Why are they really wanting to talk to 1st graders about sexuality?
Observations from the Florida debate
I’d say it infuriates me, but it’s not like I’ve ever known anything else. All of my kids were confronted with conversations about sex, sexuality, and orientation by the end of their second-grade year. Let me be clear that these conversations were not taking place in their classrooms.
They all have been blessed with excellent teachers and administrators, each of whom have approached an elementary education to mean learning shapes, letters, words, numbers, animals, and how to read a clock, not a place for discussions about sexual preferences, gender fluidity, and drag.
No, their innocence on such topics was shattered by the perverse culture we are living in. Their friends watch TikTok, the radio lyrics are revealing, television shows preach the spirit of the age religiously, and even the most innocent-sounding books have proven anything but on a number of occasions.
Like many others parenting young kids right now, Jenny and I have done our best to try to navigate the logical questions that have been evoked. But to be honest, it hasn’t been easy knowing how much to explain, how much to avoid, how deep to go, how to encourage them to know the truth about certain topics but not be belligerent or quarrelsome when others bring them up.
There’s no denying it’s a parental minefield. That’s why as I observe the unfolding controversy occurring in Florida regarding their parent rights legislation, I’m just dumbfounded.
I know we live in incredibly sensitive times, where everyone is looking for an avenue by which they can declare themselves aggrieved, but it should not be offensive to anyone when I assert that I don’t want my child confronted with such “adult” topics in their childhood years. They have an innocence, we work to protect that innocence, we do so because we believe it is an expectation God has placed on us as parents, and while you are free to disagree, ultimately, it’s our choice to do so.
Given that’s what the text of this legislation seeks to affirm, seeing the seething and furious protests from my fellow countrymen who espouse a progressive political ideology, I’m left asking the same question this guy is asking:
Precisely. What am I missing? Why are there people so invested in talking to kindergartners about sex that they are railing against this law and rallying Hollywood, media, and their entire progressive pop culture apparatus into misrepresenting and reversing it?
Let me interrupt here to say that I have admittedly become very skeptical about the efficacy of legislative fixes to these kinds of things. Not because I don’t think there is a moral law that our national laws should adhere to, but because there is such rebellion against that moral law that I think despite what any law says, teachers who perceive their role as social activists will do what they want to do regardless of the law. I wrote about that recently regarding state CRT bans.
Yet, at the same time, when adults are designing camps where they bring in children and teach them this:
…you can’t pretend it’s silly to think that Christian (and plenty of other) parents want some kind of assurance that these types of things will not be permitted in the schools where they send their kids to be educated.
When you have an ever-increasing number of teachers graduating from universities and incorrectly perceiving their role in the classroom to be that of sexuality mentor:
…you can’t be shocked when Christian (and plenty of other) parents want some safeguards against that kind of activism.
When you have near daily stories of sexual grooming and impropriety taking place between impressionable kids and adult figures they trust:
…you can’t fault Christian (and plenty of other) parents for wanting some kind of legislative protection for their precious children.
Acknowledging all this doesn’t mean you hate gay people or lack compassion towards those who struggle psychologically with their gender or society’s expectations. It means you agree with a completely reasonable distinction between the role of schools and that of parents.
From the start, labeling the Florida legislation the “Don’t say gay bill” utterly misconstrued the intent and text of the legislation which in no way bans anyone, anywhere from saying the word gay. So why call it that? To misrepresent and set the stage for theatrical performances like this:
Hollywood chimed in, with some actors suggesting the law was the legislative equivalent of the Pulse nightclub shooting, Star Trek’s Sulu calling it un-American, and even Luke Skywalker getting his midichlorians in a wad:
The heart of this issue – again – comes down to competing values, competing moralities, competing views of the world. One sees the other as bigoted and narrow-minded; and they see the previous as degenerate and dangerous.
I suppose it’s always possible that there could be a political leader that rises up to settle all this and bring the warring factions together. I suppose that a modern-day Roger Sherman or Henry Clay (they were both famous for compromises, just to be clear) could arise and produce an agreement that pleases everyone. But nothing that has taken place in our culture over the last two decades tells me that is likely.
In which case, isn’t the best we can hope for a situation where I can teach my kids the values I want them to possess at home and in our civic lives, you teach your kids the values you want them to possess in your home and civic life, and we ensure our public institutions stay as neutral as possible? You know, kind of like this law in Florida is designed to do?
ICYMI…
Late-night TV host Stephen Colbert delivered a monologue where he let us all know he isn’t worried about higher gas prices. That’s great, Steve. But I made this video he (and you) might want to watch:
Also, a couple of heavy topics in columns this week:
I agree with everything Mr. Heck and all of these commenters have said. It's our job as the proprietors of our civil law to do something to prevent young people from being corrupted. It's also our job to protect our own children and raise them how we see fit. The truth is: the law, that perfect law from God which could not save the Israelites, will, in the same way, not save our children. If they don't hear corruption from teachers, they will hear it from their friends...and Disney & Netflix & Spotify & Amazon & (fill in the blank)...Someone is catechizing your children. Let that someone be you. Public education was the beginning of the end of true freedom in this country.
I don’t think we win this one. The culture is too far gone in its love of the perverse. And public education is reaching its end as something that everyone could reasonably participate in and come out ready for a productive and normal life in society. I think there’s a total divide: public schools vs. private schools or homeschooling.