When I first heard about the Lilly-funded “social, emotional, and equity learning” program (SEEL, sometimes called SEL), I wasn’t sure what to think about it. From what I could tell, this program seemed to be aiming at improving students’ ability to regulate stress, manage their time, and work well with others. I would prefer that the school focus on academics, and I worry that a program like this might be a waste of time. But the program didn’t yet seem pernicious to me.
CASEL is an organization that promotes social and emotional learning, and HSE cites their research (here and here) to justify SEEL. CASEL calls these programs a “lever for equity and social justice,” which sounds sort of political and brain-washy to me. This, together with the concerns of many parents I know, made me want to know more. But, as I mentioned in my last post, when I tried to find out more, the district refused to share the lessons with me and refused to tell me the truth, which is obviously even more suspicious.
To the very small degree that I was able to look a little closer, I became concerned that the SEEL program is potentially subversive to the values of many parents. For example, here’s a screenshot of part of a PowerPoint slide from one of the very few lessons I have been allowed to see after lots of effort trying to find out more:
In this lesson, the children are taught, among other things, that healthy relationships are not based on unconditional love, but rather mutual respect. For non-Christian readers, this might not immediately stand out as a bad thing. But what you need to know is that it’s commonplace for Christian parents to teach their children that God loves them unconditionally, and that this sort of love is transformative, and that it creates an opportunity for those of us who experience God’s unconditional love and forgiveness to similarly love our families, our spouses, our neighbors, and even our enemies. This is based on Bible verses like John 15:13, which says that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. Or Romans 5:8, which says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Or Ephesians 5:25, which says that husbands should love their wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” So the idea that there is something wrong or unhealthy about unconditional love will immediately seem extremely subversive to Christian parents. I mean, it obviously is subversive!
In my meeting with FHS Principal Jason Urban and district “Mental Health Coordinator” Brooke Lawson, we pointed this out to them. Here’s what I might have expected as a response: perhaps Mr. Urban could acknowledge the point, and recognize that the lesson could conceivably be improved. Perhaps he could even acknowledge that it’s not a good result if it appears to some parents that the lesson subverts the central teachings of their religion. Heck, I might have hoped that Mr. Urban would even consider convening a committee of concerned parents to review all the lessons and give feedback. That would have been really awesome, and I think it would have helped build trust, and it would have given me a sense that Mr. Urban and the other HSE administrators want to work with us instead of against us. Did he say any of this? No. Instead, he doubled down, he did not acknowledge our concern, and he defended the lesson as written. I was stunned.
As I observed before: they do not voluntarily give a single tiny concession, of any sort, ever. Perhaps this will change. It could change today if they wanted it to, and I would welcome the change and immediately seek to work constructively with them. But, at this time, if you have a concern and you want more than words from them, you must legally compel them to provide it. If this does not change, I hope that we will all remember this when election time comes and we have an opportunity to bring in some new school board members.
How serious is the issue with SEEL? It’s hard to tell because we are not allowed to see everything that’s being taught, contrary to the statements of Assistant Superintendent Kegley. But when you get to look at only a tiny number of the lessons and this is what you see, there is clearly reason to be concerned.
Since the district refuses to tell the truth on these matters or appreciate the points I’m making here, we are probably going to need to legally compel the district to allow us to opt out of SEEL. Stay tuned for more to come on that topic in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, if you have access to any SEEL lessons or information about the content being taught, send it along to me at chadRcarmichael@gmail.com.