Check out this SF Chronicle article on Park Day School, a private school here in Oakland.  They are changing school procedures to cater more to “gender-fluid” kids.  These are kids who want to act and/or dress as if they were the opposite sex.  After hiring a consultant to help them cater to these children’s needs, Park Day is not asking the kids to line up in boys and girls lines anymore, they allow kids to play either gender in class skits and they have a unisex bathroom. 

Educators, counselors and some parents point to society as the reason that these children feel that they are abnormal.  The reality is that they are abnormal.  That’s not to say that they may not be kind, loving and happy kids, but they are not the mainstream and frankly, I wouldn’t send my children to a school that works so hard to mainstream this kind of behavior.  Do I care if my daughter’s friend is a tomboy?  No.  But girls who don’t want to wear dresses aren’t allowed just to be tomboys anymore.  They are labeled “gender variant” and encouraged to join support groups and on-line chat rooms.  I do think that boys who like sewing better than football have it hard from a very early age and the grown ups in their lives need to make sure that they are protected from ridicule and other abuse.  But we don’t have to confuse the kids who are clear on their gender or make it seem normal to be “gender fluid.”  There are enough things for kids to worry about these days than to add that worry to the list!

Park Day is a private school and is free to have any kind of program it wants.  Parents who don’t agree can simply move their children to a different school.  But how much do you want to bet that Mark Leno or some other lefty legislator will soon be introducing a bill banning public schools in California from having any program that differentiates between genders?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 28th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.