Salt & Light Global’s Post

A federal court blocked the Education Department from enforcing new regulations aimed at protecting transgender students in schools, finding that opponents a sued to stop it are likely to prevail when the case is fully considered.
The ruling only directly impacts four states, but with a half-dozen similar cases making their way through the courts in other states, the order injects new uncertainty for schools just seven weeks before the sweeping new rules are supposed to take effect.
The regulations, issued in April, represent the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX, a half-century old law that bars discrimination in schools based on sex. The rules impact every K-12 school, college and university in the country that accepts federal funding.
The regulations direct that discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, and would require, for instance, schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity and to use students’ preferred pronouns.

The reason why I keep posting about trans youth being regular human beings is that states keep passing laws like this one from New Hampshire (which Governor Sununu still has the option to veto). This law lumps gender identity and sexual orientation in with sex education and requires two weeks prior notice of any related instruction or program to parents, who can then opt their child out. This requires teachers to create new instruction or programs that can sub for the objectionable material. Why does this matter? Well, for at least these reasons: 1. It makes sexual orientation other than heterosexuality and gender identity other than cisgender objectionable, such that parents have the right to excuse their children from any instruction or program that concerns it. I note the exceptions because they are silent in the text. That is textbook discrimination. 2. The burden this puts on already-overloaded teachers is impossibly heavy. Teachers will simply stop teaching about SOGI identity or anything related to it, including the identity of famous Americans who are of minority SOGI identity. 3. It's the next step in disabling and diminishing public education. The Project 2025 crew is very open about eliminating the federal Department of Education and maximizing "parental control" of public education (ie, parents who think like they do). This includes cash payments to parents for their child's "share" of education funding, though funding for public schools is by definition an indivisible public good held in common. The ultimate goal, which they've been working on for many years, is to reduce public education to a bare-bones alternative for children whose families don't have the means to pay for private school. (The "share" of public funding will never be enough to pay for private school.) There's a lot going on here, none of it good. Let me know if you have questions or are looking for more information. I'm more than happy to help out. The battle for our youth is one that we have to win.

Building sexual safety education into school curriculum is a sensitive process, especially given the blindspots that can exist in our thinking regarding gender roles and expectations. When we take the easy way out, we clump teens into gender categories that feel easier for us to manage. But in the process we lose the ability to connect with them, and in turn, we lose their trust. A more nuanced conversation is required when discussing sexual ethics with teens, a conversation that explores their lived experience, perceptions, self-concept and approach to relationships. Gender roles will be an important part of these conversations but not a primary driving force in predicting behavior. Todays teenagers are playing an active role in helping expand our ideas of gender categories. Many schools are finding that there’s an opportunity for shared learning and trust-building when space is made for holding these conversations, however uncomfortable they may be at first. After all, there is almost no greater influence in a young person’s life than the environment where they learn, interact with their peers, and discover who they are as people. #SAAM #sexualassaultawarness #teenagers #sexeducation #highschool

The article highlights the growing issue of sexism and misogyny infiltrating classrooms, exacerbated by online influencers and cultural subcultures like incels. Schools and colleges are witnessing rising verbal harassment and sexual misconduct, with educators increasingly concerned. There is an emphasis on the need for institutions to create safe learning environments through zero-tolerance policies, teacher training, comprehensive sex education, and community involvement. Beyond Equality go into schools to train staff and facilitate conversations with students about gender equality and tackling sexism. We work to challenge harmful behaviours and attitudes, encouraging a more respectful culture within schools. These proactive discussions aim to address the root causes of sexism and misogyny, fostering a more inclusive environment for both students and staff. https://lnkd.in/edQfQM-z

I truly appreciate the effort that went into this study. The insights are remarkable, and I can't help but notice parallels between the US, the Global South, and Kenya—particularly in terms of the scope of sexuality education, the negative perception tied to shame and stigma, and disparities in access across social classes. I fully support the standardization of sexuality education to ensure consistent quality for everyone while leveraging existing models to expand the reach and address the gaps in limited, absent, or inaccurate content. Ultimately, sexuality education should focus on meeting the significant demand for accessible, evidence-based, and culturally responsive content, rather than merely creating it. An important consideration is aligning interventions with the audience's priorities and lived realities (user-centered). For example, a young woman working as a manual laborer to provide for her family may not prioritize attending a half-day family planning educational forum in her locality if it means losing a day's income and jeopardizing her family's needs. This underscores the need for sexual educational interventions that are responsive to lived realities and/or multiple barriers and/or delays people face in accessing sex education. Thank you Astatke RH, Evans Y-Y, Baker S, Simpson M, Thompson T-A, and Ibis Reproductive Health.

Over the last three decades, the receipt of formal sexuality education among adolescents in the United States has declined. Further, racial and geographic inequities in sexuality education remain, with Black women and girls more likely to receive abstinence-only-until-marriage instruction than their peers of other racial and gender identities. In partnership with SisterSong through the #TrustBlackWomen study, researchers held focus group discussions with 49 Black women in Georgia and North Carolina. They observed both the inadequacy of sexuality education and the desire for accessible, high-quality information that addresses autonomy, pleasure, and consent. These findings highlight the need for investment in comprehensive sexuality education nationwide to effectively address structural barriers to accessing sexuality and relationship information and skills. Read the full study here: https://lnkd.in/gfcjYwbS

Are women safe in their workplace? News today is widespread with respect to the recent incident of women abuse. But, finally people are voicing about what they are going through each day. Women have evolved over the years, something which was considered impossible earlier. Today they are not only the pillars of their families but to our very nation itself. Women in STEM and education are revolutionising the world. But how far are they safe? Justice delayed is justice denied. There haven't been any solid solutions to such incidents for decades now. So what’s the solution otherwise? 1. Education? People from many parts of the country are still devoid of education. Sex education should be made compulsory in the curriculum throughout their education phase. 2. POSH committee has to be seriously adapted in both start ups and MNCs. 3. Freedom of speech - Let our girls be able to talk about what they are going through; let them know that talking to their parents, friends or colleagues shouldn’t be judgemental. 4. Let men know that women today have reached a certain level of privilege from the clutches of the society, after enormous amount of struggle. Please do not make it a questionable thing for parents to think twice to even send them out for work. 5. Respect - Respect their work, their privacy and respect them for what they are today. It's each and every other individual's responsibility to make them feel safe. Know that they need help too. Be gentle and respectful - be it at the workspace, home or education sectors.

We are a top Co-Ed, International, Boarding school situated in a beautiful hilly forest. We strongly believe that students of same sex schools miss out on very important aspects of socialization while growing up. Students need to interact, make friends, understand and appreciate members of the opposite sex. It makes a person more well rounded. Obviously there are challenges like sexual attraction, affairs, an urge to impress members of the opposite sex.. And all these things may lead to a waste of time, lack of interest in studies, getting attached to one individual and losing the chance to make a broader category of friends... However on balance, we feel that since all our life we live as members of a human race and interact at homes, neighborhoods, classmates, work colleagues etc as men and women, so having same sex school is an artificial construct. And all things artificial will in the long term produce sub optimal results. This interesting study suggests girls in same sex schools in UK performed better in exams than their counterparts in Co-Ed Schools. What's your take?? Its an interesting topic to debate... #BestboardingschoolsinIndia #bestinternationalschoolinindia #bestcambridgeschoolinindia #bestresidentialschool #ministryofeducation #coeducation

🆘 Keeping Children Safe In Education guidance: Urgent action needed Hi All This is for anyone who believes there should be equality for all people. And if you’re a teacher and/or work with children then your input is really really needed! Bad news - the day before parliament ended for the election, the previous government sneaked through a change to the statutory “Keeping Children Safe In Education” (KCSIE) guidance - https://lnkd.in/dxEDhx3T The updated 2024 guidance:  🤦♂️ Removes all references to trans children and transphobic bullying  🤦♂️ Directs teachers to follow non-statutory and potentially discriminatory guidance on gender questioning children that is not yet finalised. These changes are damaging for trans children as well as any child who is simply being inquisitive about their gender. The changes:  🤦♂️ imply that a child questioning their gender is always a safeguarding risk     🤦♂️ fail to promote equality, dignity and respect for all people. The changes are referred to in Annex F as substantive changes, but have been made with no consultation. Without action, these changes will negatively impact children and teachers from 1 September. 🆘 Urgent Action Needed - Before 30 July! If you agree that these changes are problematic and should not have been made without consultation, please act before Parliament goes into the summer recess on 30 July. Please:  * Write to the new Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson  * Contact your MP - https://lnkd.in/dEij2rte Ask them to reverse the changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024, Sections 205 to 209 on the above grounds. See our letter to Bridget Phillipson here for more details - https://lnkd.in/dQHGTVvD Many thanks! Adam Chief Health and Sex Education Officer Family Planning Association

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS PLEASE NOTE….. The reluctance to debate transgender issues within the EP profession is hardly surprising given the remarkable silence from the British Psychological Society and its Division of Educational & Child Psychology. Equally the teaching unions NEU, NASUWT, NAHT have been silently unhelpful with the notable exceptions from ASCL and SUE. The stance of the latter has finally been vindicated by the revised DfE’s RSE/RSHE updated guidance just released!  What we have learnt through this episode is that our own organisations e.g. BPS, DECP, EPNET, NAPEP, EDPSY etc. are unreliable in even offering a space to discuss let alone challenge interventions that have dubious outcomes for school children. And our professional association, the AEP, was on the wrong side of history from the outset! Their simplistic misinterpretations of Frankfurt School philosophy within ‘identity politics’ will now allow them to promote Critical Race Theory, after wreaking havoc in the USA educational systems, with its divisive appointment of ‘victims’ & ‘oppressors’ in perpetuity. This will impact on many more children than the gender debate, will we again respond with “nothing to see here”?!