NEW w/ @Mike_Hixenbaugh: Activist groups that have protested critical race theory are now focusing on another issue: mental and emotion health initiatives in schools
Quick thread to explain
nbcnews.com/news/us-news/p…
The activists believe these programs are a "Trojan horse" to "brainwash" kids into believing progressive ideas about race and gender.
Others say they object to surveys of students about whether they feel welcome at school as "data mining" efforts, and are concerned about privacy
But mental health advocates say the activists' rhetoric, such as labeling a mental health coordinator as a "dangerous, worthless" job, is going to increase stigma preventing students from getting help they need
Some activists have said they believe these efforts are part of efforts to get kids on drugs, or turn them against their parents. Here's one example from North Carolina
One group in particular, out of Indiana, has claimed that schools controlling mental health is line with goals of a communist takeover
Here is the president of that Indiana parent activist group a couple weeks ago telling a crowd that what schools are teaching sets children up for sex trafficking.
Then she mentions “adrenachrome”
More from that same event
Here is No Left Turn in Education (a group I've written about before nbcnews.com/news/us-news/c…) linking social emotional learning to a sexual abuse case
On the other end of things, parent activists critique SEL and mental health initiatives because they view this as usurping a parental role
The Thomas Fordham Institute had a fascinating poll on SEL: "Social emotional learning" is a fairly unpopular term. But when you ask parents about the goals/aims of SEL, those are all very popular
Also showed a partisan difference in support for hiring counselors in schools
It should be noted our country is facing a youth mental health crisis that pre-dates the pandemic, according to doctors, hospitals and other experts nbcnews.com/news/us-news/s…
Multiple activists say that they didn't have a problem with SEL until CASEL, a group considered the authority on it, issued a statement last year calling social emotional learning a "lever for equity" that "affirms diverse cultures and backgrounds"
schoolguide.casel.org/what-is-sel/eq…
Ok, I'm starting to get into the weeds with this so I'll stop my thread, but there's more unpacked in the story today
nbcnews.com/news/us-news/p…
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