Do you ever feel like you've been gagged?

The one thing that I took away from last week's "Communities" class is how many thing we can't talk about. It seemed like, no matter what it was, someone was going to be offended. A part of me screams out that this is a democratic society where the majority rules....why should 1 or 2 families be allowed to curtail the activities of the other 25+ children in a classroom? I was a bit shocked about the story Mary told us concerning the father who didn't want his son to have to give valentines to children who weren't his friends. On the other hand, I don't want to see a child sitting off by themselves because they can't/won't/aren't allowed to join in. Children can be mean and I can see that putting a huge target on that child.

Probably the biggest issue for me to understand is that our religious holidays (Christmas, All Souls (All Hallows), Easter, Valentines) have become so secularized that we don't see them as purely religious celebrations. We forget that others do still focus on the religious aspects or how these celebrations may not fit in with their religious/cultural beliefs.

I sometimes fell that the classroom is nothing more than a cultural minefield; one false move and KABOOM!!! and we won't even see it coming.