Secrecy Has No Place In Education
Dear Editor,
A second grader picked up from school tells grandmother she was taught she could be a boy but she wasn’t to tell her parents. Why are happy little girls told they can be boys? How do they become boys? Why shouldn’t parents be told about becoming a boy? Something is very wrong here! Why the promotion of girls being boys and vice versa at such a tender age? Indoctrination teaching a set of beliefs uncritically. Clearly young children have no foundation of knowledge or critical thinking skills to understand the concept.
Adults can do as they choose. It’s not the education system’s place to expound on genderism to children and is inexcusable for educators to tell young children to keep secrets from their parents.
There is a national discussion on sexually explicit books being placed in elementary libraries. Again, I must ask why? The public education system is creating an environment focused on sexuality and utilizing secrecy to dismiss parents. Parents are the first line of defense against sexual predators. Statistics for sexual abuse is 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys will be sexually abused. Children are most vulnerable between the ages of 7 and 13.
Children should never be told to keep secrets from their parents, insinuating they cannot be trusted. Sexually abused children in general feel they did something wrong and are afraid to tell an adult. One educator telling students to hide information from parents is too many. Parents talk to your children.
Linda Welborn
Guilford County Board of Education Member District 4
You are making up a scenario that doesn’t happen. Gender identity is NOT a part of any sex ed curriculum taught in Guilford county elementary schools. If a child brings up the subject because they have heard their parents speak of it for example, a teacher should have a right to explain what Trans means. But modern republicans in some states want to make that a crime with fines up to 1/3 of a teacher GROSS pay.
Fear mongering over this topic is a major distraction to how schools are ACTUALLY failing our children. Clearly you as education board member need to focus on what really matters.
Sad this is all you have to write about to the Rhino Times.
You need to get your head out of the sand! It’s happening in GCS. Wake up!!
Chris: are you a teacher or employee of the Guilford County Schools? Then how do you know this did not happen here? Also, do you have any children aged 5-8? Do you really want a teacher to instruct them in transgender subjects? If so, you are not much of a parent. Or is it that you are just a left leaning liberal who drinks the kool aid everyday and then spouts off about every subject even though you are ignorant of the subject?
My wife works in one of GCS’s elementary schools. I would happily accept any evidence to the contrary about current sex ed curriculum in GCS elementary schools. No one has yet provided anything other than talking points and generalizations on the subject (like sheep repeating their shepherds words). What evidence is there that this is a real problem in GCS? People like Linda are using this fake issue as a distraction to our school boards real failures in support public education.
FYI, My kids are grown and in college now. They have a healthy understanding of sexuality. Including these topics that you call claim will destroy America. They both have friends in same sex relationships (and a close family member as well). The topic of trans is a bit more complicated but they explore the topic on their own and have yet to be harmed by knowledge.
But you be you.
Well, that explains why you’re a knee jerk cheerleader for GCS….
PS It’s a shame your wife has to go to work, Chris. I might only be a door-to-door salesman, but my wife hasn’t had to go to work for decades. Maybe you should try door-to-door selling. I’ll show you how to make some proper money.
LOL, given the low pay at GCS, it is more a volunteer job. It is her personal choice to work now that the kids are grown and housework is not either of our fav task so we have outsourced. LOL
But I love that digs at you are working and have gotten under your skin.
You couldn’t get under my skin if you tried. Knocking on doors for 30 years gives you a skin as thick as… a Rhino.
Try again, loser.
Do you know this for a fact chris or is this your liberal opinion
I have talked to actual elementary school teachers. You should give it try and better understand the real issues with the failure of our education system. For example, that the reward and recognition system no incentive for a teacher to perform well in the classroom and leaves a principle almost powerless to do anything about under performing teachers or staff.
You are speaking in general terms about the issue like most liberals. Do you have any factual evidence that says this episode did not happen. You talk like ole slo joe.
You can go online and read the curriculum yourself. It is NOT a big secret.
And also note that this is a part of the curriculum that lasts for a couple of hours a year. This is NOT some kinda daily conversation of teachers pushing their view of sexuality on young students. Trust me. They have far more challenging tasks such as just keep the attention of 20+ kids at a time.
Chris, the teacher should not have a right, or duty, to explain what Trans means either in the whole class or as an after class discussion. They SHOULD be required to talk to the parents so THEY can discuss that with a child.
Why can’t a teacher offer a basic answer to a simple question…oh right…modern republicans hate facts, open access to knowledge and real freedom.
What the government schools are doing to little children is obscene.
If you love your children, take them out of the open sewer that is government schools. They are incompetent, imperious, overpaid, tendentious, and presumptuous. And quite possibly, evil. Satan loves to rob children of their innocence…. like Guilford County Schools.
Truth is far more boring. Mostly teachers are just trying to control overcrowded classrooms full of kids that lack solid parental support. These teachers to call evil, are NOT teaching anything other than your basic boring sex ed about puberty and the changes they will be going through. They are not teaching about gay sex, gender identity issues, etc… These topics are only an issue if something is brought up as a question by a child. Sure the are books in the library but they are NOT mandatory reading and are only targeted for kids that bring up issues they have learned from home.
But you can live in fear all you want. The adults will worry about how to actually educated the children of our community. (unlike Linda who only seems to care about scaring people enough to win votes)
Teachers have NO BUSINESS talking about sex to little children – in any way, shape, or form. That is the right and responsibility of the parents.
Teachers need to stay in their lane.
It is NC law that they do.
So?
You really are one of those people my brother calls “An Acceptor – Obeyer”. You accept the societal circumstance you are presented with, and you obey it.
You would have been “A Good German”.
You’re pathetic.
The Ol’ Joe playbook. Govt schools teaching children to spy on their parents.
Do you know which party runs the school boards?
Linda: if this took place in the Guilford County schools, please identify the teacher and work to have her/him/it dismissed. They sound like a pedophile to me. Anytime an adult tells a child “do not tell your parents” there is a fly in the ointment.
Guarantee she can’t. Just good ‘ol fear mongering from the right since they lack ability to solve the actual problems facing our failing education systems.
LOL “chris” It most defiantly is in GCS and we parents have been dealing with it through SEL that is taught K-6. Please do your research. We greatly appreciate Linda being a voice for us parents. We do not co-parent with the government and schools need to worry about doing the job they are hired to do and that is to EDUCATE. NOT indoctrinate! We do not send our children to school to be taught about being non-binary, LGBTQ, how to transition… AND YES this is being taught in some GCS schools
Elementary school is k-5. 6th grade is middle school. I have read SEL to understand all the fuss. It only teaches respect for those that are different sexually than what is considered the norm. It doesn’t promote any other justification for same sex or trans as right or wrong…just that it exists and people deserve respect. I hope you teach that yourself to your children. Or do you teach hate? Fear? Discrimination?
You do know kids get this same exposure from basic day time media right?
You do not understand this is being pushed through GCS schools with the approval of the superintendent.
It didn’t and she’s lying and fear mongering.
First lying is something, I am not know for thank you. No, i do not believe it is throughout GCS schools. I got my information from those involved. I followed up, parent has talked with principal and counselor. You can say it did not happen, i know it did. My message is parents need to talk to their children and a teacher should never tell a child to hid information from a parent.. Why is it not good enough to simply say be kind to everyone. We are all different. Due to student privacy student and school information was not provided.
Linda Welborn
Oh look another crazy GOP instigator.
1) Creation of a make-believe story with no substantiation to further an anti-lgbt agenda.
2) “Why the promotion of girls being boys and vice versa at such a tender age?”
Because Trans people exist at that age.
3) “There is a national discussion on sexually explicit books being placed in elementary libraries.”
No, there isn’t. There is a Republican discussion about removing LGBT materials from all school libraries.
4)Parents are the first line of defense against sexual predators.
This is a harmful stereotype, in the context of this letter, to refer to LGBT* people.
Linda Welborn offers no proof. She’s just trying to gain traction for her own Christo-fascist agenda.
The liberals want your guns.
The conservatives want your money.
Linda is coming for your god.