The irony is that acknowledging that students of other sexual orientations and gender identities exist actually gives those students a much better chance to meet proficiencies and even excel in school!
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Deleted.
If it’s supposed to be like K-3, I suspect it also means no examples of gay marriage or kids in any photos or examples, not just instruction. I also expect “traditional” photos or examples are just fine, akin to teaching boy/girl as mentioned above is likely still ok. It’s only those who aren’t traditional that aren’t allowed to be acknowledged at school, in life, or in history.
Kids aren’t dumb though. The more they try to suppress the more kids are interested - at least - once they hit the high school years I deal with.
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My sister teaches 2nd grade, thank the lord not in FL. She’s has/had colleagues who are gay/lesbian, students who have gay/lesbian parents, students who have been trans, students with sibs who are gay, lesbian, queer, trans. What would she have to do? Ignore the makeup of the families? Never ask a question? Would the kids never be able to share their family?
I have a friend who is a gay and an Episcopalian priest. He counsels many queer teens and adults. He’s shared how many have either tried to unalive themselves or succeeded. It’s a tragedy. The state he’s in is trying to do many of the things FL is doing. It is so, so sad.
My heart breaks. As someone said above, cruelty is the point.
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I don’t think students discussing their family composition in class qualifies as a teacher conducting lessons in gender identity. I think that it is insensitive at best to do so but not prohibited under the rules. I never cared about or discussed my teachers’ or coworkers’ sexual preferences, believing it was absolutely none of my business. I wouldn’t have responded if I had been asked.
I do not care how one identifies religiously, politically or by gender or sexual preference-like the EEO rules for workplaces, some topics should be off the table in professional environments and that includes school. Not my business.
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Florida has already banned children’s books showing same gender couples.
That girl on the far right has the correct expression…
from the story:
Yep, “scientific”. There is nothing that proves that your claim is “science based” like quoting that well known peer-reviewed scientific text, The King James version of the Bible. Often, when I want to support my scientific claims, I too add citations from unrelated and irrelevant sources.
As a member of a minority religious/ethnic group, it is frightening to hear members of the majority religion quoting from their religious texts to support laws that affect me.
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I agree it is upsetting. So I would rather the government refrain from all lessons regarding religion as well as gender identity in schools.
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Yep, 100%. Separation of religion and state.
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How should history teachers explain the background and meaning of “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”?
How should health classes explain to students that some people (including possibly some of the students in the class) may have non-typical gender identities?
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One can’t stop discussing various religions in school unless one wants to really gut history classes. A ton of history happened because of various religions.
One ought not stop discussing humans in school, because our planet is composed of humans and we have both similarities and differences. Kids, by default, grow up in their family bubble. One only knows what they are exposed to, but we all interact with the world, so learning about others outside of one’s own bubble is rather important IME.
If we must stop discussing or showing pictures of humans being human, then it should be all humans I guess, not just those targeted by leaders with an agenda.
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Amen!
In my opinion health classes should teach the basic biology… as they did ten years+ ago. Teachers delving into gender and sexuality beyond the science just opens up “personal opinion and politics” which should not be part of the discussion in K-12 schools. Most teachers are not equipped to handle questions on sexual orientation or gender identity or kids that need specific support. Parents and trained counselors are where these conversations need to happen. The reality is most kids are not living in a bubble with social media, The Media, and everything in between there is not a lack of source for information.
School needs to concentrate on academics period.
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The foundation of academics is critical thinking and discussion. I grew up in the 60’s, and while we may not have discussed sexual orientation, we certainly discussed subjects that made others angry. You know, like the fact that separate but equal was morally unacceptable … even though upright Christians in parts of our country insisted that it was acceptable to treat other human beings that way. I talked about this in elementary school.
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100%. And it seems to be lacking in many schools. I think we’d be better off as a society if this was more of a priority, not less.
When my D was in HS, the rival HS banned discussing politics…in history class! Her HS went the other way and not only encouraged discussion in class, they started a “current events” club, moderated by the APUSH teacher. Kids learned to go to source material instead of the media, and how to debate facts instead of trading insults.
There are always going to be “hot button” topics and teaching children how to address differences of opinion civilly and with compassion seem to me to be good life skills. There is an opportunity for schools to teach kids that differences should be celebrated. I think we could do with a lot less hate in the world.
And there are plenty of non academic skills that are taught and reinforced in school, especially in the elementary years.
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Given that these topics are very controversial and there are multiple opinions I do not believe that the school is the place to discuss. Caveat: If a student is taking a history class or current events etc. and is in high school, then having these sorts of discussions makes sense. I agree critical thinking is important but needs to be in the proper class setting.
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The question is- as with so many things- definitions. What is the exact definition of instruction- and who gets to decide?
A dynamic classroom should have a lot of back and forth between teachers and students, and every one of us should know just how far off-piste young people’s questions can go!
So, let’s say there’s nothing remotely related to human sexuality or family structures or politics in the lesson plan, but a student brings up an example or asks a question- even just about current events. How far can a teacher respond to that example or question before they are “instructing”? Bonus question: does the teacher get held accountable for the older students who will be pushing back on this and deliberately asking awkward question and doing projects on banned topics? Because you know that there will be some.
There is performative element to this: every state has long had curriculum standards committees. They set out what things must be taught and approve what books can be required. That is the place where guidelines for teachers can be developed in a thoughtful way that reflects the developmental differences from K-12.
Except school is not a “professional environment” - as @kelsmom pointed out it is explicitly a learning environment. Not only that, but it is chock-full of growing people whose boundaries between what you say at home and what you say at school are elastic at best!
I agree that teachers are professionals, and should behave accordingly. But there are few workplaces where a passing reference ('oh yes, my husband and I went to see that movie last week) would be a disciplinary matter. If a male teacher said that in a classroom setting, is that “instruction”? In many people’s eyes, yes.
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Since good teachers are a rare find I think it’s for the best if they stick to teaching academics to the best of their ability and let families handle the rest
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Fwiw there is an exception for discusions in health/sex ed classes.
A good discussion of history and the constitution does not require religious lessons. One can understand the Crusades for example, and the Protestant Schism without fully teaching all aspects of Catholic catechism; it has been done successfully for generations. This really isn’t controversial. Same with discussing the basic 2 party system, the history thereof, the rise of 3rd parties, and the basic platforms of each in a government class.
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Good teachers are harder and harder to find because legislators are doing things to strip them of the resources to be good teachers.
Who would want to do something with their arms tied behind their backs?
And many who do want to be in this wonderful profession leave after a few years due to all of this restriction.
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The teachers I know who left did so due to unmotivated students, a lack of classroom discipline and respect for the teacher, and helicopter parents.
I don’t think there is a huge group of teachers eager to discuss gender identity during algebra with teenagers and deal with the inevitable fallout from principals, school boards, parents, etc. For the same reason most teachers no longer encourage student in-class debates on affirmative action or abortion. Things are too polarized, people are too sensitive, and there is too much else to teach that needs to be covered.
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