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A Michigan music teacher's decision to censor the word "gay" from a traditional Christmas carol is being met with a frosty response.
The teacher, who has not yet been named in any of the published reports, allegedly removed "gay" from "Deck The Halls" after 1st and 2nd grade students kept giggling during preparations for a Christmas concert at Cherry Knoll Elementary School in Traverse City. Instead of the traditional lyric, the students were taught to sing "don we now our bright apparel," according to UpNorthLive.com.
The school's Facebook page has since been inundated with reactions from infuriated parents and fellow educators. "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."
One user even incorporated a clever parody of the song's 19th century lyrics: "See the crazy school before us/Fa la la la la, la la la la/Prejudice with a thesaurus."
The story caught the eye of famed sex columnist Dan Savage, who noted, "Someone had to straighten out that carol--can't have children donning gay apparel."
As UpNorthLive.com notes, however, 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.
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gay
If you get "what does it mean now" with elementary school kids, then I would deflect it by noting that for different families it has different meanings -- ask your parents about it. I wouldn't touch answering that question in a classroom where the word 'homosexual' wasn't already an understood concept.
Yes, some kid is probably going to shout something. Deal with the disruption the same way you would with any shouting out and move back to task. Kids on task will focus on the task and forget the details of what just happened.
It appears in this article to be partly a classroom discipline issue -- change the word to avoid the hassle the kids are giving you. Not a best practice.
Anyone remember the first iteration of The Flintstones had "we'll have a gay old time" as the last lyric line of the theme song? This was in the 60s when I was young. By the 70s, the later versions of the series had "we'll have a great old time". So, the archaic usage was still commonly understood as contemporary definition by millions alive today.