This story actually came out on July 1st, but I have been a little busy writing podcast scripts, and didn’t have time to blog about it. I thought it was an interesting story, because it really shows how far left the public schools have gone down the “don’t judge” road. Now, they are actually punishing male teachers who warn students about the long-term risks of following social trends.
So, the first thing to say is that I wrote a previous post about how transforming is related to peer pressure. Basically, kids are wanting to transform because it provides them with social benefits, especially giving them immunity from being judged. But what’s interesting is how it is affecting children who don’t have depression or any social problems.
Check out this recent article from City Journal (the journal of the Manhattan Institute), which talks about what is really going on in schools:
Patricia (a pseudonym) is the mother of a teenage girl who in recent years has come to identify as transgender. She lives in California, considers herself progressive, votes Democrat, and leads a group for parents of children with rapid onset gender dysphoria (ROGD)—that is, youth who suddenly experience distress with their bodies and believe that undergoing medical “transition” will make them whole again. When I spoke to her recently, she recounted how her daughter’s at-first-lesbian and then trans identity emerged in response to feelings of shame about being white.
I have since spoken to more than a dozen ROGD parents and parent-group leaders who tell a similar story. Their schools compulsively tell their children how awful it is to be white, how white people enjoy unearned “privilege,” how they benefit from “systems” put in place by and for white people for the sole purpose of oppressing “people of color.” Plagued by guilt, the children—almost all of them girls—rush to the sanctuary of “LGBTQ+” identity. Once there, they are catapulted into hero status. According to Patricia, some teachers at her daughter’s school are more forgiving toward “queer” and “trans” kids who hand in their homework late.
The students, especially the girls, absorb this messaging. They are acutely sensitive to how identity affects their social status and academic fortunes. They want the warmth that comes with queer/trans identity, but above all they don’t want to be thought of as vicious oppressors.
What happens if a teacher tries to warn a student about transforming?
The Daily Caller has a story about that:
A Colorado teacher was disciplined after suggesting to a transgender student that the rise in transgenderism is a “trend” that some come to regret, according to documents provided to the Daily Caller from the educator.
The student wanted the teacher to help the student pass the course, and the teacher agreed to knock out some of the bad grades. Then the teacher, in a P.S., warned the student to do more research about the long-term consequences of transforming. He warned the student about permanent effects of treatment.
Here is what the school did to the teacher for telling the student to research the decision to transform:
Jefferson County Public Schools sent Vagos a letter of reprimand arguing that he violated the district’s policy of “harassment of students based on sexual orientation.” Vagos was told he can no longer use the word “trend” when discussing transgender ideology, according to the reprimand letter.
“Your response to this student and the provision of this link imparts a lack of support and reduces a student’s self-identification as being transgendered as a “trend” rather than something real the student is experiencing,” the letter read.
A substitute teacher was provided in Vagos’ absence as he underwent a “Gender Inclusion 101” training provided by the Jefferson County Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion team. Videos from the training included “Avery’s Story,” “Mom, I’m Not A Girl: Raising a Transgender Child,” and “What is a Gender Inclusive School?” Another training was provided by “Gender Spectrum.”
He made his career choice. Now it’s very difficult for him to transition into a private sector career with 15 years of experience teaching children. So he had to jump through their secular left hoops to save his job. He probably had a wife and kids to support. This is why I recommend to young people to do STEM degrees, and private sector jobs. You can always find work no matter what.
There was a time in my life when I wanted to be an English literature teacher more than anything. I won a couple of awards for best English literature student in high school (and a couple for computer science, too). I really liked finding the wisdom in classic literature – the real stuff: Shakespeare, Spenser, Austen, etc. But I can’t really recommend to Christians that they pursue a career in public education at this time. And I certainly don’t recommend that Christian parents put their children into public schools.
Whatever you are doing in your life, make sure you run the numbers and have enough for homeschooling or private Christian schools. Homeschooling is the better option. It won’t be cheap, but you can’t put Christian kids into public schools.
WINTERY KNIGHT 