Pride Month

[momxlots]

This was posted by a teacher at Lake Wilderness Elementary. Parents, keep an eye out for this. It's going to be a LONG month.

[Lets Talk Tahoma]

There are three things wrong with this teachers post.

1) She is making an inferred claim that parents would not be able to accept the mental challenges of their child during their growth, without resorting to physical or mental abuse.

2) She believes she has the right to become an abused child's parent, which is False.

3) She is making a statement that her political movement and the school system can raise children, when the parents are abusive, which is False.  It is a false promise to impressionable minds that they cannot fullfil, either legally or literally.

Not to mention the blatant insult to Christianity.  Not just believers in Christ, I mean Christians that believe in the ENTIRE Bible, not just pieces that make them feel good. (Romans 1:18-32)

I pray for the children that fall into this trap, let alone get anywhere near this teacher.

[MOM]

THIS IS PARENTAL ALIENATION and GASLIGHTING.

Who is this teacher? ...and in elementary school...is even worse.

This crosses the boundaries that all educational staff must uphold with students. Does the district want to make a comeback like the Bryan Neyers case where the administrators ignored teacher's concerns that he was grooming and sexually assaulting students for 5 years?

I agree with the points made by "Lets Talk Tahoma," and I want to point out the statement, "Take your medication..."  This implies that (this protected class of) students need medication, or are taking medication, which is not true.

[momxlots]

@MOM This was Billie Wilson, 1st grade teacher at Lake Wilderness Elementary that posted that. It makes sense that she's passionate about this because of a child of hers. I'm sure it's well-intended, but I'd be leery to let a child of mine attend a class of hers. I also agree with what @Lets Talk Tahoma said. May be worth asking administrators on this.

[MamaBear]

Can this be brought to the principal??

[Julie B]

This needs to be shared with the school principal. Absolutely not ok. 

[MOM]

Yes, it is appropriate to bring this to the principal's attention at LWES.

The intention may have been to be supportive, but the impact and message are inappropriate.

 

Where was this posted?

-Thanks

[MOM]

Mrs. Wilson
1st Grade Teacher, Lake Wilderness

 

Voice Mail: 425-413-3290 x9885, Email: BWilson@TahomaSD.us

[Justin B]

That’s a distributing message coming from someone who is with our kids all day. I would not want my kids in a class with someone so ideologically driven that they openly encourage said kids to just medicate up and ignore their parents.

[momxlots]

@MOM This is her cover photo on Facebook.

[momxlots]

• Here's the info for the principal of LWES if anyone cares to email her like I will be. I know her personally outside of the school, and she is a lovely person who is easy to appoach.
• Ready, Melanie
• Lake Wilderness Elementary School Principal
• • Website https://lakewilderness.tahomasd.us/
  • mready@tahomasd.us
  • 425-413-3500

[MVM23]

This is her FB profile picture, right? This was not posted in her classroom, am I correct? If so, I see no issue with it, as it is clearly not geared toward her students. It seems pretty obvious by the message "Take your meds. Make sure you eat" that this is directed toward other adults that feel as though they have been abandoned by their parents.

There may be more questionable things being communicated to students this month, but for me, this is not it.

[Lets Talk Tahoma]

@MVM23, so the words "I am your Mom now" is referring to adults?  Hmmmmm

[MVM23]

8 minutes ago, Lets Talk Tahoma said:

@MVM23, so the words "I am your Mom now" is referring to adults?  Hmmmmm

Of course it is. You do realize that adults still have moms, right??

 

[Nathalie]

Holy s... The problem is that students do check FB and their teachers in particular and this picture is clearly geared towards kids and not adults. However, if it is not a school website there is not much that school principal can or will do. I would advise the parents in her class to be super cautious. Check what reading materials are used in the class etc.

[MomFox]

You don’t know me, but I am going to explain something about teachers. We have 1st Amendment Rights to Free Speech. When we are inside the classroom, there are certain things that we do and don’t say. We know that, because we are good teachers, but when we leave school property or post to a public forum, that is OUR BUSINESS!! Not the school’s. And NOT YOURS! What Billie posted on her personal profile is NOT up for discussion with the principal or with any parents. She has EVERY right to post how she feels and to support whatever group she chooses. And to bring her child into this! Some of you are shameful! 

If you don’t believe me, look it up yourselves. Here are the 1st Amendment Rights of Teachers in Washington State. 
 

https://www.aclu-wa.org/sites/default/files/media-legacy/attachments/Free Speech Rights of Teachers.pdf

In the meantime, shut up and leave Billie alone. 

[MamaBear]

If you can't understand why " I am your mom now" is concerning sounds like you're trolling on here for fun. Plus, not really necessary to go telling people to shut up- it's a discussion. Freedom of speech, yeah? 

[momxlots]

The purpose of my post was to warn other parents that may be otherwise unknowing. To each his own in his own home... I've got no problem with that. But when you work with kids, there's a fine line with what's appropriate on social media ESPECIALLY after the Neyers paraeducator case in Tahoma and this story that came out of Olympia:

https://nypost.com/2024/02/01/opinion/family-flees-us-after-teacher-spurs-hides-10-year-old-daughters-gender-transition/

Let me be clear that we've loved all of our teachers. But this type of behavior is concerning to many loving parents.

[momxlots]

And just so you all know, Melanie Ready responded to my email. Like I said, she and I have a good relationship and our conversation was very respectful. She confirmed that teachers do not have restrictions on what they post on their personal social media pages. 

[MomFox]

@momxlotsI understand that people have a variety of opinions, and if the discussion had remained civil, I wouldn’t be up in arms. But this came close to calling for her job…wanting over and over to bring it up to the principal (irrelevant), inferring that she will try to make kids into drug addicts (ridiculous), or inferring that she believes all parents are abusive (blatantly untrue). @Lets Talk TahomaI don’t even know where you got your ideas, they are so off base. You obviously know nothing about the LGBTQ community. Perhaps do the minimum of research before lambasting someone. @Madeline”I’m your mom now” is a figure of speech that means “I will support you.” This meme is NOT aimed at elementary children. This is aimed at young adults or adults. Again, try to understand before you roast someone. According to this article (and many others), over 40% of LGBTQ youths are kicked out of their homes by their parents. Kicked out! Because their parents don’t accept them. 
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/
 

This woman is a phenomenal human being, an incredible mother, and an amazing teacher. Not only do you have nothing to fear from having your child in her class, but you have everything to gain. 

 

[Bev]

While I can understand having freedom to post what you want on your own wall, you are not free from the consequences of the post. As we have seen from the past. Even the nice ACLU quidelines say all things are not protected. So a teacher of little kids posting I’m your mom now is not appropriate. I would be pulling my kids from her class. Because you know she is pushing her mental health issues on to others children. 

[Justin B]

@MomFox just a quick correction to your cited statistic.

“14% of LGBTQ youth reported that they had slept away from parents or caregivers because they were kicked out or abandoned, with 40% reporting that they were kicked out or abandoned due to their LGBTQ identity.”

This is actually saying that 40% of the 14% that slept away were kicked it due to their orientation, not that 40% of them were kicked out.

[Bev]

@Justin B of those 14% what other problems aren’t being stated?  Drinking, disobedience, drugs….  Makes one wonder. 

[Lets Talk Tahoma]

@MomFox, Well you certainly read the article for your stats, however you may want to check your data.  The article read..... "14% of LGBTQ youth reported that they had slept away from parents or caregivers because they were kicked out or abandoned, with 40% reporting that they were kicked out or abandoned due to their LGBTQ identity."

Statistically speaking that would be 40% of 14%.  Which means, 5.6% of the entire population of homeless kids are kicked out of their parents home.  Very sad, but far from your stated 40%.  AND that 94.4% of parents love their child no matter what, as they should. (Unless there is a spreadsheet from the report that shows otherwise, this is a common way to show statistical representations.... If you have more info, I would be open to hearing it)

Also, I thought someone mentioned that this teacher wasn't talking about kids? 

People need to stand up for what they believe, so I commend you for making your voice heard, but let's at least stay consistent about what we are discussing and the facts involved.

 

 

[MomFox]

@Bev and @Lets Talk Tahoma I see my mistake with the stats. My apologies. Though not as severe as I thought, getting kicked out by your parents is nonetheless a travesty when it does happen. 

[MVM23]

18 hours ago, Nathalie said:

Holy s... The problem is that students do check FB and their teachers in particular and this picture is clearly geared towards kids and not adults. However, if it is not a school website there is not much that school principal can or will do. I would advise the parents in her class to be super cautious. Check what reading materials are used in the class etc.

Wait? Are you suggesting that this teacher's FIRST grade students are looking her up on FB? Come on now...

[momxlots]

@MomFox I never called for her job, said she'd turn kids into drug addicts, or said she thought most parents were abusive. I happen to know that she's a well-loved, great teacher when she sticks to education. It was worth a conversation with the principal, which I had and all is well. Parents should be able to bring up concerns without fear. Mentioning that this teacher is passionate about LGBTQ+ issues because of her home life (which they're very open about) is is like saying I am passionate about soccer because I have a son that plays. It just IS and no one cares. You do you at home. You added so much meaning to my words that just wasn't there. 

My original message applies. Leave the sexualized things away from our young kids at school and do not step on the toes of loving parents. And yes, we can agree that it is a huge travesty when any child is kicked out of a home!

[momxlots]

@MVM23 First grade would be extremely young to be on social media, but this could apply to former students. Just a thought. 

[Lets Talk Tahoma]

@MomFox I agree.  I think there are so many more loving approaches parents can take before kicking kids out of the house for any reason.  (But that's a whole different topic)

I appreciate this string because I don't believe anyone wants "Harm of any kind" to come to any teacher for sharing their beliefs on the Internet and in there own sphere of influence. That said, kids do need to have safe places to go when parents are abusive.  The schools can play a vital role in DIRECTING them to the resources they need, (police, hospital, social worker....) however the "teachers and administrators" need to know that they are not that resource.    This crosses a line that can put children and teachers at risk.  

"I am your mom now" (whether intended for adults or not) being read or conveyed to a child is presuming that they, the teacher in this case, will solve their abusive problems at home.  This should not be a message that kids are presented with. 

[Justin B]

I just want to point out that the people who keep claiming teachers with this mindset "are professional and keep it out of the classroom" have to reconcile the fact that others are reporting that they do not, in fact, keep it out of the classroom. @MomFox, if you are the substitute teacher within the TSD that I think you are (I could be wrong), we have reports from multiple students that your pushing of LGBTQ ideology has made them feel uncomfortable and alienated. I will leave it at that, but suggest you consider this if you are pushing LGBTQ pins and trying to draw pronouns out of students in your classes as our reports suggest.

Accordingly, I greatly struggle to believe that teachers who display aggressively overt ideological mindsets in the example posted will keep it out of their classroom. We get a lot of reports at Tahoma Parents that suggest otherwise. The evidence we are given is what leads us to these conclusions, and it is why many of us advocate for it to remain outside the classroom.

This does not suggest that we do not show love or give support to LGBTQ students. We absolutely need to protect and give them the same support we give all students. Rather, it suggests that attempting to force sexual ideology on students of different value system is not the correct course of action. 

[MomFox]

@momxlotsYou have been completely respectful during this entire discussion. I didn’t mean that YOU had personally called for her job but rather that the discussion had devolved from a “gentle warning” into a “lynch mob.” All of a sudden, people (not you) were set to take her down because of something she had posted on a personal (not professional) platform. 
 

@Lets Talk TahomaAgain, I need to remind you that this was posted on her personal profile, not on a school or professionally related platform. It was not aimed at students. Take a look at her “friends” list and see how many 1st graders she has on there. Or even her former 1st graders. I haven’t looked, but my bet is none. She did not post this in the roll of a teacher. She posted this in the roll of a friend. “I am your mom now” is a metaphor. 
 

@Justin BI’m guessing that you must have the wrong person in mind. As a substitute, I have no pins to hand out and only find out a person’s pronouns if they openly share them with me. I do regularly offer for students to correct me if I pronounce their names incorrectly or call them by the wrong name so I can try to get them right the next time. They really appreciate the effort I put into this. 
 

As to what does or doesn’t get shown in the classroom, that is a completely different conversation. This discussion is about whether or not she had the right (which she did) to post a pro-LGBTQ picture on her personal profile. 

[momxlots]

@MomFox I appreciate the discussion, thank you.

[Nathalie]

@MomFox

Yes, this teacher has the right to place such messages on her personal profile. And parents have all the rights to be concerned with such messages.  The fact that some people aren't happy and dare to speak about it doesn't make them a "lynch mob".