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
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.
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
This district did not face protests over CRT or trans student policies, but in 2021, a group of conservatives won election and quickly began moving to implement policy changes.
One member described it as a “divide, scatter, conquer” strategy that he said “Trump was great at”
The board has...
- Set up the town’s 1st charter school & gave it part of the middle school
- Became 1st/only district to use a right wing group's social studies standard
- Hired a superintendent who was recalled in another district after pushing courses to be more patriotic
Here's a thread of the 20 politicians who've falsely claimed this year that schools are accommodating who kids identify as cats, putting litter boxes on campus for them
Lauren Boebert, Congresswoman:
"They are putting litter boxes in schools for people who identify as cats. Durango is doing this. This is how extreme it is."
NEW:
We found 20 right wing candidates and elected officials who’ve publicly claimed this year schools are accommodating kids who identify as cats, letting them only talk in meows or installing litter boxes
We know because we talked to a professor who’s interviewed thousands of furries, as well as teenaged furries
We did find one example of a school district keeping kitty litter in classrooms — but it’s part of a kit with other supplies in case of a prolonged emergency lockdown.
A group of conservative residents in a Michigan town successfully campaigned in favor of defunding the local library after its board said it would not ban books,
(I've seen far-right activists on Facebook and Telegram hold this up as inspiration) freep.com/story/news/loc…
Local officials in a Texas town suggested this month the public library could be evicted if they didn’t reconsider complaints about LGBTQ-themed books in its collection. victoriaadvocate.com/premium/victor…
Locals have repeatedly asked the library to judge books under God's standards, not the world's standards, and quoted Bible verses at library trustees meetings
One woman has also repeatedly gone to the library to blow a Shofar horn, which some Christians have started using as a call for biblical warfare
I obtained security footage of one of the incidents