Teachers, a TVLand comedy series set in a public elementary school, got oddly political in their Halloween episode (which, for some reason, aired on November 29) when they erroneously claimed that public schools don't teach students about Native Americans.
The episode "Nightmare on Fillmore Street" centered around something which, to be fair, is a bit of a nightmare: the internet being out. There were things in the episode that were even less funny, like the teacher's thoughts about what constitutes an appropriate costume to wear in front of her class and the degree teachers rely on technology to teach.
It was the egregious falsehood that public schools don't teach their students about Native Americans that was perhaps the most eyebrow-raising part of the episode, however. Has anyone affiliated with this show ever been in a public school, or are their kids in private schools and these writers are just making wild assumptions?
Rarely does one image tell it all like it does in this case (above) where Ms. Snap is dressed in the horrible costume while holding her tablet.
Ms. Snap: Pioneers were the first people to settle in the North American frontier." Well, technically, it was the Native Americans, but in public school, we only recognize them at Thanksgiving.
Student 1: Ms. Snap?
Ms. Snap: Yes?
Student 1: What are you supposed to be?
Ms. Snap: I'm sexy Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And I order you to pay attention to this lesson! Okay. "Most pioneers traveled West along the Oregon trail, but some traveled to... California. Which brings us to the most infamous
tragedy of westward migration: The Donner Party." Ooh. Oops. Hold on.
Student 2: What happened to the Donner Party?
Ms. Snap: One second, guys. This won't refresh. Um... No internet connection? Where are we, Botswana? No service either? Are you kidding me?
Student 1: Is everything okay, Ms. Snap?
Ms. Snap: No. We've lost wi-fi!
Student 2: But what happened to the Donner Party?
Ms. Snap: I don't know, okay! I don't know anything without Google!
The choice in Halloween costume for this scene cannot go undiscussed. While dressing as the Clinton-appointed Supreme Court Justice might seem empowering for the girls at the school, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is coming up on 85 years of age, so the sexy part is a little creepy, and also minimizes her accomplishments.
Especially in this atmosphere of women coming forward to share their stories of being treated as sexual objects rather than judged (no pun intended) on their talent, it's fairly awkward to have a female teacher reducing a Supreme Court Justice to this. Teaching her students about Ginsburg's work on the bench might end up being problematic, too, since that is bound to get political with the Ms. Snap's choice of costume acting as a tacit endorsement of her work which supports abortion and limiting Second Amendment rights.
There has been a lot of discussion of late regarding technology in the classroom and how much teachers should rely on it. We hear stories of teachers finding quizzes online and giving them to students without checking first to make sure they're appropriate so, unfortunately, this scene isn't too far-fetched. In fact, nearly every teacher in America finds materials through Google, according to a recent study.
Maybe Teachers doesn't realize that these materials certainly cover Native Americans, and not just at Thanksgiving. While some states are looking at making Native American education mandatory, most states haven't established that level of control. Still, you would be hard-pressed to find a student who hasn't been taught about Native Americans in America throughout the year.
Thanksgiving is actually the time of year many schools avoid that subject. Some teachers are actually skipping Thanksgiving stories entirely because they're concerned that, no matter what they say, parents will be upset. This is part of a larger movement to skip historical education for fear of upsetting the feelings police of the left.
Create a problem, then get mad about it. Sounds about right for the left.
