Parents of elementary school students at Mitchell Primary School in Maine are fuming after their children were read a story about a child who claims to have a boy’s body and a girl’s brain.
According to SeaCoastOnline.com, the school was giving youngsters a lesson on tolerance when teachers read aloud a book by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings known as I am Jazz to 20 of 22 classes of students at the school without their parents’ consent.
The story is based on the character named Jazz who claims to have been born with a boy’s body but a girl’s brain, which is why he loves to dress and act like a girl. The book documents his struggle with the conflict and concludes with a doctor telling him that he is a transgender.
One parent whose son came home from school asking all sorts of questions about whether or not he might be a “trans” contacted the school, furious that such a book had been read to students without her knowledge.
“’I feel like my thoughts, feelings and beliefs were completely ignored,” the unnamed parent told Fox News anchor Sean Hannity. “My right as a parent to allow or not allow this discussion with my child was taken from me. It is very upsetting to me that I didn’t have an option at all.”
She went on to say that when she spoke with the principal about it, “he was very cold. It’s amazing how thoughtless the school has been with this whole thing.”
It was not until after Hannity contacted the school for comment that administrators realized they had a problem on their hands and quickly apologized – but not for reading for the book. They’re just sorry they didn’t tell parents first.
“We have a practice of if a topic is considered sensitive, parents should be informed. In this situation, that didn’t happen,’ said Allyn Hutton, superintendent of the school district.
While she supports the reading of such material to young children, “The whole culture at Mitchell School is about teaching tolerance and respect. The people presenting the lesson thought [I Am Jazz] was one more piece of teaching that lesson. In retrospect, we understand that toleration is tolerating people of all opinions.”
Not everyone is satisfied with that response.
“In what world do people think it’s okay for teachers to discuss transgenderism with a bunch of 5-year-olds?” asks Todd Starnes of Fox Nation. “Maybe they should stick to teaching the kids how to read and write instead of deconstructing their God-given gender identity. Whatever happened to reading an old-fashioned nursery rhyme?”
He goes on to reflect on the good old days when Jack and Jill went up the hill dressed as a boy and a girl.
“But today, when Jack came down he was wearing Jill’s dress and going by the name Jackie,” Starnes quips.
“Lord only knows what the ‘Rub-A-Dub-Dub’ three men in a tub are doing.”
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