Gender confusion

[nett]

Ken generally downplays anything related to the culture war going on the US. He either doesn't think it's a big deal, or doesn't think it's happening at all.

1. It isn’t happening.
2. It is happening, and it’s not a big deal.
3. It is happening, and it’s wonderful.
4. It is happening, and you’re a bad person if you oppose it.

You can replace “happening” with “gay marriage”, for example.

Let me get this straight. The claim here (and in right-wing media) is that there is a vast conspiracy out there to "groom" and force school kids into an LGBT life against their will. And the evidence presented so far (at least in the last 10 or so pages of postings here) is the following:

• a page or two of factual information in a yet to be published book in a 19-book series for middle school girls.
• one example (out of the over 100,000 public schools in the country) of a counselor providing a bandage to a student so she can wrap her breasts. Not medication mind you, but the equivalent of an ace bandage that any kid could actually acquire.
• one example of the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights opening an investigation into a school district for censorship in response to a formal complaint. When in fact that same office routinely receives thousands of complaints and conducts thousands of investigations related to sexual, racial, and disability-related discrimination every year.

Is that it? Is that your evidence of a vast national conspiracy to "groom" kids into an LGBT life against their will? Did I miss something?

Oh wait...I forgot about the completely fake and malicious story circulated in conservative media and by conservative politicians (and repeated here) about schools putting out litter boxes for their furry-identifying students. I guess we should include that one too.

Ken why are rates of LGBT teenagers and children skyrocketing? Is it something in the water? Has our amazing liberal society progressed to the point where children are now free….to commit suicide after they destroy their bodies?

https://wesleyyang.substack.com/p/i-fel ... ing-me-and

[Bootstrap]

https://wesleyyang.substack.com/p/i-fel ... ing-me-and

This is worth reading. I had similar experiences with the public school system and counselors.

I think feelings about love and sexuality are confusing, especially during puberty, and when social media, peer groups, public schools, and counselors all adopt this model, it changes the decisions people are likely to make and the identities they are likely to choose.

These are things parents need to be aware of.

[nett]

https://wesleyyang.substack.com/p/i-fel ... ing-me-and

This is worth reading. I had similar experiences with the public school system and counselors.

I think feelings about love and sexuality are confusing, especially during puberty, and when social media, peer groups, public schools, and counselors all adopt this model, it changes the decisions people are likely to make and the identities they are likely to choose.

These are things parents need to be aware of.

Absolutely. The environment shapes childrens’ decisions to experiment with identities more than anything.

Is there any Christian justification for leaving your children exposed to this, with how extreme it has gotten?

I guess I’m asking if Christians can in good conscience allow their children to continue to attend public schools.

[Ken]

https://wesleyyang.substack.com/p/i-fel ... ing-me-and

This is worth reading. I had similar experiences with the public school system and counselors.

I think feelings about love and sexuality are confusing, especially during puberty, and when social media, peer groups, public schools, and counselors all adopt this model, it changes the decisions people are likely to make and the identities they are likely to choose.

These are things parents need to be aware of.

This article is actually about the actions of a private therapist who the school referred to the family after the child was exhibiting signs of suicide. This was not a school employee. The story if accurately conveyed is concerning. But the mother, who is apparently now some kind of activist, gets other basic facts wrong which immediately raises red flags. For example, she makes the following false claim:



Here is a summary of the actual Washington State law as provided by Children's Hospital in Seattle



Note. I'm perfectly willing to allow that there are therapists out there who, for whatever misguided reasons, are making wrong decisions or conclusions about the children in their care. Not just about LGBT or transgender care, but frankly about everything. But when people deliberately lie or misinform about easily checked facts I immediately have to question their motivations and the veracity of everything else that they say. Why is it that every time you pull at the threads of one of these stories it starts to unravel?

[Bootstrap]

I guess I’m asking if Christians can in good conscience allow their children to continue to attend public schools.

I think that public schools can differ pretty significantly. We had two children in different schools at the same time, and they really seemed quite different on this dimension. But I don't think I could just send my kid to a public school without doing a whole lot of homework, and it's getting harder and harder to actually do that homework.

[Bootstrap]

Here is a summary of the actual Washington State law as provided by Children's Hospital in Seattle

I'm in a different state. But I think my experience shows that schools or counselors sometimes do things that bypass parents, whatever the official laws are. And kids - even kids younger than 13 - go to GSA clubs without parental permission or knowledge.

Ken, to me, it often feels like you are saying that these are not legitimate concerns. They are for me. Not because of something I read on the Internet, but from actual experience. I would like to be able to shape how my children learn about sexuality and gender and love. I would like the school system and any counselors my children see to work with me on these things, not work against me.

[Ken]

Here is a summary of the actual Washington State law as provided by Children's Hospital in Seattle

I'm in a different state. But I think my experience shows that schools or counselors sometimes do things that bypass parents, whatever the official laws are. And kids - even kids younger than 13 - go to GSA clubs without parental permission or knowledge.

Ken, to me, it often feels like you are saying that these are not legitimate concerns. They are for me. Not because of something I read on the Internet, but from actual experience.

That is not what I am saying. I think our youth are going through all manner of mental health struggles right now. I have a daughter who has struggled with debilitating depression that was aggravated by the pandemic and I know how difficult it is to find mental health care for children. We had to go through endless loops and paperwork to find care even though my wife is a fairly high level physician in the same organization. And even then it was an enormous struggle to even find a therapist who had openings to see my daughter. The first two we found through referrals were just bad and didn't connect with my daughter and it ended up taking over 18 months to finally get her with someone good and with whom she connected. And this had nothing to do with LGBT issues.

What I am actually saying is that I think this particular LGBT and trans panic is largely just the latest culture war issue being manufactured by right wing media and being used by conservative politicians to implement all manner of outrageously invasive laws across the country that would criminalize and jail parents, doctors, and even teachers for doing anything to help kids who stray from orthodox heterosexual norms. And I continue to contend that the root of much of this current culture war is simple old-fashioned bigotry. News flash. LGBT kids and adults actually do exist. And they have always existed. They aren't the result of some new nefarious plot to "groom" and recruit straight kids into an LGBT life against their will. The fact that every story we see about this topic starts to unravel when you start pulling at the strings suggests that this is true.

In this particular story that you cited, we find that the women being "interviewed states "My name is Jennifer. I'm with Partners for Ethical Care. We are an organization that is fighting the medicalization of children." Which means that she most certainly knows (or should know) what the actual laws are on that topic in her own state of Washington. Yet she deliberately lies or misinforms about easily verifiable facts. Which raises immediate questions about the veracity of the rest of her story, which is mostly just assertions.

My own experience is that teachers and counselors do not bypass parents and violate the law when it comes to these subjects. They meticulously follow it. That is drilled into you from day one of teacher training. When on infrequent occasions I have an LGBT student enrolled in one of my classes I get a very meticulous confidential email from the administration and counseling office that details exactly what the student's 504 plan is, including any accommodations, and what my legal obligations and responsibilities are under section 504 of the ADA which is where these issues are covered. Same exact thing when it comes to special ed students with an IEP, or students with a disciplinary behavioral intervention plan (BIP). Or any other students with any sort of legal issues which can be legion. I actually have students with all kinds of different legal restrictions. One of the most common is abusive noncustodial parents with restraining orders who are not allowed to see, intervene, discuss, or pick up the child in question. No one I know "wings it" or substitutes their own judgement when it comes to any of this sort of thing. And if they do, they are correctly not long for the job.

[Josh]

It's illegal in almost all states (including my own) to give any counselling to an LGBT-questioning person other than strongly affirming transition or adopting a homosexual identity. I'm not sure why this is such a hard concept to pick up and understand.

[Ken]

It's illegal in almost all states (including my own) to give any counselling to an LGBT-questioning person other than strongly affirming transition or adopting a homosexual identity. I'm not sure why this is such a hard concept to pick up and understand.

Once again, a "fact" that you just invented out of thin air. Do you not yet understand that it destroys your credibility to just make up your own facts out of thin air?

[Soloist]

It's illegal in almost all states (including my own) to give any counselling to an LGBT-questioning person other than strongly affirming transition or adopting a homosexual identity. I'm not sure why this is such a hard concept to pick up and understand.

Once again, a "fact" that you just invented out of thin air. Do you not yet understand that it destroys your credibility to just make up your own facts out of thin air?

Can you actually show any proof that he is wrong?