{"id":17525,"date":"2015-07-10T00:53:28","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T00:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=17525"},"modified":"2015-07-10T00:55:06","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T00:55:06","slug":"kids-are-called-purple-penguins-at-gender-inclusive-school-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=17525","title":{"rendered":"Kids are called ‘purple penguins’ at gender inclusive school district"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Gender inclusive’ school district says drop ‘boys and girls,’ call kids ‘purple penguins’<\/h1>\n
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\"(AP)\"<\/a>

(AP)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By Todd Starnes FoxNews.com<\/p>\n

The fine folks who run the school system in Lincoln, Neb., are on a campaign to make their classrooms gender-inclusive. And that means teachers will no longer refer to boys and girls \u2026 as boys and girls.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDon\u2019t use phrases such as \u2018boys and girls,\u2019 \u2018you guys,\u2019 \u2018ladies and gentlemen,\u2019 and similarly gendered expressions to get kids\u2019 attention,\u201d reads a handout from the Lincoln Public Schools that was given to teachers.<\/p>\n

The handout was part of an effort to educate teachers and administrators about transgender issues, educators told the Lincoln Journal Star.<\/p>\n

[pullquote]<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agenda we\u2019re promoting is to help all kids succeed,\u201d Brenda Leggiardo the district’s coordinator of social workers and counselors told the newspaper<\/a>. \u201cWe have kids who come to us with a whole variety of circumstances, and we need to equitably serve all kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

So instead of asking boys and girls to line up as boys or girls, teachers have been encouraged to segregate the children by whether they prefer skateboards or bikes, or whether they like milk or juice.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways ask yourself, \u2018Will this configuration create a gendered space?\u2019\u201d the handout stated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The handout, provided by Gender Spectrum<\/a>, a website which “provides education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for children of all ages” does not explain what to do if all of the children like juice or skateboards. But it does suggest teachers \u201ccreate classroom names and then ask all of the \u2018purple penguins\u2019 to meet at the rug.\u201d<\/p>\n

Purple penguins?<\/i><\/p>\n

The Nebraska Watchdog website published copies of the handouts<\/a>, titled, \u201c12 easy steps on the way to gender inclusiveness\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The documents are chock-full of all sorts of advice for teachers as they deconstruct and reconstruct the notion of what constitutes a boy and what constitutes a girl. (To avoid offense, those terms will henceforth be known as the \u201cb-word\u201d and the \u201cg-word.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cProvide an opportunity for every student to identify a preferred name or pronoun,\u201d the document reads. \u201cAt the beginning of the year or at Back-to-School Night, invite students and parents to let you know if they have a preferred name and\/or pronoun by which they wish to be referred.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back when I was in school, teachers only asked kids if they\u2019d like to be referred to by their first name or their middle name. Of course, I went to school during the Dark Ages.<\/p>\n

The document also provides teachers with information to prevent kids from getting bullied on the playground. They suggest teaching kids to use phrases like, \u201cPlease respect my privacy\u201d and \u201cHey, they\u2019re called \u2018private parts\u2019 for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes sir, that kind of tough talk should definitely dissuade the playground bullies.<\/p>\n

Teachers were also encouraged to share anecdotes from their own lives \u201cthat reflect gender inclusiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven better, share examples when you were not gender inclusive in your thinking, words or behaviors, what you learned as a result and what you will do differently next time,\u201d the handout states.<\/p>\n

I wonder if teachers are allowed to opt out of that part of the assignment. Perhaps they could tell the kids, \u201cThey\u2019re called private parts for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back when I was in school, the only thing the teacher did was read nursery rhymes \u2013 like \u201cRub-a-Dub-Dub.\u201d It was the Dark Ages, folks.<\/p>\n

It was an incredibly insensitive time in our nation\u2019s history, when girls were girls and men were men (with respect to Archie Bunker).<\/p>\n

To illustrate its point, the district provided an illustration of a gingerbread man. There I go again. How insensitive of me. It\u2019s a gingerbread person<\/i>. But for the sake of the teachers, the illustration was called a \u201cgender<\/i>bread person.\u201d Clever, right?<\/p>\n

The \u201cgenderbread person\u201d was created by social justice comedian Sam Killermann. Who knew there was such a thing? But word on the street is the social justice people have quite the funny bone.<\/p>\n

\u201cGender is one of those things everyone thinks they understand, but most people don\u2019t,\u201d Killermann wrote. \u201cLike \u2018Inception,\u2019 gender isn\u2019t binary. It\u2019s not either or. In many cases it\u2019s both\/and.A bit of this, a dash of that. This tasty little guide is meant to be an appetizer for gender understanding. It\u2019s okay if you\u2019re hungry for more. In fact, that\u2019s the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what are the b-words and g-words supposed to call Superman and Wonder Woman? Super Being and Wonder Entity?<\/p>\n

And I suspect some schools will have to rename their athletic teams \u2013 like the Smith County Cowpersons.<\/p>\n

As you might imagine, some parents are not all that happy with the gender inclusiveness agenda. Rachel Terry fired off an email to other moms and dads accusing the district of social re-engineering.<\/p>\n

The Journal Star obtained a copy of her email. She said the district was using taxpayer dollars to promote \u201cthe deconstruction of fundamental family and religious values.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her defense, Mrs. Terry probably grew up in the Dark Ages, too \u2013 when little g-words wore dresses and little b-words wore Husky jeans.<\/p>\n

One school district official rejected her argument and said it was not pushing a political or religious agenda. Nor was it pushing a sexual preference on people.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of education in addition to academics is the feeling of welcomeness, the relationship piece,\u201d district official Russ Uhing told the newspaper.<\/p>\n

In its quest for \u201cwelcomeness,\u201d perhaps the district could ban all homework and allow children to eat cupcakes in the lunchroom. I\u2019m sure the b-words and g-words would feel mighty welcome with those changes.<\/p>\n

Still, the folks at Gender Spectrum admit there will be times when teachers will have to use a gender-specific term.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you find it necessary to reference gender, say \u2018Boy, girl, both or neither,\u2019\u201d the handout states. \u201cWhen asked why, use this as a teachable moment. Emphasize to students that your classroom recognizes and celebrates the gender diversity of all students.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that, dear readers, is a glimpse into what they\u2019re teaching kids in public schools these days.<\/p>\n

While we\u2019re on the subject, what\u2019s a gender-neutral term for morons?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Gender inclusive’ school district says drop ‘boys and girls,’ call kids ‘purple penguins’ By Todd Starnes FoxNews.com The fine folks who run the school system in Lincoln, Neb., are on a campaign to make their classrooms gender-inclusive. And that means … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}