Concerned Parent Wants to Know if He Was Wrong for Refusing to Help His Daughter With Her Family Tree Assignment

Almost every child who attends public school will, at some point, come home with a family tree assignment. You fill in the blanks, you ask your relatives some questions about where they grew up and what their parents did and maybe for an anecdote or two, and voila!

At least, that’s what I remember.

According to this man, though, his daughter’s assignment turned out to be nothing like he expected.

There were questions about taxes and other personal financial information.

It asked for replies about medical histories and potential criminal backgrounds.

He tried reaching out to the teacher but got no response, and other parents were also concerned.

One of them finally got hold of the teacher, who explained the assignment was meant to make students more aware of the diversity in their school.

The intention was fine, he thought, but he still felt odd about sharing such personal information – some of it about extended family members – with the community at large.

He and about 2/3 of the other parents agreed their kids wouldn’t be taking part, but some committee called them “Karens,” and accused them of sabotaging efforts to be more diverse and inclusive.

He wants to know if this is a normal thing, and if he was maybe overreacting.

Short answer? No, people don’t think that at all.

Some pointed out the nature of kids and the potential for the information to be used to bully and tease.

Others thought the content was inappropriate for young students, and should be reported to the superintendent, besides.

There is always a fine line – and this seems to have crossed.

You know you can’t trust anyone these days.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m definitely on the side of OP – some things are just not the school’s business.

Tell me in the comments where you come down on this, and why!