Female students assaulted by transgender students in bathroom

[Bootstrap]

It's getting harder and harder for any public school system to work for a community as a whole. School is where a lot of children absorb a lot of their world view, especially when it comes to gender and sexuality. And school needs to feel safe for everyone.

I have no idea whether transgender students are more likely to rape than other students. But I do know that some public schools are very unfriendly for children who understand sexuality the way I do. And other public schools are very unfriendly toward children who perceive themselves as trans. Neither side is going to be able to banish the other. School board meetings will continue to be rather heated.

I don't know how to fix this problem. In general, a well-designed voucher system seems like the best possible outcome if we want to maintain a public school system.

[Falco Underhill]

I don't know how to fix this problem. In general, a well-designed voucher system seems like the best possible outcome if we want to maintain a public school system.

What's your idea of a well designed voucher system? Not trying to challenge, just want to know.

[mike]

It's getting harder and harder for any public school system to work for a community as a whole. School is where a lot of children absorb a lot of their world view, especially when it comes to gender and sexuality. And school needs to feel safe for everyone.

I have no idea whether transgender students are more likely to rape than other students. But I do know that some public schools are very unfriendly for children who understand sexuality the way I do. And other public schools are very unfriendly toward children who perceive themselves as trans. Neither side is going to be able to banish the other. School board meetings will continue to be rather heated.

I don't know how to fix this problem. In general, a well-designed voucher system seems like the best possible outcome if we want to maintain a public school system.

I am for private education and homeschooling, but at the same time I know we live in a world where it benefits everybody if everyone is educated and that means public education is necessary. I think a voucher system would generate competition among public schools which could be beneficial to students and parents. An inevitable result would be that bad schools would probably get much worse, which would be bad for students who might lack the ability to choose better schools for reasons outside of their control.

People are already increasingly choosing private schools and home schooling without vouchers, and I imagine those numbers would only increase under a voucher system. I strongly doubt such a system will ever happen though. It would be too disruptive to the country's educational system, and government would have less control over parents' and students' educational choices.

[Ken]

But I do know that some public schools are very unfriendly for children who understand sexuality the way I do. And other public schools are very unfriendly toward children who perceive themselves as trans. Neither side is going to be able to banish the other. School board meetings will continue to be rather heated.

I’ve been in a lot of different public schools over the years and I’ve never heard of or seen one that was unfriendly to ordinary mainstream heterosexual kids. They are the dominant majority and dominant social group in every single school I have ever been to or worked at. So I would dispute your notion that some schools are unfriendly towards children who understand sexuality the way that you do. That simply doesn’t happen in my experience.

[Falco Underhill]

School Vouchers.

[Bootstrap]

But I do know that some public schools are very unfriendly for children who understand sexuality the way I do. And other public schools are very unfriendly toward children who perceive themselves as trans. Neither side is going to be able to banish the other. School board meetings will continue to be rather heated.

I’ve been in a lot of different public schools over the years and I’ve never heard of or seen one that was unfriendly to ordinary mainstream heterosexual kids. They are the dominant majority and dominant social group in every single school I have ever been to or worked at. So I would dispute your notion that some schools are unfriendly towards children who understand sexuality the way that you do. That simply doesn’t happen in my experience.

I wasn't talking about kids who are heterosexual. I was talking about kids who believe your body knows what gender it is and say so. Even if they are respectful to those who disagree.

My children went to a school where teachers taught an understanding of sexuality in which birth gender and your real gender were different things. Children who openly said they believe that your body knows what gender it is were looked down on by some children. Peer pressure and groupthink are real.

[MaxPC]

A couple of months ago, I went and sat with a trans friend in the middle of the night who was contemplating suicide. The reason why they were considering suicide was the intense loneliness and discrimination they received in this rural, deeply conservative community.

If you care about mental health, then the prejudice, discrimination and demonization that transgender individuals receive plays a huge role in that.

Why is this person living in a rural, deeply conservative community? Why force nonBiblical beliefs on conservative communities who have clearly decided that those beliefs are not in their value systems.

The problem I see with all of this alleged hand-wringing over mental health is that of blaming those communities who have rejected the gender identity ideology. There are communities who have no problem with it: move there. If you care about your friend's loneliness find a way to help him move to a more liberally minded community. Don't blame the place where one lives for one's problems. One's problems come from within; take responsibility for sinful inclinations and address them in the manner that fits one's values. Do not try to change everyone else around you just because you decide you no longer share their values. Relocate.

Would you give the same advice to all the conservatives in my more centrist community who are unhappy with mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and policies that are supportive of LGBT citizens, social justice, etc? Opinions and positions in which they are in the clear minority? Just get out and move to Idaho or Mississippi?

It depends on how large the conservative contingent is in numbers. If they are a small minority my answer is indeed, yes. E.g. For a number of years now there has been a steady conservative exodus out of California and other communities on the left coast. They found communities that are in better resonance with their values.

That is the genius of the US Constitution. We have the freedom to move. As this applies to one individual in a small rural community, this individual has the freedom to relocate if he is that unhappy. At the end of the day that individual needs to assume responsibility for his choices and actions just as God has designed us all to do: it is called Free Will. If miserable, move. In the same vein, communities also have the freedom to choose those values, (yes, conservative values included) they wish to live by.

[Ken]

Why is this person living in a rural, deeply conservative community? Why force nonBiblical beliefs on conservative communities who have clearly decided that those beliefs are not in their value systems.

The problem I see with all of this alleged hand-wringing over mental health is that of blaming those communities who have rejected the gender identity ideology. There are communities who have no problem with it: move there. If you care about your friend's loneliness find a way to help him move to a more liberally minded community. Don't blame the place where one lives for one's problems. One's problems come from within; take responsibility for sinful inclinations and address them in the manner that fits one's values. Do not try to change everyone else around you just because you decide you no longer share their values. Relocate.

Would you give the same advice to all the conservatives in my more centrist community who are unhappy with mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and policies that are supportive of LGBT citizens, social justice, etc? Opinions and positions in which they are in the clear minority? Just get out and move to Idaho or Mississippi?

It depends on how large the conservative contingent is in numbers. If they are a small minority my answer is indeed, yes. E.g. For a number of years now there has been a steady conservative exodus out of California and other communities on the left coast. They found communities that are in better resonance with their values.

That is the genius of the US Constitution. We have the freedom to move. As this applies to one individual in a small rural community, this individual has the freedom to relocate if he is that unhappy. At the end of the day that individual needs to assume responsibility for his choices and actions just as God has directed us all to do: it is called Free Will. If miserable, move. In the same vein, communities also have the freedom to choose those values, (yes, conservative values included) they wish to live by.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it actually guarantee the freedom to move. And many people indeed do not have that freedom for any number of reasons.

But the Constitution does guarantee equal protection under the law, even if you are gay or LGBT.

[Bootstrap]

I am for private education and homeschooling, but at the same time I know we live in a world where it benefits everybody if everyone is educated and that means public education is necessary. I think a voucher system would generate competition among public schools which could be beneficial to students and parents. An inevitable result would be that bad schools would probably get much worse, which would be bad for students who might lack the ability to choose better schools for reasons outside of their control.

People are already increasingly choosing private schools and home schooling without vouchers, and I imagine those numbers would only increase under a voucher system. I strongly doubt such a system will ever happen though. It would be too disruptive to the country's educational system, and government would have less control over parents' and students' educational choices.

There are different ways to structure a voucher system. I think a good voucher system should:

1. Pay for the entire cost of a school, not just give a discount to people who can afford to pay for private schools.
2. Pay the school directly. It should not be a disproportional tax benefit for people who pay higher taxes.
3. Provide opportunities where children are, really working hard to ensure that there are good options everywhere.

There are voucher systems that are really designed to save rich people money when they send their kids to private schools, without really providing much for the neediest children. I am completely against that kind of voucher system.

[Bootstrap]

Nowhere in the Constitution does it actually guarantee the freedom to move. And many people indeed do not have that freedom for any number of reasons.

But the Constitution does guarantee equal protection under the law, even if you are gay or LGBT.

Many constitutional rights are about protecting people from others who vehemently disagree with them. If people have to move to be safe, something has gone badly wrong.