Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.Don we now our gay apparel,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Troll the ancient Yule tide carol,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
According to the Huffington Post, a Michigan music teacher is in trouble for making a decision to change the word "gay" in the second verse of the Christmas carol, "Deck the Halls."
The teacher allegedly removed "gay" from "Deck The Halls" after first and second grade students kept giggling during preparations for a Christmas concert at Cherry Knoll Elementary School in Traverse City.
To tone down the giggles, the teacher used a synonym for "gay." Instead of the traditional lyric, the students were taught to sing "Don we now our bright apparel."
Listen to them in the VIDEO on the left.
The teacher could have used that as a teachable moment to teach that "gay" is not a bad word. In the song it simply means "happy" to be paralleled with "jolly" in the first verse. The word that was substituted was not a good synonym to fit the rest of the song.
This action has infuriated parents and fellow educators.
Comments
- "By taking the word 'gay' out of 'Deck The Halls' you are making it a big deal, one word can have different meanings," wrote one user.
- "Your personal opinions should not reflect what you teach other people's children. Please teach the children the classic song the way it was written."
- Another added: "Essentially, this teacher has now taught the elementary school children, including children as young as five, that gay means homosexual sex."
Principal Chris Parker has said he is disappointed in the music teacher's decision to change the lyrics to the song, and the students are, in fact, now back to singing the original version.
This writer's note:
Some teachers are not thinking these days. Another case involved a teacher overhearing a fourth grader telling another classmate his teacher was "cute." The substitute teacher reported him to the office and the 9-year-old was suspended for two days for sexual harassment when he was merely talking about the teacher and not talking to her or touching her.
READ 9-year-old fourth graders suspended for sexual harassment.
Comments