PARENTS UPSET OVER SURVEY ASKING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IF THEIR FAMILIES OWNED GUNS

Parents of students at a high school in Tennessee are speaking out against a survey students took without parents being told that involved questions asking if their families owned guns, among other potentially controversial topics.

ABC 24 reported that Arlington High School allowed students to take a survey that included questions about guns, abortion and religion, which some parents feel should not have been administered, at least not without their knowledge.

Here’s some of the perspective from parents and students regarding the survey:

April Heath used Facebook as her sounding board after she says her daughter was given the questionnaire at school. In her post, she says her daughter was asked her if her parents owned guns; it also asked for the student’s opinion on the legalization of marijuana, abortion and what her religion is.
Student Phillip Beasley said, “It’s not that big of a deal, it’s just you don’t need to get into other people’s business that’s not yours, you know?”
“To tell you the truth I can’t think of any good reason to do that,” added grandparent Sharon Starlings. “It doesn’t seem right.”
Parents in Arlington say the questionnaire was out of line.
“I would be not OK with that,” said parent Martina Ashmore.
In a statement, Shelby County Schools said the survey was driven by the AP psychology class students and teacher-approved for a project teaching them about the scientific method. Here’s more from the statement:

Topics reflect current issues that students are seeing and reading about in the news, as well as the related laws and policies that address them. To support their research, students were permitted to conduct the surveys in several classes. The surveys were permitted only under the condition that they are completely anonymous and optional, and students were informed prior to the survey being handed out that it was completely anonymous and optional. Teachers of multiple subjects seek opportunities to incorporate current issues in their curriculum, including those included in this survey. Teachers and administrators at Arlington High School supported this research project because they believe the best way to effectively educate students about the issues that concern them is allowing them to be engaged participants in conversations about them.