(Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Despite progressives’ claims that educators are not presenting radical teachings on race, gender, and sexuality in K-12 classrooms, school districts all over the country are imposing policies allowing and even requiring teachers to refrain from getting parents involved in discussions with students. These measures are ostensibly designed to protect students’ health when dealing with personal issues. In reality, it appears to be more of an effort to influence kids without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
Educators in at least 68 Missouri schools can conceal private conversations between themselves and students from parents. Fox News reported:
“At least 68 Missouri school districts have identical policies, provided by the Missouri School Board Association, stating districts do not have to disclose conversations about ‘academics and personal issues’ between students and teachers or counselors to the student’s parent or guardian.”
The policies, which are part of the broader category ‘Interviews with or Removal of Students,’ state ‘school counselors meet with students to discuss academics and personal issues, teachers often discuss academic performance with students, and school officials meet with students when investigating disciplinary violations.’”
The policy also states the district “will not honor requests by parents/guardians to be informed prior to these discussions, be present during the discussions, or prohibit conversations between a student and staff members.”
In other words, employees of these districts can talk to kids whenever they want about whatever they want without parental knowledge or consent.
The Missouri School Board Association denied the new measures would allow teachers to exclude parents from conversations with their children. Associate Executive Director of Board Services Kelli Hopkins told Fox News, “[n]othing in policy JFGA gives authority to school personnel to keep information from parents of minor children, except in the circumstance where the Children’s Division is investigating whether the child is a victim of abuse by a parent. All MSBA model policies comply with state and federal law.”
However, as America First Legal senior adviser, Ian Prior, pointed out, the language is such that it could easily allow educators to engage in private conversations with children without parental involvement. He said:
“This [policy] is a blanket statement stating that in no circumstances will parents be included in staff discussions with students, whether those discussions are personal, academic, or disciplinary. That is unconstitutionally overbroad, as such a rule will very likely infringe upon parents’ 14th Amendment right to be the primary decision maker with respect to the health, welfare and education of their children.”
This isn’t the only region seeking to leave parents out of the equation when it comes to education. In November of 2021, the Ventura County, CA, Office of Education hosted a webinar for teachers in which lawyers trained them on how to have discussions with children regarding gender identity and sexuality without allowing parents to find out.
The three-hour presentation encouraged teachers to stop using gendered words such as “mom” and “dad” and to instead use the gender-neutral “parents.” It also taught educators that while parents have the right to opt their kids out of sex education, this right does not extend to teachings about LGBTQ matters if they are presented outside of sex education classes.
The attorneys also told educators not to inform parents if a child decides to change their name while they socially transition to the opposite gender and suggested keeping certain types of documentation in the personal possession of school staff so that parents would not have a right to see them. The office even went so far as to recommend issuing two student ID cards, one with the student’s given name and another with their chosen name.
In Wisconsin’s Eau Claire Area School District, teachers were instructed that “parents are not entitled to know their kids’ identities” during a 2021 – 2022 Equity session on Safe Spaces. It asserted that parental knowledge of these matters “must be earned.”
The district’s policy enables children of any age to “transition to a different gender identity at school, by changing their name and pronouns, without parental notice or consent.”
The measure disallows employees from informing parents of their child’s gender dysphoria without the student’s consent. Indeed, educators are even required to deceive parents by using their kids’ legal names and pronouns during conferences while using the child’s chosen name and pronouns within the confines of the classroom.
An organization called “The Transition Closet” has partnered with Oakland’s Fremont High School. The Transition Closet provides a collection of clothes housed in the school to allow children to “social transition” to the opposite gender without their parents’ knowledge. Upon arriving on campus, they can change into opposite-gendered clothing and wear it for the day. After classes have concluded, the student can change back into their everyday attire.
Over the past few years, school districts have been enacting similar types of measures. Each has the same objective: To make sure parents are not privy to what is happening with their children. In reality, a child could be living a double life while at school without their parents finding out until it’s too late. These people are pushing such tactics under the guise of protecting children from abuse. They say they merely want to affirm the child’s choices to prevent trauma. But the reality seems to be something more sinister.
By cutting parents out of the process, schools are essentially ensuring they are the primary influencers in these children’s lives. But what else would we expect from those who believe kids belong to the state and not their families?
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