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In some of the nation’s largest public school districts, including Seattle, Spokane, and the Oregon public school system, it is easier for a student to choose a new name and pronouns than it is to get an aspirin from the school nurse.
At least three million K–12 students in 25 districts are given free rein to choose their gender identity at school by changing the name and pronouns used by school employees without parental consent, even though their schools require parental permission to dispense over-the-counter medication to those same kids.
When I saw this new survey by the Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI), I spent some time reviewing it.
Every parent and grandparent should be aware of what DFI has discovered.
Be informed, not misled.
Defense of Freedom Institute gives some background on their study:
DFI examined policies in the nation’s 20 largest school districts by enrollment, as well as in districts located in select major cities and districts accused of allowing K–12 students to choose names and pronouns aligned with their gender identity without parental consent.
We pulled the 20 largest school districts by enrollment from the most recent list in the Digest of Education Statistics.
Because public school enrollment has changed substantially in recent years, we calculated the number of students covered by these policies based on school districts’ self-reported enrollment numbers or numbers posted by state education agencies, which are likely more current than what is represented in the Digest. We also included charter schools in our calculations (Addendum A).
Because this study examines only a sample of school districts, the total number of districts nationwide that allow students to change their name and pronouns at school without parental permission is likely far higher.
Here's what they found.
Eight of the largest 20 districts in America have readily available policies or guidelines that direct school employees to address a child by the child’s preferred name and pronouns without obtaining permission from the child’s parents and that prohibit their employees from dispensing over-the-counter medication to students without parental consent. These policies imply that children who are not yet mature enough to decide when they need an aspirin are mature enough to decide whether to go through the school day as male, female, or something else entirely.
With the exception of Los Angles, the other "eight" schools are in the east. Collectively there are more than 2.5 million kids in the eight schools.
The issue of allowing a change of name and pronouns without parental consent is not confined to the largest school districts. DFI found an additional 13 districts, located in communities of varying sizes, that direct school employees to use a new name and pronouns without parental consent but not to dispense over-the-counter medication absent permission from parents.
This list caught my attention.
- Boston Public Schools
- Fresno Unified School District
- Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools
- Kansas City Public Schools (Missouri)
- Lawrence Township Public Schools (New Jersey)
- Long Beach Unified School District
- Pittsburgh Public Schools
- Sacramento City United School District
- San Diego Unified School District
- San Francisco Unified School District
- Seattle Public Schools
- Spokane Public Schools
- Upper Moreland School District (Pennsylvania)
I have linked Seattle and Spokane to more source material.
Slightly over 500,000 students are enrolled in these districts.
Oregon Department of Education encourages schools to follow the lead of students regarding their preferred names and pronouns without notifying their parents.
The January 2023 policy document reads in part:
“To the extent possible, schools should refrain from revealing information about a student’s gender identity, even to parents, caregivers, or other school administrators, without permission from the student.” The guidance is not legally binding and notes that “parent and family support is the goal”; nevertheless, it states that a student should be addressed by his or her chosen name and pronouns whether or not a parent has been made aware of the situation. This does not mean that each district in the state is bound to follow the misguided approach of allowing children to change their names and pronouns without parental consent.
Rather, it demonstrates that state-level authorities encourage districts to adopt such policies.
Takeaway
DFI concludes,
"A social and cultural consensus that parents decided what was best for their children once existed in the United States. Policies requiring parental consent for schools to dispense over-the-counter medication to students are products of an era in which nearly all school districts, regardless of politics, respected parental rights. In a sea change demanded by America’s cultural left, many districts trust parents to decide how the school should handle their child’s tummy ache but not their child’s gender identity."
State officials—governors, legislatures, boards of education, education agencies, school districts, school boards, and schools—must fight this trend and work in sync to ensure that schools defer to parents on issues relating to the physical and mental health of their children. Most importantly, parents should know their rights and demand transparency from their schools.
Several years ago Don Wildmon, the founder of the American Family Association, said:
"Education has become one of the primary arenas of liberal message control. While using the mantra of "separation of Church and State," liberals have established the New Age religious denominations of Secular Humanism, Agnosticism, and Atheism as the State religions. Secular Humanism, Agnosticism, and Atheism are taught in our schools by default. Since so many of the tenets of Secular Humanism, Agnosticism, and Atheism violate the known laws of physics and the other sciences, the students are brainwashed into a kind of mental activity that is confused and ineffective. The types of mental loops that are required to believe in socialism, evolutionism, feminism, and other liberal ideas are illogical and silly, yet they are being taught. And teachers are testing students who are expected to learn to think in these illogical ways. This is true of K-12 schools as well as public Colleges and Universities."
Now public education has refocused its power and money toward indoctrinating kids to defy both Nature and Nature's God.
Vladimir Lenin infamously said: "Give me a child for the first 5 years of his life and he will be mine forever."
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Prayerful.