Of Homework and Child Beauty Pageants

A hot issue on Facebook:

Mater Carmeli School, what is your Grade 3 Computer Teacher teaching my baby brother?

An overzealous stagemom-teacher's mistake may have lifelong repercussions on her career, teaching license and daughter. But just the same the blogger was spot on, on calling her out for giving this mandatory assignment to her students. Yeah, how very unprofessional of her.

Which brings back memories of college professors selling campus concert tickets or org movie tickets, a mandatory move which had an impact on our grades every semester (and this treatment, we regularly got from our pontifical university). When and how this practice became socially and cuturally acceptable- I don't know? But it has been around since I can remember.

I don't understand why it is acceptable in our culture to have pageants like these- where you have to buy tickets or votes to win- talent is never enough, ey? I remember as a kid, this vote based or "ticket-sales" pageants are often organized by the comunity Church for their charities and yearly Santacruzans. Okay so now its on Facebook and everyone you know can take a vote. But I think the main issue here is that stagemom-teacher went overboard and broke a lot of laws in the process by shoving such an assignment down her students throats. But after the issue dies down, the teacher will always have her name associated with this, goodluck with her on getting a job and supporting her kids. Blogger wins with maximum damage. Blogger's brother though might as well shift schools, lest he becomes some sort of pariah among his young peers (who might not yet understand why their computer teacher got hell from the nuns running the school).

As for the teacher who was on a FB high getting points for her pageant princess, I pity her really. From what I've read from her online apology, for a computer teacher she's not that net savvy to begin with. I agree with one commenter, n00b nga ang lolabels. So does her mistake equal the punishment and online backlash coming her way? Some already want her head on a spike. After all, if the mess becomes massive and viral, all of the students from this school would feel the sting of their school's tarnished image.