@DaddyFiles/Twitter
October 31, 2021, 9:37 am
School board meetings continue to draw the dregs of humanity, spreading conspiracy theories and hate under the guise of concern for children.
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The latest incident happened at a Franklin School Committee meeting in Massachusetts, where a high school senior was heckled by adults while discussing the experience she and her friends have had over the years being bullied for being gay.
“When kids are coming to theater every single day telling me, ‘Oh, I got called a f—got in the hall today,’ or ‘I got called a racial slur in the hall today,’ that’s not something to, you know, joke about,” Mackenzie Atwood told those gathered. “Though it’s become something that we’re so numb to that it becomes a joke.”
Atwood was speaking with the permission of the school board after a parent at the meeting asked if her daughters were even “protected” at the school since they are white. The mother was referring to the concept of protected classes of people, which generally refers to preventing discrimination of a group based on certain characteristics.
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The senior explained that of course every student is protected at the school, but there is real bullying happening against students who are in minority groups, whereas kids aren’t being bullied because they’re white.
Adults in the audience quickly tried to shout her down, causing School Committee Chair Anne Bergen to bang her gavel to bring the meeting to order and allow Atwood to continue.
“I am gay,” the teen said. “Call me what you want about that. I am being personally attacked in school about this.”
Another outburst from an adult in the crowd sent Atwood into tears as she continued, “It is extremely disgusting that you can look me in the eyes and say that I’m not being oppressed at this school.”
“This has to stop!” an adult screamed. “This is the indoctrination!”
The behavior of the adults involved in shouting Atwood down continued to be pushed back against by Bergen in the moment, and Superintendent of Schools Sara Ahern wrote a scathing letter addressing the incident during the week.
“The conduct, tone and disruption by some members of the audience was appalling, and a violation of Franklin Public Schools’ core values of a safe and inclusive environment and a collaborative community as well as unacceptable with respect to public meeting procedures,” she wrote.
She also added that “bias-based behavior is permeating layers of the community. As adults, I implore you to be more mindful of your behavior as you serve as important role models.”
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And if kids are dealing with homophobic or racial slurs being hurled at them in school, and other students’ parents have no problem outing their own homophobia towards a teenager, it sure isn’t hard to connect the dots.
*First Published: October 31, 2021, 9:37 am
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