The Supreme Court Case between Jane Doe Vs Manchester School District was decided last week. In this case, a parent (Jane Doe) sued the Manchester Schools by challenging the district’s transgender policy. Within the policy, school officials were unable to share information with the parent after the parent questioned them about her child’s name change at school.
You can read the decision here:
Within the 3 to 1 decision against the parent, you will read how the parent argued that her parental rights were violated:
No matter what one believes going forward, one consequence from this decision will be that more families flee the public school system in New Hampshire. This decision sends a message to parents that when they drop their child off at school, those school officials can withhold information about that child from their parents. While teachers have due process, parents will not.
With enrollments declining, one would think that those in charge of the public schools would want to make sure that they were doing everything in their power to keep families in the public schools. And while it’s not the job of school officials to call parents to inform them of everything that happens with their child, if a parent asks a specific question of a school official, they should be told the truth. To do otherwise, undermines the role of a good and stable parent.
I know this parent personally since I was the one who first spoke to her after this incident occurred in the school.
A few additional things to note are:
1) This is a loving and caring parent
2) This parent said that no matter what, even if her child was LGBTQ, she would love her child unconditionally.
3) This child was experiencing normal pre-teen issues that many girls face at that age. Friends who would be going to different schools next year, some self doubts, etc. As mothers, we could certainly relate.
4) The mother found her daughter extra counseling to support her daughter.
5) She ended up removing her daughter from the Manchester schools and sent her to another school.
6) She’s about 2 years older now and thriving in her school, and in her life. She is happy, engaging in the arts, and it’s having an amazing positive impact on her as she is maturing.
7) She has no desire to identify as another gender.
Her mother knows her best, and knew that this was normal pre-teen emotions that needed some extra attention. She knew that because her daughter had never questioned her gender in the past, this wasn’t the root cause of her distress. Her daughter needed affirmation, but not the kind that this no social contagion was going to provide.
Two years later, this girl is happy, engaging in what she loves the most, art, and is thriving. What could have happened if she had gone down the rabbit hole of trying to identify as a boy? We will never know, but one thing’s for sure, the family is happy.
This school policy is a danger to children because it attempts to cut parents off from their children. It doesn’t allow a parent to become more involved in helping their child work through some of these normal emotions. And with the social contagion pushed on children to transition, we are seeing a whole new generation of de-transitioners. De-transitioners are the ones who go down that rabbit hole of medical castrations, removal of breasts and genitals, and uncontrollable rage caused by some of the medication they will be prescribed.
So while some of political activists, including Manchester Board members like Jim O’Connell applaud this decision, they should also acknowledge that their support for this policy will drive more families out of the public school. It’s just too bad that these people are helping in the demise of public education.
