren't teaching much worse, e.g. that evolution wasn't true. Sadly in the UK you have to teach your DC that you cant believe what your teacher is teaching you.

At primary its almost endemic (aka your screwed), at secondary you have to complain continuously until said teacher is moved on.

Grrrrrrt · 10/11/2018 04:06

I'd be concerned having such a stupid person teaching my kids

WereFox · 10/11/2018 05:08

She is a human being with opinions and is teaching the children that it's ok to have their own opinion.

That's not an "opinion", it's an error of provable fact.

theconversation.com/no-youre-not-entitled-to-your-opinion-9978?

HTH

missperegrinespeculiar · 10/11/2018 05:37

Oh God, not the "I have a right to my opinion"? don't want to be too flippant, but what comes to mind is, yes, possibly, but you don't have a right to your own facts!

What does a right to my opinion mean? if it means you should be free to express it, of course! But if it means since it's your opinion I somehow have to respect it, then no, sorry, I have a right to free speech, too, and this allows me to call bullshit when I believe I am hearing it!

The incapacity to asses the plausibility of theories and news is a very serious political problem. OP, I'd be horrified. But congratulations to you and your young man, he sounds great!

Happypie · 10/11/2018 05:56

I am a teacher and I have taught a set of lessons about “Are the moon-landings real”.

Of course they are real but we use the question as a frame to look at how we critically interrogate sources and why some sources of information are not as reliable as others. Are you sure that this is not what is happening here?

kenandbarbie · 10/11/2018 06:29

I would speak to the head teacher and find out what was taught. If she did tell them that as her 'opinion' and the poll indicates she might have done; then I would be complaining - teaching your own opinions in the face of accepted fact and evidence is not on.

As someone else said, it's not like religion, which is a personal thing and not evidence based.

Collaborate · 10/11/2018 06:29

Not believing in evolution throws everything we know to be true into disarray, what are the real repercussions of not believing in the moon landings?
How about the fact that it would flag someone up as lacking the ability to think critically, which would place a serious question mark over whether they belong in the classroom. And the damage it causes pupils to be taught crackpot conpiracy theories can be valid opinions.

Hopefully though she was just explaining to the kids how some people think really stupid things, and they should try not to be stupid. Worrying it seems not to have worked.
I’d take it up with the teacher first.

twattymctwatterson · 10/11/2018 06:32

Another teacher moon landing thread?

TigerDrankAllTheWaterInTheTap · 10/11/2018 06:47

I would expect a young woman in her early 20's, to be better educated and less susceptible to conspiracy theories

I'm afraid I wouldn't. Gullibility and failure to think critically is not confined to the older generation. Those of us who were alive during the era of space travel are probably less likely to fall for this one. As for better educated, I doubt it. Schools nowadays focus on training kids to pass exams. If it's not in the exam syllabus it doesn't get taught or discussed. So a young teacher who hasn't had the benefit of growing up in a family where people talk and read and debate and have to defend their views will only have that Gradgrind model of education.

MissDai5y · 10/11/2018 07:51

No useful thoughts, just made me think of that Mitchell and Webb sketch

🙂

Original poster
SpaceAhoy · 10/11/2018 08:57

"Another teacher moon landing thread?"
Really ! There is another teacher out there, unless It is another parent from our school, lol. I will search for it and read it.

Definitely not a proper lesson. It was quiet reading time before assembly, hence DS was reading. I can not speculate how the conversation started but definitely the teacher said I believe the moon landing were fake. Yes, there was a class wide poll, (put your hands up type) DS was more bemused then anything.

I am more concerned with ensuring DS2 learns the skill of critical thinking. As DS2 is more likely to believe what a teacher tells them.

OP posts:
Littlegoth · 10/11/2018 09:01

I once worked in a secondary school where more than half of the science teachers were creationists. Go figure...

Orlande · 10/11/2018 09:05

I would want to speak to the teacher and find out the context.

Yes, of course it's fine for teachers to have their own opinions but it isn't always acceptable for them to share them with impressionable children.

Conspiracy theories are not neutral, harmless beliefs. What if her opinion is that 9/11 never happened, or vaccination causes autism, or powerful Jews rule the world?

mydogisthebest · 10/11/2018 09:09

I would be annoyed that such a stupid person is teaching my child.

StoneofDestiny · 10/11/2018 09:14

Yes, of course it's fine for teachers to have their own opinions but it isn't always acceptable for them to share them with impressionable children

Which is why teachers shouldn't give their personal views on contentious issues to young children eg who they vote for etc - they should simply explain what all parties stand for so the kids can formulate their own opinions in good time.

SmileEachDay · 10/11/2018 09:17

Expressing a controversial opinion can be a really good way of promoting debate - encouraging children to counter opinion with facts.

Without context it’s hard to know if that’s what the teacher was doing or if she’s just daft

ADastardlyThing · 10/11/2018 09:17

Yabu for the casual ageism