Two years after a boy identifying as a girl raped a girl in a school bathroom, the Virginia Board of Education released a new set of policies concerning transgender students.
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“The new policies released on Tuesday bar schools from accommodating a student’s request to start going by a different name or pronoun at school unless the child’s parent provides the school with written permission,” Mairead Elordi reports for the Daily Wire. “The policies also require students to play on the school sports teams and use the school bathrooms that match their biological sex.”
Furthermore, according to the policies, schools must keep parents informed about the well-being of their children.
“To ensure parents are able to make the best decisions with respect to their child, school personnel shall keep parents fully informed about all matters that may be reasonably expected to be important to a parent, including, and without limitation, matters related to their child’s health, and social and psychological development,” the rules state.
Promoting and defending the use of a bathroom according to one’s biological sex should not be a controversial issue. It is a matter of common sense — and necessary for not just the education system but society to survive. Questioning the basics of biology unleashes chaos — and prevents a genuine, academic search for truth.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin released a statement regarding the board’s new policies:
All children in Virginia deserve to have a parent engaged in their life and to be treated with dignity and respect. The VDOE updated model policies reaffirm my administration’s continued commitment to ensure that every parent is involved in conversations regarding their child’s education, upbringing, and care. Public comment, input, and concerns were carefully evaluated and assessed to formulate the updated model policies. The Department of Education has delivered policies that empower parents, prohibit discrimination, create a safe and vibrant learning environment by addressing bullying incidents immediately, and protect the privacy and dignity of all students through bathroom policies, athletic procedures, and student identification measures.
However, some in Virginia, such as math teacher Andrew Trowbridge, disliked the new measures:
I disagree whole heartedly with this policy. If parents want to be *this* involved with the education of their children, my email inbox would be blown up with parent contacts … which it’s not. So, take your dangerous and harmful rhetoric elsewhere, I think Florida would like you!
— Andrew Trowbridge (@Mr_ATrowbridge) July 21, 2023
While Youngkin’s policies might seem like a small victory in the greater battle for cultural integrity, successfully protecting students and affirming parents’ rights — especially against the progressive interests entrenched within the public education system — is a major victory for reinstituting the sanity of biology.
Elizabeth Crawford is a rising senior at Hillsdale College studying politics. A member of The American Spectator’s 2023 intern class, Elizabeth enjoys drinking good tea and plans to pursue a career in journalism.
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