Sphe 'irish family'

[Orders76]

Has anyone seen the gript article that sphe books have Irish family v multi cultural...it's absolutely nuts if true

This thread is like being in an alternate universe 🤣

Banning phones in schools - Sinister?
Bring it on, I say! It's one of the few pieces of good news to come out of the educational sector recently. Smartphones are not suitable for children, they aren't necessary [non-smartphones are available for emergency use or just staying in touch with friends] and at bloody last people are beginning to recognise the damage they can do, from cyberbullying to accessing porn.

It's not sudden, either - there has been disquiet about children's use of smartphones for years now.

I don't think it would be legal for children to secret film anything in the classroom without permission from the teacher and the other children in the class - or possibly from all their parents? so I hope nobody would encourage or allow their child to do that, for whatever reason. Apart from the legality of it, it's sneaky.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12209919/Full-audio-Student-rejected-classmates-claim-shes-CAT-scolded-teacher.html

https://www.thesun.ie/news/10903068/fury-teacher-scolded-pupil-identify-cat/

Following on from this where a teacher in the UK was filmed secretely students & rightly so in my opinion.
I have no trust in schools whatsoever & I applaud these kids for their actions.

Can I ask what is your opinion of the SPHE resources that have been discussed on this thread?

I agree that the depiction of the Irish family was offensive and bizarre.

I don't think it's a conspiracy to impose a new religion on us or part of a wider conspiracy involving free school books or banning phones.

Sinn Fein can do one -up north they’re supporting Cass and down south they’re still full on the puberty blocker train. They want to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

It’s a bit frightening watching this play out from across the water - we know how this goes. It’s so scary how any objections are bundled up into “you’re clearly a far right nut job”.

I wonder how the author of family A feels about travellers…

Ah right, I wasn't sure. I don't think you had expressed that

I find it hard not to be curious about the mindset that feeds into the production of something like this. Not so much a conspiracy as such, but it wasn't produced in a vacuum and there is a way of seeing the world expressed in it that I find both bizarre
but also popping up in all sorts of institutions over the last few years

I agree entirely!

I don't see any link at all between the new free book scheme ( very welcome imo), or suggestions to reduce smartphone use, with the sphe content being discussed.

Some of the ramblings on this thread really do sound like conspiracy theories and quite mad. Seriously, get a hold of yourselves!

I am GC by the way but it's got nothing to do with providing schoolbooks for free (at last). It's not like parents chose the books themselves before this scheme.

I am happy to see the ban on mobile phones in school. The free book scheme is obviously a great help financially too. They have also reduced the cost of the school bus significantly.
But I agree with Demented that the fact that this stuff actually made it into the books, or even into the initial draft, is reflective of a push of a certain set of values that are not necessarily held by most of the population.
10 years ago if a 12 year old girl expressed discomfort with her breasts it was have been acknowledged as completely normal. Most girls will experience discomfort with their bodies at some point during puberty.
Now we get "stupid, with stupid breasts" as being an indicator of being transgender!
It does seem to point at there being activists in the DOE who are pushing an agenda.
I don't mean that as a conspiracy theory, it's just an observation based on the content in both existing book and what was in the initial drafts.

It does seem to point at there being activists in the DOE who are pushing an agenda.

Perhaps, or activists involved in the consultation process. Or people being afraid to offend. That is an issue.

But that's completely different to saying the introduction of free schoolbooks, or talks to ban smartphones, can be seen as 'insidious' and
that these schemes are somehow evidence of a certain 'mindset'.

That's the leap in logic(?) I have a problem with.

@Lightfromtheoak
Yes, it might be in the consultation process.
At least the consultation process worked for removing the White Irish Privilege section in the Leaving Certificate book last year which is good to see.
But it was in the initial draft which was written prior to the consultation process so I would think that this points to the source coming from the Department of Education who were responsible for the initial draft in the first place.

I'm not sure of the process tbh, or at what point or points consultation is carried out @Sunlightinclouds.

When my kids were in school and I was buying the books I would have looked through them as they would have been in the house prior to school starting, the likes of SPHE or it's previous equivalent.

Now the kids get them in school generally I wouldn't expect them to have homework so the book wouldn't necessarily come home especially if the school has lockers.

So parents main not see what is in the book.

May not main.

Don't know how to filter

Aaarrrgghh, Edit I mean

I suppose it depends on the school. All ours were collected in August from the school, labelled etc at home and then went in again. So they were at home for a while.
Aren't they available online anyway once you have the code which your child should have?
(This is secondary I'm talking about.)

To edit go into the three dots at the top right of your post - drop down gives you a choice to edit. You have to repent quickly, it's not an option for long.

I think the fact that parents don't always get to see the books is more of an unintended than an intended consequence of the free book scheme. Most of the books aren't going to be a concern. Maths are maths.
Only religion and SPHE are based on beliefs and values, though biology is also heading that way 😂.

Whether, those who set the SPHE curriculum take this new development into account seems to be a of bit tin foil hat conspiracy theory.
Though, if there are activists involved in setting the curriculum, then it's not completely implausible either. But, most parents expect check and balances to be in place to ensure that their children's books are to a high standard. The family A section of the SPHE book points to a failure in that scrutiny. As I said upthread, while the publishers have apologised, they weren't the ones who set the text. That blame lies elsewhere and they aren't being held accountable by anyone.

Yes, for parents to have trust in the system a light needs to be shone on this process and who exactly is involved in that process. There needs to be more transparency of agendas around this

Regardless of the writers, publishers etc. ultimately this is down the DoE.

They hold responsibility of what books are approved for the education system.

Someone in DoE was happy to allow this go to publication

The free book scheme is coming at the same time as the reduction in school transport costs and the free lunches in Primary schools. So it is part of a wider attempt to reduce costs for parents.
A lot of the trust issues can go back to the method used to introduce Self ID. Dentons acknowledge that it was brought in under the radar on the back of marriage equality.
It's not too much of a stretch to wonder if similar methods are being used by activists to introduce controversial topics into schools. Using a popular policy to introduce topics that parents might be resistant to.
The only reports on the White Irish Privilege SPHE book is on Gript, which is a fairly niche media source I think.
Ben Scallon asks Norma Foley and Arelene Forster, the head of the NCCA, about the data used to show that this is a real thing. Both waffled on about being kind and avoided the data question.

The updated Junior cycle SPHE curriculum introduced is now riddled with gender identity concepts and this is put the forefront compared to sexual orientation. No mention of it in the previous curriculum.

This is absolutely a contested ideology. I'm certain it wasn't shoe horned in there at the behest of parents and in fairness to any teachers that I have spoken to on the subject, there is an awareness that this ideology actually opposes child development and adolescent identity formation.

So why is it there? It's been reported that the NCCA ignored parents concerns in favour of consultation with NGO's and our school sent out links to Teni and Belongto websites for further information on this topic...

I don't see why there is anything contentious or conspiratorial in saying that and being curious about the thought processes and inputs into these documents. If activists are doing the rewriting then there needs to be transparency around that

How is this ending up in school books. We learned that sex is determined at conception, that's basic scientific fact. There is no way sex can ever be changed why are the department of education pushing any kind of gender ideology? We have a youth mental health crisis

Linking that to the free book scheme was where it got weird @Demented101.

Yeah maybe if it's at the level of government deciding to fund the free book scheme for that purpose

I'm not so sure however that an activist wouldn't take advantage of the possibility of less parental oversight to push their agenda a bit further.