Why school leaders aren’t listening to us
- by Penny Marie, Pendulum on Voice Media
These are strange and challenging times to be a parent. An increasing number of mums and dads are getting a nagging feeling (or have first-hand experience) that something is off in our education system… which filters into our homes and families.
Trust in the education system
Most parents trust our government-run education system. We entrust our children to their school each day, believing it’s the safest and best place for our kids to learn and grow into healthy, happy, life-ready young adults. (Some parents choose to homeschool or look for private, or alternative options).
To have a system that turns out well-balanced and healthy children and young adults, schools must be engaged with families, and be open about what goes on in schools. Schools must acknowledge that parents are the child’s first learners.
In return, parents expect that school is a place of learning what’s coined as the ‘three r’s (reading, writing, arithmetic). We also expect schools to offer opportunities to learn through sport, the arts, cultural activities, teamwork, and other social experiences.
Let’s talk about sex
We know that schools educate our children around sex, puberty, reproduction and biology, and today’s parents have been participants in these subjects when they were at school. These topics were understood to supplement conversations at home, and respected a parents role and a family’s cultural and spiritual beliefs.
So, what’s changed?
The slow shift from ‘sex education’ to ‘sexuality education’ in our schools was present in curriculum documents from as far back as 2007. Some teachers can remember back when they saw a shift from sex talks being about biology and puberty, to including teaching about sexual pleasure (to children).
Older MOE guidelines have no reference to what is now known as ‘gender ideology’. This is a fairly new concept that the sex we are ‘assigned’ at birth (i.e. our genitalia) doesn’t have anything to do with our gender, and that gender is a choice and is fluid. But this ideology goes even further. Many schools are now teaching that there are up to 200 gender’s. This teaching has no scientific basis, and more parents are realising their children are being taught this in school without their knowledge or permission.
A slow creep has been happening for years as the United Nations has become more influential in New Zealand government, decision making and even local policies. If we want to understand why there is a societal shift to normalising the sexualisation of our children through the education system, we need to look to how it occurred from global influences.
The United Nations is an NGO (non-government agency). It is a corporation, with un-elected people in charge. Why then, should it be influencing our elected government MP’s and policy which affects all New Zealanders?
Desmond Tutu once said “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in”.
Watch the interview above
Penny chats with Jaspreet Boparai from Western Southland. Jaspreet is a mum of two young children, immigrant, farmer, and has been researching the United Nations (UN) for over 10 years.
“I find myself here because, like many of us, I have felt for the last quite some time that things are not quite right. Parental rights are something that I feel very strongly about.” - Jaspreet
Where is the parent voice in schools?
Parents who are starting to look at the gender topic (as one of the many topics of concern) are finding that it’s really hard to get in the door and have these conversations with schools. Parents thought that schools were to work alongside the community and ensure that they are informed. Schools are required by law to consult with parents on sex education.
Parents also understood that having schools run by Boards of Trustees, where parents from the school community are elected by parents, would ensure that connection between school community and school leaders would be upheld.
This is apparently not the purpose of school boards nowadays. School boards are simply there to put government policies in place. Regardless of the result of community consultation, if indeed thorough consultation is even to occur.
Significant divide between school and families since 2020
The situation has, in many ways, shifted quite drastically over the last three years. There seems to be a growing divide between school leaders and parents. Instead of throwing our hands up and thinking there’s nothing we can do about it, I think it’s important to go back and see how this has happened.
This includes looking back at what Jacinda Ardern said at the 2019 Goalkeeper forum, hosted by the Gates Foundation, where world leaders go and share how well they are doing at achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Jacinda says that in NZ we are “…doing something not many other countries have tried. We have incorporated the principles of the 2030 agenda into our domestic policy making in a way that we hope will drive system level actions. This is not just about a new scorecard, it is about fundamentally changing how we make decisions and therefore how we allocate resources”.
The video here explains some aspects of the sexuality and gender agenda from the UN SDGs and how it is playing out in schools in New Zealand today. Please share this article with friends and family who have concerns about what their children are being taught in school.
Let Kids Be Kids
Let Kids Be Kids was recently set up by to bring awareness to parents about what’s happening at schools. Currently the focus is on school sex education - which is now called ‘Relationships and Sexuality Education’. They help parents understand where the ideology behind this content comes from, and where it is in the current school curriculum. When parents are fully informed, they are empowered to make decisions in the best interests of their families. Because parents - YOU are your child’s caregiver. Not schools. Got the Government.
Visit: www.letkidsbekids.nz and
https://linktr.ee/letkidsbekids
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/letkidsbekidsnz
Telegram: https://t.me/letkidsbekidsnz
Email: contact@letkidsbekids.nz
The video here explains some aspects of the sexuality and gender agenda from the UN SDGs and how it is playing out in schools in New Zealand today.