Madds Whisenant

In order to “protect” kids, a new bill known as the “Parental Rights in Education Act” is, unfortunately, being implemented into our school system. Part of this bill gives parents the right to know about whatever happens in their child’s education and requires teachers to report any significant changes in a child’s identity. Some parents love the idea of being able to know more about their child’s well-being in school, but for others, it is seen as an invasion of privacy for LGBTQ+ students. Despite this controversy, one point stands: this bill violates privacy and is a danger to students. Students requesting a name or pronoun change who previously were in a safe and private environment aren’t anymore. The bill applies to all students under the age of 18, and while parents still have rights over their children at this age, no one deserves to have their individuality invaded.
Undeniably, this bill could put students in danger and leave them vulnerable to hostility. If a child lives in an abusive household, reporting any changes in their identity could be putting them at risk, leaving the school at fault. 49 percent of LGBTQ+ students in North Carolina have considered suicide before this bill was ever mentioned according to DivideWeFall.com, and this bill will directly worsen these thoughts under the pressure of their parents.
Another problem with this new bill is the horrible timing of its integration. As we are now halfway through the year, teachers have already become accustomed to their students’ preferred names and pronouns. This is a massive inconvenience for teachers since they are put in an uncomfortable position when deciding whether they need to report a name change. Educators have to keep up with enough as it is, and now they have to go out of their way to report one student at a time to the administration. On that note, why bother instating a restriction like this when it won’t be enforced in the first place? No one has time to supervise or double-check that everything is going smoothly when we all know it’s not.
This law has sparked anger and confusion in staff and students alike, stating that a teacher does not have to report nicknames or when a student wants to shorten their name but only when a name is changed, which primarily targets students who identify as transgender. To hide this attack, the government has decided to alienate these students to “safeguard” others. At this point, they are making it clear that these students are not wanted, making them feel worthless and neglected.
Some students often use a shortened name that sounds masculine and request that as their preferred name in classes. For example, Samantha may want to be called “Sam,” or Mackenzie may want to go by “Ken.” If this happens, teachers will not know whether or not to report it due to the confusion regarding the name’s gender. Similarly, if a child wants to go by a name that does not relate to their actual name but correlates with their gender, will this have to be reported? This also annoys the parents who are against this bill, as they will be called when there is a change in their child’s name, despite them possibly knowing about it already.
The more support this law gets, the more students’ mental health and safety are likely to decline. This is a despicable, underhanded way to block everything that is not conventional to ensure that everyone is “normal.” As much as parents push for it, diversity cannot be censored, and children need to be surrounded by it to survive in the real world as open-minded, respectful citizens.