I was a kid in the 1970s and 1980s. Life was not perfect then, to be sure, and the perils for children were many. This was the era in which “stranger danger” really took root. I remember several Halloweens during the 1970s when there were rampant stories of razor blades and drugs being placed in trick-or-treat candy.
These were likely just urban legends, but such was the mood then, among parents: the safe, reliable world of postwar suburban America had been swept away with the 1960s, the decade that destroyed America’s innocence, probably forever.
One question my parents never had to consider, though, was how much exposure I should have to drag queens, and adults twerking in public to express “pride” in their alternative sexualities. Nor was any adult authority figure in my midst nutty enough to encourage me to “question my birth-assigned gender identity”.
Gay celebrations have their place. They did in the 1970s and 1980s, too. Pride parades were already a thing, even in Midwestern cities like Cincinnati, where I grew up. No one was locked in a proverbial closet who didn’t want to be there.
But in that era, most of the adults in charge were actually….adults in charge. They recognized that what is appropriate for adults is not always appropriate (let alone necessary) for children.
Nevertheless, there is a sector of our society that seems determined to immerse children in as much aberrant sexual content as they can. Apparently, this is how the “woke” crowd shows how open-minded they are.
A public school district in Oklahoma has just taken this trend a step further: They’ve named a drag queen and former “Miss Gay Oklahoma” as the principal of an elementary school in the Sooner State.
This same individual (a biological man) was previously arrested for child porn, in a case that was later dismissed. At least we can assume that he doesn’t dislike children.
Needless to say, a backlash has ensued.
This may have been an administrative mistake. That’s what I suspect. Since the dawn of the “if you can’t do, then teach” mindset more than a generation ago, the human capital in our public schools has declined precipitously. Could they miss something like this? Sure they could. Remember whom you’re dealing with here.
I suspect that this particular situation will be worked out. Within days, we’ll learn that this individual has been sacked, and someone of at least slightly less dubious background put in his place.
This will, however, be yet one more chink in what remains of public confidence in our public schools. Yet more ammunition for advocates of homeschooling.
-ET