Jodi Doary, a mother in the small town of Lorette, Manitoba, now pre-reads all of the books her Grade 9 son is assigned at school after discovering some short stories included the mention of prostitution, smoking, and drinking and contained bad language.
His teacher sent home a book in November, knowing that Ms. Doary would screen it. The teacher spoke highly of it and expressed no qualms about the content.
The book, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” by Sherman Alexie, includes a passage where the main character speaks in detail about masturbation. He peppers his soliloquy with references to God.
“The teacher never once mentioned the profanity or the sexual inappropriateness or any of the racial slurs that are in it, just that she thinks that it has a really good message and that she'll be sending it home for me to preview,” Ms. Doary told The Epoch Times.
“I read that book in like two hours, and I was a mess. I was so sick to my stomach,” she said.
Every couple of pages, she would find a profanity or “something that’s really yucky in it, ” Ms. Doary said. She found out her elder stepson had the book read aloud to him in class in a previous year. He told her it was “awful” and he was uncomfortable with it.
Ms. Doary has also discovered that her 12-year-old stepdaughter has transitioned genders at school. The teachers started using a different name and different pronouns for her without informing the family.
“It’s just the constant secrets from the parents,” Ms. Doary said. “Before, they wanted parents to be involved. Now they’re trying to hush things up and teach them things that you’re not comfortable with.”
“These groups have been a place of hope and encouragement for me and others, a place where we know we are not alone, because ’the system' or the schools want us to feel like we are the difficult and odd ones out there,” Ms. Doary said. “There are many of us. Support and communication with others is a huge part of making change.”
Cristina Bairos Fernandes is one of these parents. She’s helping to organize an information night for parents on Jan. 8 to discuss different school options. She said some parents are turning to homeschooling, some to homeschooling co-ops, and some to alternative schools, including private schools, forest schools (which focus on hands-on learning outdoors), and microschools (similar to the old one-room schoolhouse).
For those who want to stay in the public system, she said, the open house will provide guidance on how to stay aware of what’s being taught and how to have conversations with teachers and principals about it.
Hope, Understanding
Her children’s principal asked her to speak with students about the Christian faith ahead of Christmas. Many Christian parents, such as Ms. Bairos Fernandes, feel they are under-represented in schools, where other faiths are sometimes discussed but rarely Christianity.She was encouraged to see the Christian perspective welcomed in a public school, and also to see that her relationship with the principal and teachers can remain positive.
“You can stand for what you think is right and still have really great relationships,” she told The Epoch Times.
A father in Ottawa who prefers to go by a pseudonym, William, to protect his child’s privacy, told The Epoch Times he sees hope from a change at his daughter’s school.
“They took down the sign I complained about—‘no hate allowed here’ with a bunch of political flags—and put up my recommended signs, ‘All Are Welcome,’” he told The Epoch Times via email. “I still don’t think we need these so-called ’safe spaces,' but at least it’s a step in the right direction.”
“No space for hate” was a slogan used by counter-protesters in response to the 1 Million March. Expressing concerns about gender and sexuality in schools is often described as “hateful” by LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) advocates who say it hurts LGBT students. William says this isn’t about hating anyone, it’s about letting parents lead the conversations with their children on these topics when they are mature enough.
“These ideologies are still being thrust upon us on a weekly basis. For instance, Nov. 20, is now Trans Remembrance Day,” he said. “I had to send my daughter’s teacher an email to ensure that it was not planned to be part of her teaching for that day. I shouldn’t even have to worry that this may be taught to my seven-year-old.”
How LGBT Is Presented in Schools
A mother whose 8-year-old son attends a Catholic school in Mississauga told The Epoch Times that the principal picked her son to carry a pride flag around the school on Nov. 20, Transgender Awareness Day.“The principal asked him if he felt like a boy or girl,” she said via text message. She preferred to remain anonymous to protect her son’s privacy. She is considering moving him to a private school.
A teen in Valemount, B.C., shared in the 1 Million March Facebook group photos of a display in her high school, across from her locker, that’s topped with the words “gender” and “sexuality.”
“A lot of parents are scared still to protest, ... in fear of getting cancelled or being targeted at work,” Robyn Adamus, a parent in Waterloo, told The Epoch Times. “What I think is easier for some parents is to just pull their kids on certain days or during certain virtue-signalling weeks or months,” she added.
Shannon Boschy, a parent who has been active on this issue for years since his daughter transitioned, told The Epoch Times he’s hopeful that parents are becoming more organized in their advocacy for parental rights.
