It All Started With a Trophy


Disclaimer: This post reflects my opinions. If you don't like it, don't read it!
This post is more or less a follow-up to my post titled Being Tolerant of Tolerance. I haven't been much of a "thinker" lately, so my posts have been few & far between.
I have never wanted to just walk away from my job as much as I did at the beginning of last week. I love what I do (Speech/Language Pathologist), and I love the setting where I work (public schools). But, GEESH, am I wondering what in the world is happening to our country!
Apparently, to avoid lawsuits, if a parent comes in and says that her son identifies himself as a female, a female he is.  But wait...it gets better. The schools are encouraged to have a uni-sex bathroom that is available to all students so that an anatomically male student is not using the restroom with females. I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe that an elementary student would be in that much conflict at that early age. If he/she is, then I would hope that the parents seek out counseling for the child. Why can't a girl be a "tomboy" anymore? I think I was definitely one growing up, but I never...not ever...identified myself as a boy. I remember people thinking I was a boy...until I got close to them and they could see I wasn't. Heck, when I'm out in a t-shirt & jeans, I still have people call me "sir"! Kids are what you expect them to be. If a girl is a "tomboy" & her parental unit goes to the school and says she identifies herself as a boy, I truly believe that the girl is going to feel that there's something wrong & that maybe she should have been a boy. As adults, we forget how impressionable young children are. They aren't able to handle and grasp adult conversations.
CH, YS, & I were discussing this, and YS said he agreed with the whole identifying as the opposite gender, but only after the child is 16. He also said, "what if a child comes in and says he's a ninja?" And so it begins.
It goes farther than gender. No more describing milk as "white" or "chocolate". (I'm not kidding.) I feel like all of the tiptoeing is adding more stress and taking teachers' focuses away from educating their students. Why are we letting a small minority dictate the majority? What can we do about it?
I'm just over it all; it's getting ridiculous. I blame the whole "every child gets a trophy" thing. Life is full of disappointments; kids need to learn to deal with not being the best, or, in some cases, not even being average. We're not all the same (thank God!); we weren't made the same. I'm concerned with how this young generation is going to be responsible adults, running our country and having to take care of the geriatric population (which would be me!).
David McCullough, Jr., during a commencement speech, said "You've been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped," he told the graduates. "But do not get the idea you're anything special. Because you are not." If you haven't heard the complete speech, you can find it here.
I wonder if our parents thought the same thing with all of the "free love" and "sex and drugs" of the 60's & 70's. Did they think our country was going to pot, too? The kids today are going to take all of this as "normal", and they won't know any different. But we will. And we do.
If I could have walked away at the beginning of the week, I definitely would have thought hard about doing so.
This is my favorite commercial on tv right now. It hits the nail right on the head!



Trophy graphic by www.mycutegraphics.com

10 comments:

  1. A friend was talking about how her 3 year old son wants to be a mom when he grows up. She explained that boys are dads, and she actually had people at her work get mad at her for it. Like she said, it's not that he "identifies female", it's that he's 3, and he doesn't understand yet. By the way, what in the heck are you supposed to call the milk now?

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  2. Whoa ... what a mess this whole gender identity issue is. Sheesh! And if you can't refer to milk as white or chocolate, how do you differentiate between the two? What a crazy, mixed up society we live in.

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  3. I agree with you; kids are too young to grasp concepts adults do. Its like the parent is projecting something onto the child with the whole transgender issue. Indeed it must be a nightmare to be a teacher today. My niece/husband have decided to make the financial effort and sacrifice to send their 3 children to a private Christian school. I think I would do the same if my kids were of school age.

    betty

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  4. Just when I think things can't get more ridiculous, they do! I certainly understand your frustration, and agree with your thoughts--"it all started with a trophy." :(

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  5. I hear ya! It's all getting so old. I do not understand 17 different way of identifying your gender?? Really?? I also don't understand how such young children are deciding they are gay, they are transgender, etc., etc. I worry about who is influencing them.

    Hang in there.

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  6. This whole issue is sad on so many levels, especially to think this is being dealt with on the elementary level. Poor kids!

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  7. I agree with you completely!! I was also a tomboy. I climbed trees and preferred that to playing with dolls. I played field hockey, marched in the band (trumpet, not a flute or clarinet) and ran track. Trust me though,,,I am all girl!! Parents and school administrators are just nuts these days. They have taken political correctness beyond imagination.

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  8. Sometimes I believe the world is coming to an end very quickly. I really believe we are witnessing the beginning of that end. Our country has grown in wealth (not for all) and arrogance has grown with it. Power and money and lies go hand in hand. I don't care if anyone gets mad at me for saying this, but once they took God out, it all started to morally decay and rot.

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  9. Amen. We are sooo ridiculous. We're upset about the wrong things (coaches praying) and not upset enough about the right things (disrespectful teenagers with no regard for authority or life for that matter). The list is long. It is so tiresome.

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