Vermont is the most progressive state in the union, which is a sad commentary on the state of America’s progressives. Spain, which endured four decades of fascist dictatorship in the 20th century, has a national law permitting same-sex marriage, in many parts of America; same-sex marriage is seen as a portent of the apocalypse. Vermont has had same-sex civil unions for six years. Marriages have not dissolved, as predicted, society has not come apart.
Still, how progressive are we? Two years ago, the state legislature decreed public schools should be free from harassment. Clearly a tall order, but the Department of Education directed schools to provide training to “help prevent, identify and respond to harassment incidents.”
Williston Central School scheduled a series of presentations for seventh and eighth graders, to begin last week with a presentation by a gay high school student, recounting the harassment he suffered in middle school. It’s an appropriate first topic, since the majority of harassment complaints in Williston schools concern sexual orientation.
Knowing some parents are homophobic, school administrators mailed notice of the event to homes two weeks before the presentation, advising that parents could choose to have their children “opt out” of the session .
That, apparently, was not good enough. Angry parents stormed the school the morning of the presentation and demanded that it not be held. “I think this is a mistake to do without discussion,” said parent Denis Chevalier. “You’re hearing my passion. When I heard about this, I was like a mother bear with her cubs. Like ‘Get out of my way, what is going on here?’”
His gender-bending self-description aside, Mr. Chevalier and a small group of other parents told school officials that a presentation aimed at discouraging students from beating up their peers would be a recruitment tool for homosexuals. They managed to stop the presentation 30 minutes before it was to start, leaving 250 students with a hole in their school day.
Connor McFadden, who was supposed to speak, said if anything, hearing his story would make students not want to be gay. “I went through a lot of bad things,” he said. “Middle school was a terrible time for me.”
Other parents were outraged when they heard the session had been canceled. The debate has raged for a week. Now school officials, displaying the usual courage, propose two sessions, one with Mr. McFadden, for which students will need parental consent to attend. A separate session, for children whose parents are bigots, will be hosted by school counselors. Meanwhile, a whisper campaign has begun, to the effect that school officials have been unduly influenced by gays on the staff.
To recap: A school schedules a program to discourage bullying based on sexual orientation. Small-minded parents, although given two weeks notice and the option to have their children skip the session, demand at the last minute that no child hear the speaker. School officials cave to the mob tactics and later craft a “compromise” that requires students who wish to hear the gay speaker jump through hoops before doing so.
If any of you students were not paying attention, the lesson on bullying is: bullying works. A bully is some who wants everyone to satisfy his or her selfish desires. Bullies make threats if their desires are not met. If they meet resistance, they make their demands more extreme, so any “compromise” favors their position. So kids, if some warped character in seventh grade decides you’re “queer” and makes your life a living hell, don’t expect protection, at least not from your principal or school superintendent.
What is to become of you if you’re a bully’s target in Williston? If you’re lucky, you’ll find the courage and the voice to speak out, they way Connor McFadden has. If you’re not so lucky, maybe you’ll withdraw into yourself. Maybe you’ll wear a black trench coat, thinking it will make you look tough. Maybe by the time you’re 16 you’ll decide you can’t take it anymore and bring a gun to school and start shooting people. Then all those parents and school officials can scratch their heads and wonder what went wrong.
Lesson Learned
Vermont is the most progressive state in the union, which is a sad commentary on the state of America’s progressives. Spain, which endured four decades of fascist dictatorship in the 20th century, has a national law permitting same-sex marriage, in many parts of America; same-sex marriage is seen as a portent of the apocalypse. Vermont has had same-sex civil unions for six years. Marriages have not dissolved, as predicted, society has not come apart.
Still, how progressive are we? Two years ago, the state legislature decreed public schools should be free from harassment. Clearly a tall order, but the Department of Education directed schools to provide training to “help prevent, identify and respond to harassment incidents.”
Williston Central School scheduled a series of presentations for seventh and eighth graders, to begin last week with a presentation by a gay high school student, recounting the harassment he suffered in middle school. It’s an appropriate first topic, since the majority of harassment complaints in Williston schools concern sexual orientation.
Knowing some parents are homophobic, school administrators mailed notice of the event to homes two weeks before the presentation, advising that parents could choose to have their children “opt out” of the session .
That, apparently, was not good enough. Angry parents stormed the school the morning of the presentation and demanded that it not be held. “I think this is a mistake to do without discussion,” said parent Denis Chevalier. “You’re hearing my passion. When I heard about this, I was like a mother bear with her cubs. Like ‘Get out of my way, what is going on here?’”
His gender-bending self-description aside, Mr. Chevalier and a small group of other parents told school officials that a presentation aimed at discouraging students from beating up their peers would be a recruitment tool for homosexuals. They managed to stop the presentation 30 minutes before it was to start, leaving 250 students with a hole in their school day.
Connor McFadden, who was supposed to speak, said if anything, hearing his story would make students not want to be gay. “I went through a lot of bad things,” he said. “Middle school was a terrible time for me.”
Other parents were outraged when they heard the session had been canceled. The debate has raged for a week. Now school officials, displaying the usual courage, propose two sessions, one with Mr. McFadden, for which students will need parental consent to attend. A separate session, for children whose parents are bigots, will be hosted by school counselors. Meanwhile, a whisper campaign has begun, to the effect that school officials have been unduly influenced by gays on the staff.
To recap: A school schedules a program to discourage bullying based on sexual orientation. Small-minded parents, although given two weeks notice and the option to have their children skip the session, demand at the last minute that no child hear the speaker. School officials cave to the mob tactics and later craft a “compromise” that requires students who wish to hear the gay speaker jump through hoops before doing so.
If any of you students were not paying attention, the lesson on bullying is: bullying works. A bully is some who wants everyone to satisfy his or her selfish desires. Bullies make threats if their desires are not met. If they meet resistance, they make their demands more extreme, so any “compromise” favors their position. So kids, if some warped character in seventh grade decides you’re “queer” and makes your life a living hell, don’t expect protection, at least not from your principal or school superintendent.
What is to become of you if you’re a bully’s target in Williston? If you’re lucky, you’ll find the courage and the voice to speak out, they way Connor McFadden has. If you’re not so lucky, maybe you’ll withdraw into yourself. Maybe you’ll wear a black trench coat, thinking it will make you look tough. Maybe by the time you’re 16 you’ll decide you can’t take it anymore and bring a gun to school and start shooting people. Then all those parents and school officials can scratch their heads and wonder what went wrong.
© Mark Floegel, 2006