Tag Archives: Government Schools

News

Christian teacher fired for not using transgender person’s preferred pronouns

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Gay activist vandalizes pro-marriage sign
Gay activist vandalizes pro-marriage sign

People who push progressive social policies tend to think that they are the tolerant ones. Many people who want to feel compassionate and be seen to be compassionate go along with them. After all, nobody wants the leftists to feel bad, right? In today’s post, we’ll see how leftists can sometimes make those who disagree with them feel really bad.

The Daily Signal explains:

A Virginia high school teacher was sacked Thursday for allegedly misgendering a student, marking the first time in the state that an educator has lost a job for using biological pronouns to refer to a student.

The West Point School Board voted unanimously 5-0 to fire Peter Vlaming who teaches French at the school, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Vlaming, 47, was charged with discrimination after failing to use male pronouns to address a biologically female student. Vlaming did not intentionally misgender the student, but avoided using any pronouns to address or talk about the student in order to accord with his Christian faith, the Times-Dispatch reported.

“I’m totally happy to use the new name,” Vlaming told local NBC affiliate WWBT. “I’m happy to avoid female pronouns not to offend because I’m not here to provoke … but I can’t refer to a female as a male, and a male as a female in good conscience and faith.”

Vlaming has a wife and four children, and he has been fired by the public school administrators right before Christmas.

Honestly, I would not have done any different. People have a right to name themselves, but they don’t have a right to force me to participate in their self-delusion. He used her preferred name, but he would not use her preferred sex. Unfortunately, he’s working in a public school system filled with unionized Democrat teachers and administrators. He didn’t stand a chance. And public schools are taxpayer-funded. Vlaming and other Christians paid for the salaries of the leftists who had him fired. Which is why Christians should never support government-run public schools.

National Review has the teacher’s comments about his termination.

Vlaming’s lawyer called the school’s requirement “unconstitutional compelled speech.”

“Public schools have no business compelling people to express ideological beliefs that they don’t hold. This isn’t just about a pronoun; this is about forcing someone to endorse an ideology under threat of losing his job,” said attorney Shawn A. Voyles. “My client has always respected this student’s rights and continues to do so; he simply asked that his rights be respected as well. Unfortunately, the school board refused to consider any solutions that would respect the freedoms of everyone involved.”

I’m not a lawyer, but it sounds like he is using the same defense as other Christians have used to win at the Supreme Court.

There’s a Go Fund Me for the family here. According to Rod Dreher, the Go Fund Me has been verified legitimate.

News

Schools ask 12-year-old children whether they have had gay, oral and anal sex

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This is from Breitbart News. (H/T Ari)

Full text:

A public hearing is taking place Wednesday morning in the Massachusetts State House to look into a controversial sex survey given to middle school and high school students.
Developed by the Centers for Disease Control and called the “Youth Risk Behavior Survey,” the survey asks students as young as 12 a series of very personal and highly ideological questions.

The survey asks students if they are homosexual and if they are transgender. It also asks if they have had oral or anal sex and if they have performed such acts with up to six people.

Whether or not they have carried a gun, smoked cigarettes, consumed alcohol and how much also appear on the questionnaire, as well as whether they have taken drugs, such as OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin. It asks how often their guardian uses a seat belt, if the youngster has a sexually transmitted disease, and where they sleep.

The group MassResistance says the survey is “psychologically distorting” and will lead the child to think he is “abnormal if he is not doing it all.” The group stated that “having children reveal personal issues about themselves and their family can have emotional consequences.” They also complain that “the survey results are used by radical groups from Planned Parenthood to LGBT groups to persuade politicians to give more taxpayer money [to] these groups.”

Though students fill out the survey anonymously, MassResistance warns that “they are administered by the teacher in the classroom and there is often pressure for all kids to participate.”

The test is given nationally and not without controversy. The Chicago Tribune reported two years ago that a Chicago teacher was reprimanded for telling students they had a “constitutional right” not to fill out the survey.

This post is a lead-in for my 2 PM post, which tries to explain what people on the secular left are hoping to achieve by trying to break down the natural resistance that children have to sexual exploitation.

News

Teachers helped schoolgirl, 15, have an abortion without her parents’ knowledge

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Dina sent me this article from the UK Daily Mail.

Excerpt:

Teachers helped a 15-year-old pupil to have an abortion that her parents knew nothing about.

Her mother and father finally learned about the termination when she told them after it had happened.

Last night family campaigners said the case showed how parents are increasingly being sidelined by the law.

It is understood that the girl went to a hospital where it was confirmed she was pregnant. In line with her wishes, doctors did not tell her parents but notified the school in Salford, Greater Manchester, instead.

Teachers discussed the termination with the girl, checking she was comfortable with her decision. They also gave her time off school and supported her when she went for the procedure.

Under the law, teachers, doctors and nurses can offer sexual advice or treatment – including an abortion – to children without telling their parents as long as the child is considered mature enough to make the decision. However, they must ensure that every effort is made to encourage a young person to involve their parents in the decision.

It’s important for Christian parents to realize that the time where they could expect teachers to confirm and support them in teaching their children values is gone. We should be voting for lower taxes and greater school choice. The only solution to problems like this is to put the money back in the hands of the parents and let them choose private schools that are accountable to parents. When teachers and school officials are paid through compulsory taxation, they are not accountable to their customers (parents). They do as they please. Even if they fail parents and children utterly, they still get paid. It needs to stop.