Open Letter to Parents, Legislators, School Personnel: Which Policy Are You Going To Promote?
Donna Garner – Parents, legislators, school personnel, and the public, you need to be gearing up to take a stand about the type of policies and curriculum school districts should promote to address the bullying issue because the Obama administration has co-opted this issue to drive its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender agenda right straight into every school in America.
On October 26, 2010, the U. S. Department of Education with homosexual Kevin Jennings in charge of the Safe and Drug-Free Schools initiative sent a 10-page LGBT-supportive document to “all public and private schools, colleges, and universities, including the country’s 15,000 school superintendents.” This document threatens schools, K-16, with litigation and loss of federal funds if the schools do not promote and accept LGBT behavior.
Please read the details of this aggressive initiative as explained in my article posted on EdWeek.org on 10.27.10: http://www.educationnews.org/commentaries/opinions_on_education/101979.html
Which approach should legislators and schools develop to address the bullying issue? Which approach would be fair and healthy for all students?
(1) The first is my recommendation.
(2) The second recommendation comes from Thomas Schanding, an assistant professor at the University of Houston who chairs the National Association of School Psychologists’ Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning (GLBTQ) committee. His approach is explained in an article in the 11.6.10 Houston Chronicle (posted below my recommendations).
(1) Recommendation from Donna Garner:
On 10.28.10, the Washington Times carried an article that explained the various types of anti-bullying laws being considered and/or passed across the country: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/oct/28/dc-mulls-anti-bullying-law/
Here is the anti-bullying law that the D. C. council is considering: “…place special emphasis on gender-related characteristics, including gender, sexual orientation, gender expressions and gender identity…[examples enumerated by Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN).”
This is what Missouri has passed: "Each district's antibullying policy shall be founded on the assumption that all students need a safe learning environment. Policies shall treat students equally and shall not contain specific lists of protected classes of students who are to receive special treatment. Policies may include age-appropriate differences for schools based on the grade levels at the school. Each such policy shall contain a statement of the consequences of bullying [including] cyberbullying, e-mails as acts of bullying, intimidation and harassment.”
If parents really care about their children, they must get highly involved with their local school districts to fight off the LGBT pressure and intimidation of the U. S. Department of Education.
To do this, parents are going to need alternatives that they can present to their local school districts that would help to diminish the anti-bullying problems that definitely are occuring among students.
As alternatives to curriculum proposed by the LGBT organizations, I encourage schools to develop their own curriculum utilizing:
(1) the True Tolerance website (http://www.truetolerance.org/ ) which is full of good ideas and information.
(2) the Scott & White Worth the Wait® sex education curriculum (http://www.worththewait.org/index.html ). Yes, S&W teaches teen abstinence; but it also contains many student activities that emphasize healthy personal relationships.
Several years ago, I was the writer/researcher for the S&W program; and each of the four notebooks (Grades 6, 7, 8, and High School) begins with an emphasis not on sex education but on establishing healthy personal relationships based upon positive personal character traits.
In other words, the foundation for the S&W program is to help students to value other people and to honor their personhood. This is exactly the kind of curriculum schools should present to help prevent bullying.
The activities found in S&W help students to recognize each person’s uniqueness and to treat others with dignity and worth. The activities help students to learn to identify positive personal character traits in others and then to learn ways to infuse those traits into their own lives.
Because the units are stand-alone, educators are free to pick and choose the age-appropriate activities that emphasize strong, healthy relationships. The activities are fun, and they increase students’ abilities to communicate effectively with one another.
To view sample lessons of the Scott & White Worth the Wait® curriculum, please go to the following links, allowing time for each to load.
Grade 6: Go to Lesson 1, “Positive Personal Character Traits and Emotional Needs”: http://www.worththewait.org/p/pdf/WTW_6thcurrsample.pdf
Grade 7: Go to Lesson 2A&B, a unit on friendships, emotions, and making good choices: http://www.worththewait.org/p/pdf/WTW_7thcurrsample.pdf
Grade 8: Notice the lessons on emotional needs, peer pressure, relationships and marriage: http://www.worththewait.org/p/pdf/WTW_8thcurrsample.pdf
High School: Notice the Table of contents and how many lessons there are on character development and developing healthy relationships: http://www.worththewait.org/p/pdf/WTW_HScurrsample.pdf
High School: Go to Section 5, “Considering Health Risks”: http://www.worththewait.org/p/pdf/section%205.pdf
High School: Notice Section 8, “Developing Healthy Relationships”: http://www.worththewait.org/p/pdf/section%208.pdf
If parents (and the public) are going to go to their school officials and object to the USDOE’s push to get all students to accept LGBT activities as normal, parents must be able to offer alternatives to school officials. I hope that the above-mentioned alternatives will equip parents (and the public) with the ideas and materials they need to build a strong defense for their children.
(2) Thomas Schanding’s recommendation:
Professor tries to get to the root of bullying
Study finds gender roles can be behind harassment toward the LGBT community
By CINDY GEORGE
Nov. 6, 2010, 8:32PMTorment from his classmates drove Cy-Fair ISD middle-schooler Asher Brown to kill himself in September, his parents say. The 13-year-old’s mother and stepfather say he was “bullied to death,” partly because of his homosexuality. Physical and verbal harassment, including bullying, is routinely experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, according to a national school climate survey from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. It’s not just one’s espoused or perceived sexuality, but gender expression that may cause LGBT children to be targeted by bullies, said Thomas Schanding, an assistant professor in the University of Houston’s school psychology program. He also chairs the National Association of School Psychologists’ GLBTQ committee, which focuses on the issues faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth in public and private schools. Schanding spoke recently with Chronicle reporter Cindy George about bullying.
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