As most of you know, I write a syndicated column every week. But it's now in different papers than it started in, because I was fired from the first paper after three or four years.
And the column that led to my firing was a two-part expose of what happened in a local elementary school when the principal invited some homosexual activists in to talk about school bullying.
Basically, there was bullying going at the school, and kids were using homosexual slurs. The homosexual activists were invited in to talk to the grades 6-8 classes, where the children were, at the time, 11-13, to discuss homosexuality. Many children left crying because they were so confused.
But the speakers also handed out pamphlets for kids who were "unsure of their sexual orientation", which advertised a local youth group that children could come to. They said that if the kids didn't want their parents to know, they would pick them up and drive them. And on this pamphlet were websites where children could go to for more information.
The focus of my columns were twofold: in one, I wrote about the folly of assuming that kids at 11 could be "unsure of their sexual orientation". One thing that these groups do is that they tell kids who are unsure that they belong in gay and lesbian youth groups. Yet according to a study in the journal Pediatrics, which my husband gets because he's a pediatrician, 25% of 13-year-olds may be unsure of their sexual orientation, but at 18 only 4% are. In other words, over the teen years they figure it out, and the vast majority of them are heterosexual. So why cluster kids who are "unsure" in with those who are homosexual?
I also talked about the folly of addressing sexual issues with those who are 11, without parental permission.
Then, in the second column, all I did was list the websites the activists were advocating, and what those particular websites said (yes, I waded through each and every one of them).
The newspaper got so many angry emails from homosexuals that I was fired a week later. Nevertheless, they lost hundreds of Christian subscribers over my firing, and I was given a raise and hired by a bigger paper the next day. So it all ended up okay.
But I still stand by my columns, and I was thinking of them when the news broke about Obama's new safe schools czar, Kevin Jennings. He sounds like exactly the sort of person that I was writing against.
If you were looking for a tutor or even a babysitter for your child would you hire...
...a person who founded and ran an organization where instructors had explicitly described to middle school youngsters how to perform homosexual sexual acts?
...a teacher who had been told by a boy of 15 that he had been sexually abused by an older man, but did not tell authorities or his parents or do anything to protect the youngster from the abuser?
...a man who publicly stated that he was inspired by a man who was the number one proponent and promoter of pedophilia in the country?
This man is supposed to be in charge of "safe schools", but he seems more about promoting a particular agenda which I don't think is appropriate for high schools, let alone elementary schools. Bullying is wrong. Absolutely. But we can teach that bullying is wrong and the compassion and understanding is necessary without simultaneously teaching children that if they're sexually confused, they must be gay. And without teaching kindergartners that they're supposed to think along sexual lines.
I know this is controversial, but I'm quite passionate about it, and I don't think schools have any right to wade into parental territory when it comes to sexual attitudes and mores. And most parents agree with me, whatever the media or Obama might say.
Kids are kids. We need to leave them that way, and sexuality should not be discussed in elementary schools. It just shouldn't, whether it's homosexual or heterosexual. The educational lobby, like Kevin Jennings, want kindergartners to start thinking about these issues because it breaks down our conservative sexual tendencies. But perhaps those tendencies are right, and maybe we're messing with something that's really important.
I can't believe that Obama would choose someone like this to put in charge of safe schools. I really can't. And as a Canadian, I can't figure out why you Americans are putting up with it! I didn't put up with it at a local school near me. I spoke out; and it may have cost me something, but it was worth it.
So what about you? Are you going to speak out, too?
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I have sent a message to all of my representatives. I homeschool my children, but I don't know how far this could reach. So many things that Obama has done and is planning to do scares the wits out of me. I can't believe so many people were misled by him.
The whole situation is sad and scary and extremely frustrating because the whole appointment procedure for these "czars" who are making all of these policy decisions, is beyond the control of our congressional representatives. Short of being vocal with our school's principal to ensure that these types of programs aren't being advocated, there is very little we can do.
Simply amazing! And Christian parents still want to hide their heads in the sand. We really need to wake up as Christians.
Here in Dominica it is not so blatant but usually everything that happens in the States trickles down here eventually. My hubby and I have been praying over our nation so fervently but I also realize that the Bible says that this is the way it will be in the last days. So I'm not shocked but I'm not sticking my head in the sand either.
I couldn't agree with you more. When and how children are told about sex - ANY orientation of it - is a parent's decision, and to do so in a school setting WITHOUT parental consent is the first mistake this school made.
Your columns spoke nothing but the truth. It sounds like everything worked out well for you in the end, so I can only believe it was all meant to be. Your message, while it offended some, must've been very well received by many others.
About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.
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I completely agree with you. That's just so sad. And scary.