Tahoma School Creates Divisive “LGBTQ+ Day of Silence,” Promoting Personal Agendas and Social Fragility
Maple View Middle School (MVMS) students saw an announcement posted on their Google Classroom this week promoting an activist style “LGBTQ+ Day of Silence,” encouraging students to wear LGBTQ+ stickers and conduct silent protests to raise awareness of discrimination and harassment. Students are told that they cannot speak verbally during this period, but may communicate via writing.
This message was sent to students by Patty Stillmaker over Google Classroom
The activist style protest, which appears initiated and endorsed by faculty has caused concern. Parents believe the school is using divisive tactics to promote unhealthy and unproductive personal agendas. Furthermore, community members are unsure as to why government-paid educators are pushing students into protests and activism. One parent even stated that, “This has a feel similar to the beginnings of the Chinese Cultural Revolution.”
During the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), children and public education were pivotal in Chairman Mao Zedong's political and ideological movements. Ideologically-driven children eventually organized into Red Guard units that were used to spread revolutionary ideas, attack authority figures, and enforce revolutionary policies.
According to both the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the “Day of Silence” actually takes place in April.
The main concerns being voiced amongst parents are:
The event was only publicized to the students, not to the parents or public. This secretive, non-transparent approach raises eyebrows and decreases trust among educators, many of whom are doing a great job providing students with a neutral, non-political learning environment.
The event is advertised as a “student-led demonstration,” but it appears that it’s being coordinated and led by the MVMS staff. How does this have anything to do with academics and curriculum?
The event announcement mentions that kids who wear the sticker “cannot verbally speak…” Will they be reprimanded for talking? What exactly are the consequences, if any?
The event divides the student body. Students with religious backgrounds or lower maturity levels who may feel uncomfortable promoting a sexual topic are being alienated intentionally by school staff. This type of virtue signaling seeks to imply that those who are not for are actively against, while simultaneously creating pressure to “give up ideals to conform.” Moreover, this promotes a false sense that the LGBTQ+ community is a highly persecuted group that requires special treatment to get ahead. This polarizing approach is diametrically opposed to the inclusive nature that should define public-school environments.
Schools should be instilling a victor mindset, not victim mentality.
While Tahoma Parents certainly acknowledges that LGBTQ+ community members are often targets of bullying and harassment, it needs to be said that other groups are victims as well. Bullying is not isolated to LGBTQ+ students. Do poor students who may not be able to afford stylish clothes get a day of protest coordinated by school staff? What about bilingual students who get made fun of for having a thick accent?
If the school protested every type of victimhood individually, students would never talk. Rather than picking and choosing winners of some strange victim Olympics, educators should instead focus on stopping all forms of bullying and work towards building a totality of resilient, champion minded students who achieve goals despite hardship.
This is how you create future readiness, and we commend the majority of teachers who are doing this!
It is now clear why 30-40% of Tahoma students are not meeting standards in English, Math and Science. Many educators appear more focused on taking a predatorily influential position.
It is disgusting and should concern every parent. Stop dividing and sexually manipulating our kids behind our backs!
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