PUBLISHED: 17:08 EST, 13 April 2013 | UPDATED: 17:09 EST, 13 April 2013
A Florida father was disturbed to find a note in his ten-year-old son’s backpack that read: ‘I am willing to give up some of my constitutional rights in order to be safer or more secure.’
Aaron Harvey, of Duval County, says his child was told to write the sentence by the teacher during a civics lesson at Cedar Hills Elementary School.
Harvey believes that this is the personal view of the teacher rather than his fourth-grade son. ‘I don’t believe that any American or American child should be asked to write this,’ the military veteran told First Coast News.
Disturbing: A Florida father was concerned by finding this note in his fourth-grade son’s backpack
‘That sentence talking about giving away freedoms for safety and security – that bothers me,’ Harvey added to Wokv.com.
‘I served in the military. I served to protect my family, my country, and that Constitution and everyone’s freedom,’ he continues.
The father maintains he wouldn’t mind if his son had reached this opinion of his own accord. But the father doesn’t believe the ten-year-old actually understands what he wrote and that this is not the point of education.
‘Being able to understand so they can form their own thoughts and have their own opinions when they get older,’ is how he explained school to Wokv.
Concern: The boy’s parent’s Aaron and Amy were worried by the discovery
The boys parents believe their child should be taught the history of First Amendment rights.
But Amy Harvey, the boy’s mother, was also upset by the note. ‘If I don’t check his backpack I won’t find things like this,’ she told First Coast News.
It isn’t yet clear if a visiting constitutional lawyer gave this work in the civics class or a teacher set this assignment a number of days later.
Superintendent Nikolai Vitti of Duval County Public Schools said in a written statement: ‘The Justice Teaching activity on constitutional rights that was conducted at Cedar Hills Elementary School is consistent with our efforts to broaden civics-based education and develop critical thinking skills among our students.
‘The lesson builds awareness of First Amendment rights through a partnership with an association of local attorneys.
Our possible concern rests with a follow-up activity that may have been conducted after the lesson.’
The school has set a meeting to discuss this issue next week.
Discussions: Cedar Hills Elementary School has scheduled a meeting to talk about the note
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