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Do lessons like this one in Cy-Fair ISD help or hurt our children’s mental health? Are they socially shaming children? Cy-Fair taught this to children ages 4-10 at Matzke Elementary School as part of the district’s heavily promoted, long practiced, No Place for Hate Program.
I did a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) for all of the No Place for Hate lessons in Cy-Fair ISD and conducted my own analysis (I have a career in risk management for big energy companies). My analysis highlighted the themes used in lessons across schools in Cy-Fair ISD: social shaming, police brutality, reinforcing stereotypes, bully scenarios lack diversity, and questionable sources. I started to make the community aware and I was asked to meet with Cy-Fair ISD’s administration.
I requested a response from the Cy-Fair School Board of Trustees and superintendent. Two weeks later, the program was suspended and it has not returned. It's important to note that the Cy-Fair Board of Trustees in 2021 blamed staff and students when I inquired about who provided a video in the No Place for Hate Program.
Below are my findings:
(1) My analysis of the No Place for Hate Program
(2) The email response from Cy-Fair ISD’s top administration regarding the No Place for Hate Program and defending the picture above
(3) A news article saying No Place for Hate had been suspended, two weeks later
(4) The letter from the Cy-Fair Board of Trustees denying responsibility to a No Place for Hate video, and blaming staff and students
Is it ok for Cy-Fair ISD to heavily push and promote this program for well over a decade, and then deny accountability when the teachings are found to be inappropriate?
Ayse’s Analysis of the No Place for Hate Program
Social Shaming Divides Children Further and Isolates Them
Teachers instruct children to stand next to children that share opinions or beliefs of the following statements: “I have watched some tv/movies and read books with characters that share my race, ethnicity and/or skin color”, and then asked, “How did it feel when most people had the same response as you? How about when most people were standing somewhere else?” Campbell Middle School & Anthony Middle School - Racism NPFH Lesson
An Assistant Principal at Wells Elementary called a child aside to instruct him to physically distance himself from another student who was calling another child a name. I asked the assistant principal 3 times about the source of this “teachable moment” and she deflected by saying it was teachable moment each time. I found the answer in the NPFH Resource Guide, page 45 under “Educate,” there is a section for “teachable moments”. Children are made to sign a NPFH Hate Pledge, were they promise to believe no one is an innocent bystander on NPFH Resource Guide, page 15. Why is an assistant principal teaching values and not revealing the source of the teachings to the parent?
Police Brutality Lessons Evoke Fear
A child says he “feels afraid walking down the street, cops just might think I’m doing something bad and if I try to explain to them, they might not listen and just start beating me up and doing terrible things” Campbell Middle School & Anthony Middle School - Racism NPFH Lesson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6xSyRJqIe8
A child on the Live with Ryan and Kelly talk show asks audience to “imagine holding on to your brothers thinking you are all going to be orphans” because his mom got pulled over for a traffic stop. Campbell Middle School & Anthony Middle School - Racism NPFH Lesson https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=DZgG2Fbzb4k
An Aljazeera news report where BLM is supported and 3 police officers are shown pushing a man’s head to the ground. The lesson asks students personal family questions: “Among your friends and family members, what has been the response so far about Colin Kaepernick?” Anthony Middle School – Social Justice Lesson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V3OtQwLpdw
Minority Victimization Teaches and Reinforces Stereotypes
A young man describes being seen as a minority: “gangbanger”, “young black man who has about 20 baby mommas”, “drug dealer”, “low-down good for nothing father” and other derogatory labels. Brautigam Center - No Place for Hate 1st presentation slide 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdsLt5-r9q8
4 videos from MTV titled, “You’re English is so good”, “You’re Pretty for a Dark Girl”, “How’d You Get into that School?” and “I can’t tell Asians Apart” show minorities having glass thrown at their faces as a metaphor for having a white person bully them by the saying the titles of the videos. Dean Middle School – NPFH Activity #3 Microaggressions Lesson https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=WXRjO28F_0g
Bully Scenarios Lack Diversity and Evoke Fear
I analyzed 9 school’s “No Place for Hate” curriculum and 100% of the time the bully was white. 32 out of 32 instances the bully was white: 4 violent and 4 murderous (not including police brutality images). Here is a lesson quote - Anthony Middle School LGBTQ PDF Lesson, “beat him severely, chained him to the rear bumper of their truck by his ankles and dragged him for more than three miles along the road.”
Genocide is referred to frequently in the curriculum with the pyramid of hate in middle and high schools.
Questionable Curriculum from Questionable Sources
Children are made to watch a video by Syngenta Group, owned by ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned chemical company. The video aims to evolve children's minds into believing that a diversity in genders (beyond male/female) is essential for a species. Bleyl Middle School - Presentation 7 (2.0) No Place for Hate Pledge Lesson slide 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=CpFacBMjChc Why is a Chinese state-owned company trying to evolve our children’s minds?
Children are made to watch a BrainPop video that answers questions about the trustworthiness of the news. It’s important to note BrainPop’s founder and executive chairman is a doctor who worked under Fauci during the AIDS epidemic and has stated publicly, “My approach is that you cannot rely on adults. I teach kids so they will educate the adults. I am transferring the responsibility to the children. That is how we worked when it came to addressing racism in the US.” https://vimeo.com/558694997 minute marker 2:41. The video has odd statements such as, "Even a scientific study can suddenly reflect the authors opinions". Science can suddenly be opinions? Bleyl Middle School – NPFH Facts and Opinions https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=e7vYwiqP6-c
Middle and High Schools show main stream media as curriculum sources. Sources include: MTV, ABC, Live with Kelly and Ryan, different local public radio videos, CNN, NBC, Aljazeera, and the Ad Council provide clips for classroom discussion. The Ad Council whose board of directors include a chairman of NBCUniversal, executive officer of Facebook, and an executive officer for Johnson & Johnson. Why are our children being taught by mainstream media, MTV, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson and Chinese National Companies?
The email response from Cy-Fair ISD’s top administration regarding the No Place for Hate Program and defending the picture above
On 9/28/2021, I requested a reponse to my findings on No Place for Hate. A few weeks later, on 10/11/2021, Community Impact newspaper published an artcile: Cy-Fair ISD suspended the No Place for Hate Program.
My questions to the adminsitration are in black, and the administration’s reponses are in red.
Link to Community Impact Newspaper article
Cy-Fair Board of Trustees denying any responsibility to No Place for Hate video
The video attempted to teach the idea that people’s unconscious thoughts are known based on the color of their skin. Here is a link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoBvzI-YZf4
Cy-Fair Board of Trustees blamed a staff and student committee. I called the school to get names of the people on the committee, and only a name of one administrator was named. Note: Cy-Fair ISD also refuses to name book review committee members that keep age-inappropriate books on shelves. See What Comes to Mind When You see the books Cy-Fair ISD defends as suitable for minors.
