NB School Silences O Canada - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

corporatejay · 01-29-2009, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Erik Millett, the school's principal, said he made the decision partly to accommodate parents who didn't want their children taking part in the daily anthem. He would not say why the parents didn't want their kids taking part, citing privacy reasons.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswi...socialcomments

Why would people have concerns? Who does it offend? Non-canadians?

GirlySports · 01-29-2009, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corporatejay

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswi...socialcomments

Why would people have concerns? Who does it offend? Non-canadians?

Principal should be fired!

Actually I didn't even know they even sang O Canada every morning anymore.

CaramonLS · 01-29-2009, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GirlySports

Principal should be fired!

Actually I didn't even know they even sang O Canada every morning anymore.

My school in NS did. We had to stand up and sing it while it played over the PA system every morning.

I thought it was strange in AB when I came here, they never played it.

corporatejay · 01-29-2009, 10:12 PM

I went to catholic school so we did the our father in the morning and the hail mary after lunch.

I know some schools do it here. To be honest, it's more the fact that they took it away because people had "concerns" i mean good lord...what could they be.

HelloHockeyFans · 01-29-2009, 10:15 PM

I hope these same parents are "taking away" their kids' IPODs...

Hack&Lube · 01-29-2009, 10:18 PM

We only sang it at Assemblies.

Flash · 01-29-2009, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

We only sang it at Assemblies.

My elementary school as well. We'd start every assembly with O Canada and then salute the flag, and then at the end we'd sing God Save the Queen. I can't imagine why some parents would disagree with having to sing the national anthem.

pope04 · 01-29-2009, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I went to catholic school so we did the our father in the morning and the hail mary after lunch.

I know some schools do it here. To be honest, it's more the fact that they took it away because people had "concerns" i mean good lord...what could they be.

I went to public school, and we said the Lord's Prayer every morning.

CaptainCrunch · 01-29-2009, 11:25 PM

I went to a public school and we sang the anthem every morning, and at assemblies they opened with the anthem and ended with god save the queen.

the parents that complained about it can literally screw themselves as far as I'm concerned.

I find it questionable that Erik Millet a candidate for the Green Party which is a federal party wouldn't put up a fight for our national anthem.

The whole fracking thing disgusts me.

flip · 01-29-2009, 11:29 PM

I think we sang it pretty often in high school. Usually over the PA. Might have been once a morning or once a week, HS is pretty hazy for me.

Berger_4_ · 01-30-2009, 03:15 AM

I graduated last year, and this is the great time we dealt with every day. We'd all show up on time for O'Canada, and we'd all stand through silence throughout. Also, no hat's were allowed to be worn in the school...well ever. Anyways, carry on with the conversation, as this drunk post is over!

Devils'Advocate · 01-30-2009, 03:45 AM

I saw that on CBC yesterday and figured "only a matter of time before there is an indignant CP thread".

Since the school won't give details under the guise of "privacy concerns", we can only speculate as to the reason. However I do know that we had the anthem every morning in elementary school and we used to ostracize the Jehova Witness kids in our class. They wouldn't sing the anthem... hell, they wouldn't even stand up during the anthem. They must hate our country!! The boy used to get the crap kicked out of him regularly. The girl got off easy just being shunned.

It wasn't just the anthem - stuff like when there was a Christmas party and everyone else was having soda and pie, they would take their desks into the hall and read. The anthem was just a daily reminder that they were different.

shane_c · 01-30-2009, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

My school in NS did. We had to stand up and sing it while it played over the PA system every morning.

I thought it was strange in AB when I came here, they never played it.

Same here. There was one or two kids in the class who didn't recognize it for one reason or another and instead of standing when it played they just remained seated.

onetwo_threefour · 01-30-2009, 07:14 AM

Nationalism is archaic, indoctrination of nationalism is ridiculous.

Civic pride is fine, but the idea that a child must sing the anthem every day at school always make me think of government thought control.

Just my opinion, I'm sure many wil disagree...

llama64 · 01-30-2009, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I saw that on CBC yesterday and figured "only a matter of time before there is an indignant CP thread".

Since the school won't give details under the guise of "privacy concerns", we can only speculate as to the reason. However I do know that we had the anthem every morning in elementary school and we used to ostracize the Jehova Witness kids in our class. They wouldn't sing the anthem... hell, they wouldn't even stand up during the anthem. They must hate our country!! The boy used to get the kicked out of him regularly. The girl got off easy just being shunned.

It wasn't just the anthem - stuff like when there was a Christmas party and everyone else was having soda and pie, they would take their desks into the hall and read. The anthem was just a daily reminder that they were different.

Tough on them. If their parents want to put their kids through such a social ostrazising situation, then don't send them to public school in the first place.

Canadian tax money pays for public school. The least we can do is respect the nation that provides the education. There are plenty of private options and there is always home schooling.

4X4 · 01-30-2009, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

Nationalism is archaic, indoctrination of nationalism is ridiculous.

Civic pride is fine, but the idea that a child must sing the anthem every day at school always make me think of government thought control.

Just my opinion, I'm sure many wil disagree...

I don't know if I'd go that far. But I kind of agree. It's outdated and pointless to do this in schools every morning. What is the purpose? To remind the kids where they live? By singing a song? Just seems totally useless to me. I guess I don't see anything wrong with it either, just that it's a waste of time.

As for the JWs in DA's post, that is pretty crappy. That is a perfect example of why I'm no fan of religion. Those poor kids get brainwashed by their parents and as a result are ostracized and shunned at a place where they should be learning social skills. Sad.

Rathji · 01-30-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4X4

I don't know if I'd go that far. But I kind of agree. It's outdated and pointless to do this in schools every morning. What is the purpose? To remind the kids where they live? By singing a song? Just seems totally useless to me. I guess I don't see anything wrong with it either, just that it's a waste of time.

You feel the same way about singing the National Anthem at a Hockey Game?

Personally I am am a little sick of people who tell me what I am not allowed to do because they are different.

I can't call it Christmas, because it offends those who are not Christian. Guess what I wasn't Christian for the first 20 years of my life, it didn't change the name of the holiday.

Now they are teaching kids that they can't sing the national anthem of our country.

Where do you draw the line? Whats next?

The flag gets replaced with a white sheet, so no one takes offense?

troutman · 01-30-2009, 08:39 AM

The politically correct have found fault with the following lines:

our home and native land = immigrants

in all our son's command = women

god keep our land = atheists

we stand on guard for thee = handicapped

troutman · 01-30-2009, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rathji

The flag gets replaced with a white sheet, so no one takes offense?

That might offend France.

The Ditch · 01-30-2009, 08:43 AM

That is really, really stupid. I agree with the no religion (you can't accommodate every one), but nothing makes me as mad as people who won't show any national pride. I don't like people who refuse to get Canadian citizenship but live here their whole life, or people who always just say how much better the country where they were born is, but I'll leave that for another thread.