No Time for Complacency

Sometimes it’s easy to think we can just “ride out the storm” and everything will get better “tomorrow, tomorrow, there’s always tomorrow.” But the issue of immorality is not going away.

You may not know this yet—but “gender-free classrooms” are on the horizon. The British Columbia Teachers Federation Handbook says that, “Gender is a product of the mind.” Students should be allowed to dress in any fashion, according to any gender identity they choose; and gender specific pronouns should be thrown out. The mandates of this teachers union say that bathrooms should be available based on the “gender identity” the student feels that day. (Boys who feel like girls will go to the girls’ restroom!) Everything must be scrutinized for gender bias and sex education needs to begin in elementary school to discuss a whole “continuum of possible gender identities.”

The National Education Association in the US is moving in this same direction. What does it all mean?

I had no idea this kind of thinking even existed until I did a presentation 6 years ago for my daughter’s second grade class. The teacher and I created a Knights and Ladies program for the end of the year. The plan was that it would be historical and encompass “across the curriculum” ideas. We taught the little kids words like “chivalry” and we talked about the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. We read stories about defeating dragons. The boys created dragon posters and bean bags to slay the dragons. The girls decorated a big box castle and made “healing herb pouches.” We had a grand costume party at the end of the year which was envied by everyone else in the school!

I sent an article about this to a popular online Teachers’ magazine. And the hate mail flowed for over a month.

I was accused of “gender stereotyping.” “What about the boys who wanted to wear gowns?” teachers asked me.

I was accused of being “homophobic.” “Children shouldn’t be forced into acting like knights just because they are boys,” the teachers said.

I was accused of promoting “violence” because the boys threw their beanbags at the large dragon banners hanging between trees.

I was told that I was encouraging repression and forcing children to be one way. I was told that boys and girls would act exactly the same way except that people like me force them into gender roles which is abusive.

The truth is—these teachers are instilling terrible confusion in our young people! Modern kids have no idea what it means to be who they are—as a boy or a girl. They need role models and clarity--not gender chaos!

What a terrible disservice this kind of thinking does to our children. But beyond that—it is immoral. God created us as “male and female.” Gen. 1:27 To pretend that gender is not two distinct forms of identity leads to moral relativism…”Whatever feels good to you, IS good for you.” Forget “right and wrong, truth and lies”—they are rigid categories just like “male and female.”

I advise all parents: Pay attention to what’s happening at your children’s school. Watch out for new textbooks with “gender free” ideas. Watch out for sex education programs. Make you voice known.

And try asking, “Can we have a Knights and Ladies party at the end of the year?” See what happens!