When this is your example of an adult

2004-03-19 - 9:44 p.m.

I haven't been in much of a writing mood recently. I skipped journaling here, what, two nights in a row? I was going to skip tonight too, but then something happened that I wanted to share with you. It's actually something my dad shared with me.

My dad is a junior high science teacher. Right now he's teaching the theory of evolution. It's part of the curriculum as required by state law and he tells me he's told the students over and over again that he doesn't care if they believe in evolution, they just need to know the theory. He says it's like Santa Claus, you don't need to believe in it, but to function in this country you need to know what it is.

A few days ago my dad had one student who was acting up in class. This is all according to my dad of course. He says she was talking and otherwise being disruptive towards the class and he asked her to please stop talking repeatedly but she wouldn't stop. My dad does stuff that is weird. He made the girl come up to the front of the class and look into a mirror that he happens to have up there. "Look at yourself in the mirror," he said to her, "do you look like the teacher? No? Well the teacher's the only one who's supposed to be talking here, so stop talking!" The point of this being to embarrass her enough to get her to stop talking, I suppose. At any rate, it didn't work particularly well and she still gave him a lot of sass so he ended up giving her a referral and sending her to the office.

The next day the student brought my dad a letter from her father. It's hand-written on two pages of yellow paper with many words scratched out and written over. In all fairness I got this story from my dad and her father got the story from his daughter so I'm sure we got very different versions of what happened, but I'd like to share this letter with you. I'll omit names, but spelling and grammar and everything else will be left exactly as written:

March 18, 2004

Dear: [Teacher's Name]

I [student's father's name] do not believe a monkey or any other race, species or plant has undergone evolutionary change, and anyone that thinks this (Abstract thought of speculation) I denounce this type of teaching it was banned by Ronald Regan threw the Department of Education, "Man came from apes" has never been proven.

Sodomy is copulation with a member of the same sex or with an animal. This is proven man and animal are not to be together, and sodomy is the bases of your Theory or is this my Theory? Mine can be proven that man had copulation with animal, and the babies are called Griffins.

Deliberate Obscurity anyone can do it but is it True? _______.

Never play your sick game with my daughter again.

Answer her question with the truth that evolution is a lie concoked from non believer in God and you are one of them liars. And, If you think to put any student in front of a mirror to tell them they resemble a monkey, I will commence and carry out legal action against you for.

[Student's father's name] et alia (plaintiff)
[Teacher's name] (dendant)
Defamatory per se Cause of Action

When this is the parental support they get at home, is it any wonder our students have trouble in school?