Where do YOU get your news? Most of us gravitate toward our “echo chambers.” Or as Harry Nilsson summarized back in the “radical” early 1970s, “You see what you want to see, and you hear what you want to hear.” To varying degrees, we all do it.
In recent news, you have perhaps heard what you want to hear about a law passed in Florida.
Here’s a simple alternative. Skip the whole media frenzy. Ignore the pundits, on whatever side you may trend or monitor. Shrug at the headlines. Go to the source.
The Florida Bill is attached here. It is only seven pages, double-spaced. It is an easy read.
The part that is being exaggerated as some type of “flash point” is right here:
Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.
Fundamentally, what is the role of our public education system?
If you think schools should let kids be kids and leave discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation out of K-3 curriculum, you will likely see this as a common sense measure. Leave this to parents.
If you believe it’s OK for schools and third-party consultants to indoctrinate your young child in “whatever the teacher or principal decides” in the areas of gender identity and sexual orientation, then you are likely opposed to this Law.
Whatever your view, perhaps we can all avoid the hype and have a meaningful conversation.