Barbara Kay: In Jan. 2018, some children in NB’s Grade 1 class began teasing a female classmate, X, because X favoured a non-stereotypically short haircut, dressed boyishly and enjoyed stereotypically boyish activities. X was apparently what we used to call a “tomboy.” Not at all gender confused, X would correct people who misgendered her. Apprised of the teasing, X’s mother expressly requested that any group discussion focus on generic messages of kindness and respect rather than gender.
The teacher, Mme B, instead chose to leverage the teasing into “teachable moments” about gender expression and identity. There were several “moments”: a book about a boy who liked dressing as a girl, prompting one pupil to tell the class that you can go to a doctor to change your body, which the teacher affirmed. She told the students, “there’s no such thing as boys and girls,” that you can be one thing on the outside and feel another way in your heart. Mme B also used a whiteboard lesson, with a horizontal line running from “girl” on one side to “boy” on the other and asked students to “place themselves.” Students, according to the complaint, were then told that “girls are not real, and boys are not real.” NB told her parents she wrote her name next to the word “girl.” At the hearing, Mme B confirmed that she did not use this opportunity to explain that there are two sexes, male and female, or to describe differences in body parts.
No comments:
Post a Comment