Florida ban on classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity has been expanded to all grades

For a short time when in my first few years of teacher, I worked in a very small town that was beautiful for tourists, but the full-timers faced a lot of economic difficulties and everything that comes along with that. You only needed to dial someone’s “extension” (the last 4 numbers of their phone number), the phone book was about 20 pages and you found out anything you needed to know at either the general store or the post office.

I had a mother (who had aggressive breast cancer) call me because her kid ran off and she couldn’t find him. She figured I knew his friends and where he might be. Of course, I jumped in the car and went out looking for him. I took another kid into my home for about 10 days because his family was suddenly homeless and living in a camp ground. I wanted to make sure he could get back and forth to school and sleep in a bed until his parents could make some other arrangements. The sad thing is, as much as I’d want to, I’d be reluctant to do either of these things now. If anything, I think teachers give less of themselves now for fear of (mostly politically motivated) retaliation.

The same year, we had a mom (whose child was often in detention) call the principal because she was at one of the restaurants and she saw a teacher drinking wine. Funny thing was the teacher was out to dinner while the mom was the one at the bar. There will always be parents that want to find fault with teachers, especially when they are struggling with their own child. Not all complaints are valid. The difference is now that parent would be all over social media and on the news.

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If they post the Ten Commandments in Texas public schools, will students stop coveting any of their classmates’ admission letters to MIT or other highly selective colleges?

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No idea what was being taught. Thankfully my kids graduated HS before most of this crap started (although my youngest was treated to privilege bingo a few times among other things). I’m saying some parents were upset enough about what they saw during COVID to attend school board meetings and run for school boards. Not saying it was in every school or affected every parent.

So did my nephew. Your examples are not substituting or overriding one hormone for another. Human growth hormone is not gender specific. Blocking early puberty for a year or two is not equivalent to blocking puberty for the purpose of permanently trying to change genders. Performing a double mastectomy is irreversible (as are other “gender affirming surgeries”) and a breast reduction is not the complete removal of the breasts.

Ultimately, parents should be able to choose the medical care they believe is appropriate for their children. However, my opinion is that all of this is so new and the long term health consequences and ramifications are unknown so proceed at your own risk and that applies to parents, kids and physicians. I’m anticipating quite a few malpractice suits in the future.

If that kid with the “intense sport” has too many ER visits or the kid on the radical diet shows up undernourished at school or at a dr visit there may be a home visit from CPS in their future.

I’m not saying my opinion matters. I’m saying that the science/opinions are still in flux. Do all medical associations and doctors agree? I don’t think so. Sweden, the UK and Denmark for example are rethinking their stance on treating minors with hormones and surgery.

Personally I don’t care. You want your kid to have hormones and surgery? Have at it. Parental rights are parental rights. They should apply equally in the healthcare and education arenas.

And I wouldn’t either. I don’t believe the extracurricular stuff makes that much difference TBH. We both achieved academically and did well in college, grad school and beyond even with such different experiences. I’d say that’s what most parents hope/want for their children.

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You have no idea what was being taught. All you have is some “awareness” that some parents were upset. You don’t know who, where, if there was a legitimate reason to be upset. Don’t you think you should require more evidence before making a judgement?

Parents get upset all the time. Some of it is justified. Sometimes it’s a misunderstanding. Sometimes it’s performative.

One of my concerns, based on a few decades of experience, is that a parent is going to get upset about something they are completely wrong about and cannot get the result they want. Now, they can get retribution on a teacher or school by making an accusation based on this vaguely worded legislation.

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Are specifics about this taught in K-12 anyway? IF it comes into play in our school at all it would be in Anatomy or Health class, or as a student’s option to bring it into the Controversial Topic writing assignment. In all of them, pros and cons would be taught so students could think about it - like any other controversial topic.

No straight student is going to decide they want to do something like that because they heard about it in one of those classrooms.

That comment was in response to gender affirming medical care. It has zero to do with the FL law.

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And I separated this because I agree with you totally. Most parents want that regardless of their views on various topics, including the topics in this thread.

I feel for those who don’t have good parents. They get a rough start in life, often for years. Those are the students who need support in school and elsewhere more than anything. Put them into classes where it’s merely sink or swim, most sink. Give them decent teachers who care and there can be a world of difference.

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That’s great news. Schools don’t have any business teaching sex-ed. They never did. That is a parent’s job.

Parents are capable of teaching their kids about sex. And what the kids know about sex (good or bad) is none of my business, or the school’s. What I have a problem with is the school trying to do it for me, especially when it undermines what I teach them. Leaving it up to parents is the only sane solution.

I’m puzzled by your post, because that’s not what’s being banned overall.

Historically schools started teaching sex-ed because there were many students not learning about it elsewhere, except by “experience.”

Those who are anti-abortion or simply want fewer abortions should be in favor since the more kids know, the less likely there is to be a pregnancy involved.

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Parents have been teaching their kids about sex since the beginning of time. Because some kids don’t know about it, doesn’t make it any more the school’s business. I would say, it’s not a bad thing if kids don’t know all that much about sex anyway.

Or not teaching (keeping the whole topic hush hush or forbidden to talk about) and letting the kids find out on their own in many cases.

So that more of them find out on their own that unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease can result if they do not take precautions?

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Parents can also teach math, science, history, etc.

Due to a divorce I grew up with my dad from age 11 to my senior year of high school. He never once mentioned sex to me, and during that time I had very little contact with my mother. She didn’t use that time to talk about sex with me either. I learned about it from school’s health class and friends.

Divorce wasn’t common back then at all - I was the first one in my particular class to have divorced parents. It’s super common now.

You assume all kids have great parents. They don’t. Kids who don’t shouldn’t have additional burdens put on them when there are other options.

If parents want to do all the teaching, homeschool.

Really? Many learn about it from experience and did so from the beginning of time. Both of my grandmothers told me no one in their family said anything to them about it. My oldest aunt was born 7 months after one grandma’s wedding and my grandfather was quite a few years older than her. Coincidence I suppose.

ETA: And this rabbit trail doesn’t need to go further considering that’s not what FL is banning.

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It doesn’t make it any more the school’s business. The problem I have is when this “instruction” comes into direct moral conflict with parents, and schools decide to force onto their kids without their knowledge or consent. The only sane solution is for schools to mind their own business and focus on math, science, and English. Right now most third world countries are outperforming our schools.

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And you think it’s because of sex ed classes?

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Yeah, those famously poor performing countries, like Denmark which teaches sexual health from kindergarten on (literally). And by teaching, I mean their kids are taught the mechanics of sex and understanding of the sexual organs (without moral judgement) as soon as they start school. As well as contraception and learning about sexual transmitted infections as the country has deemed age appropriate.

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If anything, given the proportion of straight/cis-gender conversations, suppressing all other, people with other orientations/identities would be “groomed” to become straight/birth gendered, if that’s how all that truly worked.

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Biology, including human biology, is a necessary academic subject to learn.
One key area in biology is reproduction (without it, we’d only be studying fossiles), and in the case of human reproduction, its variations, risks, and consequences.

And I can state with confidence, that most parents do not teach it (if they ever intended to, they intended to do it years too late). I know for certain, because otherwise I wouldn’t have my daughter try to “validate” with me the “information” that was shared between many of her class mates.

No, kids “obtain” (mis-)information from other sources, much earlier than parents admit to themselves, and fortunately schools are there to bring it back to scientific facts.

Evidence?
How do teachers benefit in participating in such a “conspiracy” to abuse children?

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No, it’s because our schools suck and now would be a good time to focus on priorities. This is obviously not one of them.

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Then you fix what’s lacking, without introducing additional shortfalls by dropping other, important academic subjects.

I agree with you, that the Florida laws will do nothing to address any shortfalls that might exists in their schools. They just create the illusion that “actions” are being taken, but not any to actually address educational shortfalls, whichever ones you are referring to.

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