A new policy proposal in Delaware would allow students to choose their own race & gender identity without parental consent and parents are not too happy.
The policy under Regulation 225 states schools may be required to permit facilities and activities with a student’s chosen gender identity, including bathrooms, sports, and the preferred name of the child. Students would also be able to pick the race they’d identify as. The new policy states that schools will not be required to disclose any information to parents about a child’s decision due to the child’s “well-being.”
The new regulation isn’t sitting too well with parents and some are claiming it’s infringing on their parental rights.
“I would be livid if the school allowed my daughter to make such a significant decision without me,” said the president of the Delaware Parent Teacher Association, Terri Hodges.
Over 11,000 public comments in emails, letters, and online submissions were counted and the larger number of people oppose the regulation according to Fox News.
Rich Collins the Delaware State Representative confessed that the proposed regulation is confusing and imprudent. “This is taking our eye off the ball… We have one school that has a 3-percent math proficiency and there are issues educating our kids”, he told the news source.
One parent of a transgender child says that the new regulation could have a positive effect on children.
“Right now gender and race identification are handled on a school-by-school basis,” Andrea Rashbaum said. “One school will help a child grow to have dignity and the other less educated school (school in the same district) can squash a child’s self-worth.”
Delaware became one of the first states to create a proposal that acknowledges gender and race identification in schools as protected characteristics.
