In life, we often ponder what we will leave behind. What will your legacy be? Will it be wisdom or knowledge? Will it be wealth or success? Perhaps a life’s worth of experience?
There is little doubt that most parents, more than anything else, think long and hard about such things. They realize that much like in a baton race, what they pass on to the next generation will continue long after they, the
parents, have gone. However, considering the current state of the learning environments in the world we live, what kind of legacy will our children leave behind?
In a legendary conversation between nobleman Cassius and his friend Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, we are first introduced to the well-known quote, “the fault in our stars.” It goes as follows: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
Those words correctly remind us all that, life’s many influences notwithstanding, we are ultimately responsible for our own decisions. Yet, even with that in mind, we are guided by those lessons we’ve learned through the experiences of others. Unfortunately, the legacy our future leaders receive to share with their offspring will be questionable and unique to say the least.
Children are erroneously learning that:
-
- Gender is a fluid concept
- Male and female identity are social constructs
- Sex is assigned at birth
- There are nearly one hundred separate genders
If such ideologies are to be the guidelines for the future, how will our children possibly navigate to lead future generations? Decisions made in adolescence are challenging enough. However, to make matters worse, schools are making this “gender fluidity” and “transgender acceptance’ teachings part of the educational curriculum. An increasing number of teachers believe that it is their duty/responsibility to the student to assist them in acclimating to the sex/gender that they identify with.
Changing Expectations
As a result of these changing attitudes, the charters of various Teacher’s associations (both locally and nationally) have ‘adjusted’ their respective educational standards. Even once renowned and respected organizations associated with learning have lowered their bars as well.
Consider this offering on healthychildren.org. Jason Rafferty MD, MPH, EdM, FAAP, reveals why his article, “Gender Identity Development In Children” makes him part of the problem, rather than the solution:
“Being a boy or a girl, for most children, is something that feels very natural. At birth, babies are assigned male or female based on physical characteristics. This refers to the “sex” or “assigned gender” of the child. Meanwhile, “gender identity” refers to an internal sense people have of who they are that comes from an interaction of biological traits, developmental influences, and environmental conditions. This may be male, female, somewhere in between, a combination of both or neither.
Self-recognition of gender identity develops over time, much the same way a child’s physical body does. Most children’s asserted gender identity aligns with their assigned gender (sex). However, for some children, the match
between their assigned gender and gender identity is not so clear.
How does gender identity develop in children?
Gender identity typically develops in stages:
-
-
- Around age two: Children become conscious of the physical
differences between boys and girls. - Before their third birthday: Most children can easily label
themselves as either a boy or a girl. - By age four: Most children have a stable sense of their gender
identity.”
- Around age two: Children become conscious of the physical
-
Such a perverted hypothesis is disconcerting on many levels, especially when you consider that besides the fact that specific gender is recognized not only at chromosomal, but bone structural levels as well. Regardless of “the science” we are constantly reminded to follow, when that same science purports to disprove a particularly leftist theory-“the science” is vehemently dismissed.
However, had we the opportunity to read a summer 2000 vision.org article aptly named, “Children: Our Legacy For The Future,” It most certainly would’ve given us hope. In it, columnist Brian Orchard addresses the aforementioned challenges this way: “If our way of life has lost meaning, if the rapidly changing times in which we live are confusing, nowhere has this had more telling impact than on families and the way we raise our children. Gone are the days when many families attempted to bring up children to be moral, God-fearing, and equipped to fulfill their obligations in service to the community.
Instead the approach has shifted to being child oriented, yet with little clear parental focus on a desired outcome. Children are increasingly given less direction on how they should behave and are allowed to grow up more or less as they please.”
Yes, Brutus; the fault lies not in our stars.
Nevertheless, we are still part of that collective universe. No one person bears culpability for all the actions that they take, because they are merely the fruition of a wave that once was a ripple long before they were born. It is for this reason that we not only as parents, but part of the greater societal construct must hold our teachers accountable. We must never grow weary of doing all we can to ensure that the baton, that all-important legacy we pass on, has been weighed, measured, and gauged to ensure its veracity, for it bears the future of their success-and ours. Remember, when all is said and done, the money that was earned may be gone, and the buildings we’ve erected may erode over time, but our true legacy, whatever that may be, will remain.
