More sexual politics in public schools
Following on the weird story of school-provided birth control for eleven-year-old students in Portland, Maine, there are a couple more stories of sexual politics agendas being played out in public schools.
This one from California has gotten a lot of pixels in the blogosphere; I’m not certain if this anti-bias measure is as bad as its opponents say, but it doesn’t seem at all necessary, does it?
The law would ban any instruction or school-sponsored activity that promotes “discriminatory bias” based on such characteristics as religion, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
But such groups as Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) and Capitol Resource Family Impact (CRFI) said the law — signed last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and set to take effect in January — could open the door for legal challenges to such traditions as naming a homecoming “king” and “queen,” or biology lessons that refer to “male” and “female.” And it even could be interpreted as requiring schools to have gender-neutral bathrooms and locker rooms, a PJI memo stated.
“Parents are very angry across California about this legislation,” according to PJI President Brad Dacus. He said the group’s attorneys are studying the law and think the “ramifications could be extremely broad.”
Meanwhile, CRFI is trying to secure a ballot referendum that would allow Californians to vote to overturn the law. The group has 90 days to obtain about 400,000 signatures, CRFI Executive Director Karen England said.
The new law defines gender as a person’s gender identity, appearance and behavior “whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.” It defines sexual orientation as heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality.
“Gender” sets off my lefty buzzword detector because it usually refers to and emphasizes the social aspects of sexual behavior, as opposed to the physiological part.( “Gender studies” is usually one of the more radical departments on a university campus, often pushing the notion that the differences between men and women and boys and girls are “socially constructed” phenomena and not natural or intrinsic).
But even setting aside the PC bafflegab, I’m still baffled by this law. I can’t see that it’s even addressing a real problem. Is there some epidemic of gay-bashing in the California public schools that this is supposed to correct? Even if there is, it’s possible both to oppose discrimination against gay people, and to think that this overbroad gender-bias provision is useless politicized pandering to a militant constituency that wants bring progressive social engineering into the classroom.
And here’s another example of the same thing: some new guidelines in DC:
The guidelines say eighth-grade students should be taught the definition of sexual orientation “using correct terminology” and learn that some people “may begin to feel romantically and/or sexually attracted to people of a different gender and/or to people of the same gender.”
They also say sixth-grade students should be taught that “people, regardless of biological sex, gender, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity and culture, have sexual feelings and the need for love, affection and physical intimacy.” [I recall that, as a sixth grader, I had become aware of this situation without formal instruction--See-Dub.]
Ninth-graders should be taught to “analyze trends in … contraceptive practices and the availability of abortion,” the guidelines stated.
Analyze trends in contraceptive practices? This is the Ninth Freaking Grade, not the Guttmacher Institute.
I would be happier if, other than a very basic sort of health class, public schools stuck to teaching kids how to read and write. It’s not like they’re having an overwhelming success with that. While I’m fine with some moral education–or character education, citizenship education, whatever they want to call it–as part of the public school curriculum, I’m really tired of educational bureaucrats pushing their ideas of gender and sexuality on ever-younger children. Families should be the first line of moral instruction, not the state.
Besides, public schools aren’t exactly the safest or most credible source for that kind of advice. They’re having some problems of their own:
Students in America’s schools are groped. They’re raped. They’re pursued, seduced and think they’re in love.
An Associated Press investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic.
There are 3 million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive educators - nearly three for every school day - speaks to a much larger problem in a system that is stacked against victims.
Most of the abuse never gets reported. Those cases reported often end with no action. Cases investigated sometimes can’t be proven, and many abusers have several victims.
And no one - not the schools, not the courts, not the state or federal governments - has found a surefire way to keep molesting teachers out of classrooms.
Those are the findings of an AP investigation in which reporters sought disciplinary records in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The result is an unprecedented national look at the scope of sex offenses by educators - the very definition of breach of trust.
I’m certain the outrage over this situation will be every bit as incandescently furious as that over the Catholic priest scandals. Positive.
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At this rate, 20 years from now reading, writing and arithmetic will be completely removed from public school curriculum and in its place will:
1st period: birth control
2nd period: Johny has 2 daddies
3rd period: Mary has 2 mommies
4th period: sexual positions for the pre teen
5th period: types of abortions
6th period: transgendered make great parents
7th period: heterosexuals and the far right: both must be educated
8th period: sexual toys
Get your kid out of public school NOW.
The law in CA seems to have many people concerned because they anticipate a glut of lawsuits from the homosexual crowd regarding titles like Homecoming “King” and “Queen” and referring to mom & dad, etc. However, this seems like the perfect open door for religious groups to sue for “discriminatory bias” against their religion when the schools teach anything about homosexuality or transgenderism that contradicts that religion’s belief (nurture vs nature) or moral code, or for teaching about evolution and discriminating against the creationist’s point of view. How about sex ed that discriminates against the view of the abstinence advocates. And, of course, there are all the suits for discriminating against students who want to refer to God in their graduation speeches or who want to lead prayers before football games.
If this law is really so loosely worded, it should be a field day for the lawyers from both sides of the aisle!
Is there any way that anything could actually be taught without appearing to have some kind of discriminatory bias against some group?
Can we help facilitate the tectonic sublimation at San Andreas and push this cretinous state into the Pacific>
And in other related news today, record numbers of concerned parents have been pulling their children out of the public school system for more accountable sources of education, like parochial and home schooling. Back to you Skip.
In the cases of inappropriate conduct between students and teachers, there are sometimes two sides to the story. Male teachers are becoming reluctant to teach middle school and high school grades because girls have been known to show up for class tarted up and out to put the make on the teacher. Requiring students to wear conservative uniforms might help.
Take your soma and put on your Malthusian belt, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
I don’t even have kids yet and I already know there’s no way in hell they’ll EVER be attending a public school. Private school or home schooling are the only sane choices as far as my wife and I are concerned.
Blast it! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE SENT MY KIDS TO GOVERNMENT SCHOOL!! They’re doing such a darn good job!
What ever happened to “equal protection under the law?” Why do those with “gender” indentifications other that heterosexual get “super protection?” And “bi-sexual?” Here I thought bi-sexual was a selective choice, not a pre-disposed gender condition! Silly me…
Some are more equal than others.
I swear to you, I think the ghosts of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley have started writing governmental policy.
And what is the motive of teaching 11 year olds to have sex with anything with legs?
I wonder what their motive is, do ya think they are doing this to help portect our kids?
But it will not increase the ammount of sex kids are having - blah, blah, blah. Okay, what about the teachers?
Headline on every news site:
Sexual misconduct plagues US schools
Most valuable phrase of the times “ School Vouchers”.
Why should we be forced to pay for the distruction of our very young children??
Time to end the public school system, it is to big for us to control. Lets get back to a smaller private system we can control.
But reality is that the socialists will win in 08 and this will be national pratice in just a couple of years.
P.S. You are doing a great job filling in for Michelle See-Dubya.
Thanks!
Soap
I will ditto that. GJ See-Dub
I teach at a public charter here in California. As opposed to many other schools, we have a dress code and it is enforced; if a girl comes to school “tarted up”, she will be sent to the dean’s office and will end up wearing cover-up outerwear (oversized PE clothes) for the rest of the day. With the younger students (9th-10th grades), the battle isn’t getting them to learn the material, but teaching them self-discipline in all aspects of their lives. Our school works on that, and the academic results show that this approach works.
Gee Thanks Tatters.
and yes, WTG See-dub!!
This is a disturbing trend in general, but I’m not real comfortable in relying on the AP take on things in the closing quotation.
Their conclusions, while not necessarily inaccurate, need to be corroborated by examination of the actual statistics — they’ve [the AP] proven themselves unreliable over the years, in my eyes, on any subject at all.
More sexual politics in public schoolsReason to home school #5,493
(Reason #5,492 is that they’re outlawing tater tots & leagalizing pea flinging)
I was thinking the ‘zact same thing, ‘cept my wordage isn’t as purdy as Mrs. Malkin’s.
Tangent Warning: How can the left not see that the state is their god (as in any socialist system) and that they are headed down the same road as the abusive, totalitarian churches of the past that they love to malign (i.e. Controlling speech, thought, education, smoking, & even the food we eat. Forcing their beliefs onto their subjects. Ignoring internal scandals. Defining vices & virtures. What we can listen to on the radio. Etc…)?
Even in the little podunk town I grew up in we could have given the teachers an education when I was in the eighth grade. So that brings up the question–who’s gonna be teaching who?
Of course teachers in liberal states are going to push for condoms and birth control because they don’t like getting caught having sex with their students.
#22
Heh.
Bill on Red Eye called the birth control deal for 6th graders “a pedophile’s dream come true.”
All of these Bills are projection by sexually inadequate people. It is as obvious as a flashing sign to a Psychologist or a Psychiatrist. The sexualization of children is the goal.
This one made me laugh, I admit it…
AJ #17…
Sorry. Not our fault you live in Liberalland West…
And parents look the other way, just like they do when the stats on grades, number of dropouts and sex & drugs in school come out.
American parents are willing to put up with pretty much anything in public schools as long as they get the six hours of free babysitting a day that allows them to persue their own interests.
Think I’m wrong? Look at how we deal with people at the other end life.
We been getting reports like the one Michell sites out of nursing homes for decades, but rather than going through the trouble of taking care of them, millions of Americans stick their parents in abusive, neglectful warehouses for humans who have lost their usefullness.
I realize that sometimes it is necessary to get assistance to take care of an elderly person, but more often than not a nursing home is just a convenience (and there are often alternatives, even in the worse cases).
I’ve worked in a nursing home and I’d take a second job, sell blood and rob banks before I put the woman who raised me into one of those places.
The baby boomers were the most selfish generation in the history of the world, but my generation is running a close second.
Lex Luthor! You sick genius. How did you ever find me here?
Plus, all that desert property I own would become beach-front…
I support this endevor.
When I sell my soon-to-be highly-valuable land, I shall use part of the profits to set up the “aj memorial fund”…
The fund will be dedicated to getting me stuff. Just like AJ would have wanted.
Sorry to hog the comments, buy y’all are in bed and, as you have probably figured out by now I hate public schools.
We live in a country where we have Congressional hearings to find out what Barry Bonds is rubbing on his arms, but our education systems is failing an entire generation of children, especially the poorest of the poor, and the only thing we ever do about it is reward it by giving it more money.
It is the perfect example of everything wrong with socialism.
1) It rejects God.
2) It replaces morality with state-mandated virtues.
3) The system exists for the benefit of the system, not for the benefit of the people it purports to serve.
4) It is an obviously failed system and yet the state feeds it more money instead of fixing it.
5) It brain-washes its subjects into believing that it is the only proper way of doing things.
Where I live the school district gets $10,000 per student per year. They demolished and rebuilt, I think, seven schools in the last five years. And we have the lowest math scores in the state. The kids in my state are unable to pass the state-mandated-for-graduation tests… so the legislature got rid of two parts of the test.
We are failing thousands and thousands of kids every year, and poor and minority kids most of all. Why doesn’t anyone care?
At that point - assuming I had kids in that district - I think I might have tossed a rock through a couple of office windows wherever the super intendant and such people worked.
Totaly not a shock though. I’d campaign against them on the grounds of “Seriously, why do you even bother?”
Good post 29Victor and I agree. Throwing more money at a problem never fixed the problems with public schools. The average dollar spent on a student is just over $7,000 nationally. The worst school district is in DC where they spend almost double - just over $13,000. Spend more for more failure? Seems so.
Morons are loyal Democrats.
I’m a member of the baby boomers and I’m embarrassed to be a part of that generation. We are literally destroying America. We had no weapons in schools. Had a beef? “See you after school.” Lots of PE to keep kids in shape. I’m 5′5″. Basketball was not a good sport for me, but I played anyway. No loss of self-esteem. You concentrated on the 3 Rs, and kids graduated from school. I suspect, someday, soon, a pedophile/teacher will use the defense that since kids are so well educated in sex, the consenual age should be dropped from 18 to 10. The person just might win too, given the quality of judges my generation has turned out.
Let me see if I understand this new concept;
You cannot touch, grope, fondle, harass, sexually in any way….regarding students’ behaviors.
Yet, they can promote sexuality, homosexuality, discuss what should be private, have pedophiles, gays, those that promote these liberal leanings, teaching this “subject” matter…..
Please explain. Sooooo glad my kids are out of public schools.
I have a question about public school education? Is this a rule that comes from our Constitution or is it in the Bill of Rights? Can some reader please answer this question for me.
So why arent parents standing up and saying enough is too much? Or are they like the parents in Portland, Me that are ok with school board control of their kids because their kids might be “uncomfortable” coming to Mom and Dad?
All,
Many Californians have left California in waves so much for the Bell Weather State. Take a look at the population of the NW and Colorado…alot of people don’t like the way the state is leaning. The rest who don’t like the liberal agenda are stuck.
It strikes me that it is more like anarchy then liberalism, that is infecting California.
Constitution? Bill of Rights? We haven’t had those 2 in 50 years! We have “living, breathing” documents now. Ever read “Animal Farm”? You’ll know what’s happening lately.
I don’t even know what to say except this shores up my conviction to figure out a way to homeschool my children.
Until the state makes it illegal for me to raise them, I’m the front-line when it comes to learning about sex. PERIOD.
Schools are not going to sexualize or corrupt my child.
Apparently, human beings are no different than amoebas. Different sexes have no purpose when reproduction involves mitosis. Further evidence that higher intelligence may not be an advantage if survival is the first directive of life.
An now Dumbledore is gay! What will they force down our throats next?
derel3433-
There isn’t much more to force down our throats, except maybe forced concentration camps for Christian conservative misfits that won’t bow down to the golden idol of political correctness.
Come to think about it, I always suspected dumbledore was tinkly winkly in disguise at hogwarts.
Since a large segment of Milwaukee raises their children poorly-if-at-all, I honestly expect WI to outlaw raising your own kids within the next five years.
#33… Morons think and have feelings too. I believe Democrat is not their political affiliation simply because they are able to think.
It has to get worse before it gets better. Right now it’s just baby steps, wait until they think they have a mandate. Once we have a Dem in office and they really start putting their agenda into action, the backlash will be severe.
Have you seen how run down parts of Hogwarts is? Dumbledore is just pretending to be gay so he can get additional funding from Soros.
I wrote all the members of the school committee in Maine who made the idiotic policy decisions to give The Pill to middle school students. The only reply I got was from one of the two people who voted against the policy. And he solicited me for a campaign donation. Sad.
http://www.rightwingnews.com/mt331/2007/09/taliban_of_tolerance_by_matt_s.php