Education and the New Challange

“When the Obama administration directed public schools on Friday to accommodate transgender students by ensuring that they may use school bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice, the latest battle in the nation’s culture wars became even more contentious. Conservatives called the action an illegal overreach that will put children in danger. Advocates for transgender rights hailed it as a breakthrough for civil rights.” (“How High School Students See the Transgender Bathroom Issue”, 2016)

With all the issues that the schools face, they are now faced with a bigger issue than ever before: transgender rights. Attending a high school within the city of New York, discussing LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) was not an alien thing to do. My high school had a very openly gay community and the school had developed a LGBT support group which was popular and had many participants. However, this is not the opinion that is shared nationwide; nationwide everyone is going to have to face this topic.

Should boys be allowed into the girl’s room, if they identify themselves as a girl? Per the New York Times, high school students have begun to voice their opinions on this topic and they range from being exceptionally content about it to being very upset about it. These are the hard decisions that the Supreme Court is currently looking into. We have to consider how this change will impact education if it becomes federally mandated that schools cannot force students to use one bathroom or the other. Would staff have to be incident the restrooms (outside the stalls) at all times now to ensure that students are behaving in school. We do have to consider that if boys are allowed in the girl’s room and girls in the boys’ room, there would be kids who would try to take advantage of this policy, especially when it comes to high schools, would students try to take this opportunity to engage in sexual act ivies in the restrooms? This is a very hard topic to discuss and a lot of people are not comfortable with this topic, however, if the supreme court decides to pass this allow for this, this is a new challenge that the educational system has to accept and figure out how to manage.

1) I don’t think it is the federal government’s job to dictate what each school district does with its students. That is extreme government overreach, and it sets a bad precedent for the future. 2) I think that it is endangering females by opening the doors for any man who wants to enter locker rooms and restrooms where females are. I am not saying that transgender people will be the ones committing crimes; however, these laws and orders will allow any guy who wants to to enter these previously all-female spaces without being restricted by law. If schools want to provide a gender neutral restroom or space where transgender people can go, that is one thing, but eliminating any place where girls can go and have privacy from men is a very bad policy. — Grace Driggers, 17, South Carolina

1) I don’t think it is the federal government’s job to dictate what each school district does with its students. That is extreme government overreach, and it sets a bad precedent for the future.
2) I think that it is endangering females by opening the doors for any man who wants to enter locker rooms and restrooms where females are. I am not saying that transgender people will be the ones committing crimes; however, these laws and orders will allow any guy who wants to to enter these previously all-female spaces without being restricted by law. If schools want to provide a gender neutral restroom or space where transgender people can go, that is one thing, but eliminating any place where girls can go and have privacy from men is a very bad policy.
— Grace Driggers, 17, South Carolina

References

How High School Students See the Transgender Bathroom Issue. (2016). Retrieved October 29, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/us/high-school-students-transgender-bathroom.html

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