MalloryKeaton

http://www.click2houston.com/educati...19/detail.html

SpongeBob Tolerance Video Goes To 60,000 Schools

Some Say Teaching Program Promotes Acceptance Of Homosexuality

Posted: 5:16 pm CST March 10, 2005

New York -- A children's music video that conservatives say encourages acceptance of homosexuality is being distributed to more than 60,000 schools around the country.

The video shows SpongeBob SquarePants, Miss Piggy, Oscar the Grouch and many other children's TV characters singing the 1979 disco hit "We Are Family." It comes with a teaching guide that promotes tolerance of diversity.

The video is produced and distributed by the Anti-Defamation League and the We Are Family Foundation -- a nonprofit founded by a producer who co-wrote the original song.


Conservative groups like the American Family Association and Focus on the Family have charged that the video has a pro-gay subtext. An editor who first criticized it calls the video "innocuous" but says the teaching guide "distorts the definition of family."

One of the video's creators said of the criticism, "At first I thought this was so ridiculous that it's funny."

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Vampires_Bite

The American Family Association and Focus on the Family have to realize that homosexuality isn't going to go away. And that sexuality is just a part of life. Why shouldn't kids be 'exposed' to it. Its not like they are going to come home and say "Mum, i watched a video at school today. I have decided that i am going to be Gay!"


LOL

TokyoNiGHTS

Also whether they like it or not, there are alot of kids that are children of homosexual relationships. All they seem to be wanting teaching is for those kids to be treated like outcasts because their parents are either 2 women or 2 men. So they're familys too, and I really doubt they like their children being treated like some people do. The only people distorting the view of family is this supposed Family group. If you're in a home where you're loved and taken care of, it really shouldn't matter if they're 2 women or 2 men.

mh67511

How does a bunch of kids characters singing "We Are Family" promote diversity? We're NOT all family . This is like when my school had an assembly day entitled, "We're All Africans." Nobody had a clue what the hell they were talking about.

Anyways teaching kids to respect others is fine, but what I don't like is when you teach them that everything is ok. Many people DON'T think homosexuality is ok and their kids shouldn't be taught that it is. The position should be neutral. They can be taught to respect others that are different from them though but it doens't mean they have to accept it is ok. For example I respect people's right to believe that the death penalty is ok, but I still think it's wrong.

TokyoNiGHTS

The video is neutral. They never specifically mention anything about homosexuality. Not even in the booklets that come with the video. All thats really mentions is some line about how there are many different types of families. Most kids won't even understand what that actually means. It's just that these groups are so incredibly homophobic that anything that could be considered positive about homosexuality causes them to flip out. They don't want respect for homosexuality because they see that as people trying to embrace it, they're against it and they think everyone else should be.

Milt Palacio

I hear that if you let your kids watch SpongeBob, they will grow up gay! Focus on the Family taught me that. Supposedly there are subliminal messages that eminate through the screen and into your brain and all of a sudden you become attracted to your best same-sex friend.

It's a good thing SpongeBob wasn't around when I was a kid, or today I might have a long-time companion named "Steve". Oh, the horror!!

We need to put a stop to these videos. There's a gay epidemic going around and it's because of watching Spongebob! Stop the epidemic!!

TheAngel

See what I don't get is the fact that these groups are up in arms about Spongebob but not about Donald Duck. I mean, he wears no pants, he has a sailor suit, in modern days we call that a wet dream.

Lain

Man, what is it on the issues of homosexuality? I don't always agree with it but I respect those who decide to convert their lives into that.

I mean, look at Winnie the Pooh. You have a child that goes into a magical world, a bear that's practically streaking by wearing only a shirt, a single mother raising a baby kangaroo. And parents aren't bringing up issues about single parents or streaking.

Many can wonder, how does the song "We Are Family" going to solve anything?

TokyoNiGHTS

The in thing now with these groups is being homophobic. They truely believe there are hidden messages in shows like Spongebob that teach kids that they should be gay. Ofcourse that wouldn't be a problem if they realised being gay wasn't a choice, its just who you are. But they don't, so they're scared of stuff like that. That makes them also believe that if kids are told that its ok to be gay that they're going to wake up the next day and start dating people of their same sex.

TheAngel

Hey, I still watch Spongebob, and I'm 17. I don't see homosexual messages in that show and if people do then perhaps they are already insecure about their own sexuality in the first place.
However, I also agree with MH67511 on the idea that some people don't agree with certain things in society. Doing something like this could very well weaken public opinion on certain topics because people on the fence might very well hop to the opposide if they feel like other views are being pushed upon them.

TokyoNiGHTS

That's true, but its also alot of those parents fault. It's pretty common today for parents to teach their kids that being gay is wrong. And hey, I don't like them doing that but that's their right. But the problem for schools comes in when those kids come to school and pick on kids who might be gay, or might have parents that are gay. Sometimes it even goes as far as those kids being violent toward those kids. So its the schools job to teach some sort of tolerance toward gays, because its their job to make both kids and parents feel safe about attending a school.

mh67511

As far as the whole Sponge Bob thing, there's nothing wrong with the show (other than the fact that it's possibly the most annoying cartoon EVER) and the comments that were made on it were taken out of context. The problem was not with the show, the problem was using characters from kids shows to promote what some see as a political agenda. Now you might not agree there is a hidden agena, but some people do.

Milt Palacio

Some people are sadly delusional.

Lexis

I don't think tolerance and compassion are political agendas - I like to think that they are human qualities. It seems that some people in the radical right believe that these are things that are somehow damaging (wasn't it Dobson who said that whenever the word "tolerance" is mentioned, people should be suspicious?). If they want to make it a political issue then they need to take it up with their party representatives - if then Bush, their congressman or senator wants to take up the fight it becomes political.

ceilirose

http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/

Judge for yourselves whether there is some sort of hidden agenda. I watched it once and couldn't see anything there at all.