We can all agree that teaching kids about acceptance and tolerance is a good thing. Unfortunately, a group of California parents was outraged after a kindergarten teacher tried to do just that by reading a book about a transgender girl in class.
According to Scary Mommy, a trans student at Rocklin Academy Gateway School brought the children's book I am Jazz to school for story time back in June.
The book is based on real-life trans teen Jazz Jennings, who is a YouTube star and LGBTQ advocate, and reveals how Jazz knew she was "a girl's brain in a boy's body" since the age of two.
In support of the trans student who brought the book to class, the teacher also read Red: A Crayon's Story on the same day, which is a book about a crayon struggling with an identity crisis.
Parents were deeply upset that they were not informed that this type of subject matter would be taught to their kids.
Although both kids' books are aimed at children aged four to eight, parents were deeply upset that they were not informed that this type of subject matter would be taught to their kids.
"My daughter came home crying and shaking so afraid she could turn into a boy," one parent revealed, according to Breitbart.
As a result, not only did some parents meet with school officials to express their outrage, but they also held a protest. Additionally, two families decided to pull their kids from the school altogether.
"The average parent doesn't want to have this conversation in kindergarten, and it was forced upon them," Karen England, a conservative advocate at Capitol Resource Institute, told The Scaramento Bee.
Mom Chelsea McQuistan agreed. "It's really about the parents being informed and involved and giving us the choice and rights of what's being introduced to our kids, and at what age," she told Breitbart.
It's really about the parents being informed ... and giving us the choice and rights of what's being introduced to our kids, and at what age.
While school officials confirmed that I am Jazz was not approved by higher-ups before it was read to the class, they stressed that they did not need parents' permission to do so, since the subject matter was not regarding "sex education," Café Mom reports.
While the incident occurred in June, parents are still outraged that a teacher would discuss what it means to be transgender with a kindergarten class.
On social media, many continue to voice their concerns, arguing that kindergarteners are too young to learn about this subject matter.
However, some parents don't see a problem with the book at all. Dad Ankur Dhawan, who had a five-year-old daughter in the class, is one of them.
"This is a topic that is very pertinent to our times. If I wanted to have this discussion with my child I don't know of a mechanism that would work out better than this," he told The Sacarmento Bee. "The timing isn't what I chose, but it is a decent way to bring it up."
The timing isn't what I chose, but it is a decent way to bring it up.
Dhawan is right in that the book couldn't be more relevant to what's happening today. As the trans community continues to face discrimination in Canada and U.S., it has never been more important to teach children to accept this group.
Additionally, Scary Mommy notes that the fact that this kindergarten class already has a transgender student in it makes the book even more relevant.
This isn't the first time parents freaked out because a school introduced a children's book that touched on gender identity. Back in March, the kids' book Jacob's New Dress was banned from a North Carolina school's Grade 1 curriculum.
While the book was about celebrating a boy who didn't conform to traditional gender roles, parents didn't see it that way and complained that it taught their children to be transgender.