A contributed perspectives piece by Cara Walton
“Imprinting anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our Nation’s children.” That is what Donald Trump accused teachers of recently.
I have an ongoing joke where I take photos of my class agenda for the day, saying that I’m performing “Marxist indoctrination.” And then show a perfectly normal lesson on Ancient History.
The idea that we have time to plan and execute indoctrination of the youth is absurd. Trump and his supporters are claiming that we are performing gender confirmation surgeries and forcing kids to be trans, giving kids litter boxes, the accusations go on and on.
When Trump issued his executive order to “End Indoctrination” it was not shocking. After mentally processing the order, I saw the “Fact” sheet that went with it.
The Trump administration directly called out HCPS, claiming that, “Harrisonburg City Public Schools in Virginia implemented a policy forcing teachers to “always use a student’s preferred names and pronouns” while using different ones with their parents.”
This is, of course, a lie (sorry, alternative fact). Our system never had this as an official policy. The suit was Dismissed with Prejudice, and the three teachers (Deborah Figliola, Kristine Marsh, and Laura Nelson), were given religious exemptions.
If you look at the Alliance Defending Freedom website, Ms. Figliola is featured smiling in photos and videos, she is a symbol of the movement to promote “religious freedom.” I will never, for the life of me, understand how a teacher could sue to win the right to discriminate against their students.
When I saw the “Fact” Sheet, my first thought was that this puts our kids in danger. There are people who would do us harm based on these lies. But the root of that harm was built on hate and bigotry against gender nonconforming folks in the guise of “religious freedom.”
I am a parent. My child went through HCPS. But I am also a teacher who has instructed many kids for many years, and I have seen firsthand that sometimes, parents harm their children.
I have seen a parent walk into the office, pull off their belt and then beat their child. I have seen a kid crying in the hallway and in hysterics because their parents are sending them to conversion therapy.
We are mandated reporters who are trained to see signs of abuse and report it to the authorities. Ultimately, as teachers, the thing we should care about the most is the well-being and safety of the kids, so much so that some of us have died during mass shootings.
Sometimes, telling a parent that their kid uses different pronouns or goes by a different name is dangerous for that child. LGBTQIA youth can face homelessness and abuse if they come out at home.
So, we use caution, we want to make sure that we communicate with parents but keep the safety and well-being of the child in mind while we do.
We have an incredibly diverse student population. This diversity is our strength.
This lawsuit brought the ADF into our community. The SPLC has designated the ADF as a hate group. It is an organization that promotes hatred and bigotry in the guise of conservative Christian values.
The three school systems mentioned with this order were all sued by ADF. Schools are government institutions; it is not our place to impose the ideas of one religion over another.
The sick joke of Trump and the ADF saying that we are trying to indoctrinate is that that is exactly what they are trying to do. By pushing “patriotic education” and conservative Christian values, we are “establishing” religion.
We are violating the Constitutional rights of our kids under the guise of protecting those of adults. If our schools end up being harmed by someone who is motivated by this EO, by these lies, those who brought this suit are partly responsible and I really hope that I’m overreacting, but I fear that I am not.
Sometimes, the problem with knowing history is having to watch others ignore it.
Cara Walton has lived in Harrisonburg since 1996. She works as a History teacher in HCPS and is also a photographer and textile artist.