I received a phone call that all parents hate to get from “The School” it was the Vice Principal. The first thought I had was are the boys OK and what did they do now! He quickly assured me that all was good and that neither boy was in trouble. He went on to say that the reason he was calling was that my oldest boy had shared a tidbit of information that I had given him, my heart stopped having shared lots of useless information with him in the past. It seems that he had told some classmates that drinking form a garden hose can cause cancer. Well I explained, I had bought a hose and there was a warning on it that said just that. In a panic I began to look it up on the Internet, quickly finding the information on consumerreports.org.
After reading the article to the Vice Principal an vowing to bring in a copy of it for him, he explained that he was being pro-active, fearing that some of the students would go home and pass this information on with no proof that it was true. The moral of the story is that EVERY THING that you tell your kids may be passes on at one point, so use caution!
Found your site while googling for a photo of Eugene in Wintertime (thank you) and read your “Ring, Ring, Ring…Hello” post. I agree with you in that our children are sponges, and trust us to tell them the truth – and will repeat what we say, (so we need to be considerate of all that we say in public, and equally considerate in the privacy of our home. We can’t have two-faces around our children.)
But … your Vice Principal calling you about whether garden hoses cause cancer? That is very bizarre, and frankly, wrong. I think you should be concerned about this school/and the VP, as it’s intrusive behavior, and not in the VP’s job description. First, your child was right, and what you told him correct ~ most people know this (where has your vice Principal been hiding?) Second, it’s not the VP’s job to edit or be proactive for what kids say, or do not say at home. Kids say lots of things – and as it’s not hate-speech, his “pro-activeness” strikes me as micro-managing in something that is none of his business.
Parents tell kids lots of things – and some of it may not be commonly accepted – it doesn’t make it wrong, and it doesn’t make it any of the Vice Principal’s business. His job is to facilitate teaching staff, ensure safety for the children, and help run a school. He shouldn’t be charging after rumors, suppositions, or playground discussions.
I’d recommend you talk to your PTA, find out what they think, and talk to the principal if this happens again.