Southern Baptist Texan
AUSTIN—An Austin Independent School District anti-bullying curriculum
celebrates diversity and requires inclusivity by abolishing children’s
and teachers’ “biased” notions of family and gender norms. “Welcoming
Schools: Creating Safe and Supportive Environments for All Students,”
which is taught to students as young as 4 years old, affirms same-sex
marriage and parenting, gay and lesbian relationships, and
transgenderism.
A national LGBT advocacy organization, Human Rights Campaign, drafted
“Welcoming Schools” as a means of getting sexually and politically
sensitive and controversial material into the nation’s classrooms.
Billed as an “anti-bullying” program, school districts across the
nation, including AISD, have incorporated it into their curriculum.
Critics say the curriculum—and the broader initiative of social and
emotional learning (SEL) in which it is embedded—ignores the conflict
foisted upon teachers required to teach it and students whose
understanding of family and human sexuality are grounded in religious or
familial convictions.
“It is not the school’s job to teach or find out what a child feels
about sexuality or religion, and especially to usurp parental obligation
and authority in order to teach a child what they see as right and
proper,” said Cindy Asmussen, advisor to the Texas Ethics and Religious
Liberty Committee.
Former AISD preschool teacher Caryl Ayala said the curriculum crosses
a line. During her elementary school campus’s in-service training
before the start of the 2015-16 school year, Ayala’s team of pre-school
teachers was told to “come up with a definition of homosexual love” that
a 4-year-old child could understand. The request was made of all grade
level instructors.
Ayala said many of the teachers considered the program a burden on
their already overloaded plates; there would be little if any time to
implement yet another lesson into their weekly plans. Still others, like
Ayala, considered the LGBT-affirming messages an affront to their consciences and, most likely, to their students’ families as well.
Parents
and faith leaders, not classroom teachers, should address issues of
human sexuality, gay marriage, and transgenderism with the children, she
said... READ MORE
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