As parents, we know all too well just how unreliable the information we get from our students can be. Now, I’m not suggesting that they are all liars or anything. Instead, it’s just that they do not always give the most pertinent information, especially for those in younger grades.
That is precisely why most of us then rely heavily upon our child’s teacher or school personnel to relay the information we need to know. You know, things about upcoming field trips, school events, and possible fundraising efforts.
It’s also precisely why parents at a Southern California school are suing the district for not being so forthcoming about their children’s activities.
Last February, numerous parents within the Los Alamitos Unified School District began hearing things from their students about going to an overnight science camp where a group of girls were housed with a “nonbinary” or biologically male adult and even verbally abused by “them,” as this individual prefers to be referred to as.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, it was later discovered that the camp was actually being used to promote LBGTQ ideology. During a recent podcast interview, it was noted that all one had to do was look up the camp online and discover that it was one of the “top rated LBGTQ retreats” based on both their advertising material and Yelp page. Some parents even said that it was “an LBGTQ propaganda camp.”
The camp had taken place more than a week prior, and yet, none of the parents had been informed of any of this. To say they were a bit put off is a massive understatement.
Naturally, parents then began asking the school some questions about the validity of what they were hearing from their children. The school answered in silence. In fact, according to a recent lawsuit filed over the incident, the school even refused to answer such questions, saying that it was “illegal” to do so.
Alexander Haberbush, founder and president of the civil rights law firm Lex Rex, disagrees, stating that these parents have every right to know about their child’s education and ask questions about events that took place while the child was under the school’s supervision. And so, he and his firm are backing the parents in a lawsuit against the district.
According to the legal complaint, these parents should have been informed, period. Most parents aren’t even upset that the camp may or may not have instructed their children on “preferred pronouns and gender identity.” Instead, they are simply upset that the school didn’t inform them about such teachings or the fact that a biological male might have been placed with their daughters.
The camp itself has made apologies and vowed that no males have ever been placed or will be in the future within a girls’ cabin. Neither does the camp allow for verbal abuse by its counselors. In fact, camp owner, Andy Wexler, promises that the camp counselor in question has been dealt with.
I know, that alone is a bit contradictory.
But again, the parents do not hold the camp at fault. Their argument is with the school, who, to this day, has not given the parents any answers. According to Haberbush, parents want to know, “Why had the school selected this particular camp? What sort of investigation took place before picking it? Had anyone ever done an online search? Why had the school failed to tell parents what sort of camp it was? Were our daughters housed with biological males?”
Instead, as Haberbush says, the parents were “stonewalled” for months. And therein lies the problem.
As parents, we alone are responsible for the upbringing of our children. It is our choice where to send them to school, who we allow them to be exposed to, and what they are to be taught. And yet, this school district took that right away from parents
.
Not only were parents kept in the dark on where their children were going and what they were being taught, but then when alleged abuse and wrongdoing happened, the district still refused to talk, as if parents didn’t deserve to know what happened.
For that, they must be held responsible.
