On March 19 we will celebrate Father's Day, and there are already many children who are preparing in their schools a detail to give to their parents. From custom cups, to drawings with their patterned prints or plasticine figurines. Any gift is worth surprising dad!
But this emotional tradition, along with the feast of Mother's Day, is beginning to disappear in many schools, who believe that the current family model in Spain is changing and children must adapt to this new reality.
Instead they propose to celebrate "Family Day"
Over the past few years the family model has stopped having an exclusive and traditional concept of "father + mother + children", to incorporate new models increasingly visible in society. From single parents, to children raised by other relatives or children of homosexual couples.
That is why many schools, either through their management or through the associations of parents of students, have made the decision to eliminate Father's Day and Mother's Day festivities from their classrooms, considering them obsolete traditions that can discriminate against many students whose family model does not fit the traditional canons.
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Children of homosexual fathers and mothers
The Observatory against LGTBfobia spoke last year in this regard by publishing an article asking schools to eliminate these holidays, in order to avoid "discrimination and promotion of bullying, mockery and mockery" towards those children who do not have a traditional family.
"We are concerned about the involuntary situations of discrimination that currently occur in schools when they commemorate Father's Day or Mother's Day, forgetting that families in Spanish society are increasingly diverse"
"Therefore, the celebration of a few days designed exclusively for the traditional family of father and mother, makes single-parent families, in addition to homoparental families completely ignored, in addition to other types of families when one or both parents are missing and children are cared for by grandparents or other relatives, or for example when we talk about foster families "
According to the Continuous Household Survey published by the National Statistics Institute in 2017, in Spain there are more than 95,000 family nuclei made up of homosexual couples, which represents an increase of 2% with respect to the data of the previous year.
Children without a father or mother
On the other hand, and according to the same survey, the number of single parents in our country amounts to 1,897,500, of which 81.3% are composed of mother and children and the rest by father and children.
In 2016, this type of household grew 3.6% over the previous year, the majority model being formed by a widowed mother and her children, followed by a divorced or separated mother, and by a single mother.
In this type of families the children they are raised only with one of the two parents, either by the death of one of the two members or by any other circumstance.
Immigrant children
The Observatory against LGTBfobia also highlights the situation of immigrant families, who come from countries where the celebration of Father's Day or Mother's Day does not correspond in dates to ours, and that may cause confusion.
"Something that you don't think about is that the celebration of Father's Day and Mother's Day, changes from country to country, and obviously does not match our dates, so for many children it is very contradictory and confusing the official celebration of these days in schools and the celebration in their own homes and families "
For all this, there are many associations, parents and schools that propose to banish these traditions and replace them with the International Day of Families, a holiday that is celebrated universally for all countries on May 15.
In this way, the child can work on family values without feeling discriminated against or different from other classmates, and decide who to give without the need for gender or kinship.A proposal that everyone doesn't like
But nevertheless, not all parents agree with this proposal, and many consider that the elimination of the holiday and the proposed solution does not correspond to the family model that most children have.
The last to join this measure has been a school in Viana de Cega, in Valladolid, which without consulting the parents of the students has made the decision to eliminate both holidays and replace them with Family Day.
In my opinion, I think that this decision should be taken by the parents and not by the educational center, because after all it is something that concerns us parents. In any case, and although it is evident that the family model in Spain is variedPersonally, the fact of continuing to celebrate both festivities does not seem discriminatory as long as other family models are also contemplated.
Is Parent's job educating our children free from prejudice and show them with total naturalness all the possible options that exist in society. And just like there are children with a father and a mother, they should also know that there are two parents or two mothers, or that they are raised only with one of them, or even children who live with relatives other than their parents.
Perhaps an intermediate measure to satisfy everyone is to personalize the gift that the child will make. Teachers know their students and their personal situations well: Why not ask them or ask family members to whom to send that gift?
If the child does not have a father, he may want to prepare a memorial to remind him, or he may prefer to give his grandfather or his older brother instead. And if you have two parents, the solution is as simple as duplicating the gift.
That is to say, In my opinion, what schools should change are the "standardized" messages of crafts, and give freedom to the child so that he can express in his gift the phrase that best defines for him that special day; as for example, "Happy Day, grandfather!", instead of having to keep the typical dedication of Father's Day.
In short, I think that not celebrating Father's Day or Mother's Day will not teach our children to respect other classmates with a family model different from their own, because we must instill respect and education through The example and the dialogue.
In our hands is to educate our children in empathy and love towards others, respecting the sexual condition of all people, as well as their model of life and their family. And if this base is solid, what else gives a craft?
I would like to know your opinion about it: Are you in favor or against celebrating Father's Day and Mother's Day in schools?
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