Teachers ‘afraid to go to school’ after harassment from pronoun lesson, district says
Days after a Michigan school district announced it would offer an optional lesson for elementary school students to learn about gender pronouns, it said it would cancel the discussion because of “unacceptable” harassment.
DeWitt Public Schools said in a Facebook post the purpose of the “safe and respectful” mini-lesson was to “promote greater understanding, compassion and kindness regarding gender identity and the use of pronouns.”
Students in the voluntary discussion were to listen to the book “They She He Me Free to Be!” according to a letter sent to parents. The book, its publisher says, offers “fun imagery” and allows children to expand their ideas about gender.
They would practice using the pronouns “they” and “them” and would learn what to do if they use a wrong pronoun, officials said.
The lesson was set to be taught over the course of a few weeks, the district said. It was short-lived, however.
On April 19 — eight days after the course was announced and two days after its public Facebook post — DeWitt Public Schools announced it would cancel the course.
The district said staff members at the school were threatened over phone, email and social media.
“Some staff members have had their personal information, including information regarding their families and children, placed online to harass and intimidate them, a cyberbullying practice called ‘doxing,’” district Superintendent Shanna Spickard said. “While the vast majority of these inappropriate communications have originated outside of our community, several staff members have expressed feeling anxious, stressed, and even afraid to go to school. This is unacceptable.”
Police were notified about the communications and an increased police presence was placed at the school, according to the superintendent. She said the discourse over the voluntary lesson “became a major disruption and distraction.”
While the district received harassing messages, Spickard said the pronoun discussion also received an “outpouring of support.” But she said “legitimate safety concerns” caused the ending of the course.
State Rep. Steve Carra, a Republican serving Michigan’s 36th District, was among those who voiced displeasure about the lesson.
“Hire me to teach the kids. ‘Little Jack, you’re a boy even if you pretend to be a girl. Other people shouldn’t be forced to pretend along with you. Your pronouns are he/him,’” Carra said in an April 16 Facebook post. “Great, now back to reading, writing, and arithmetic…”
Libs Of TikTok, a far right-leaning social media page, also denounced the pronoun discussion. A video it shared on X, formerly Twitter, has more than 2 million views as of Monday, April 22.
“Homeschool your kids,” the group said without acknowledging the lesson was optional.
DeWitt is a suburb of Lansing and is about a 115-mile drive northwest of Detroit.
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