Leave our children's schools for learning, not protesting

Parents should find better ways to express themselves, writes Michelle Mungall.

My son started kindergarten this year. He smiled with pride when I snapped his picture on the first day. Since then, he typically gives me and his dad a big hug goodbye before heading into the school with his teachers and classmates.

Then, there are the days he doesn't. The whole morning routine suddenly lands in a meltdown where my son pulls me to the ground, refusing to go into class, as though an orc is waiting for him on the other side of the door. There's no test or trouble with other kids. It's just that when you're five, the whole daily progress of life — from matching the right foot to the right boot or zipping a zipper to learning how to write your name — can be overwhelming.

With so much going on for my son, or for any kid navigating early life, the last thing they need is a group of adults showing up for a mean-spirited protest at their school. You might wonder who would do such a thing. Me too, but it has happened.

Last November, a group of parents made accusations against an Abbotsford teacher, alleging she tried to trick second-graders into questioning their gender identity.

Rather than speak with the school principal, they used social media to call for regular protests at the elementary school where she taught. When they arrived to demonstrate, they stood outside the school fence, holding placards that the children, eager to practise reading, could see.

Every bit of this is inappropriate and simply not how grown-ups should deal with concerns about a teacher or a specific educational resource.

According to B.C. Attorney-General Niki Sharma, this wasn't an isolated incident. Rather, adults have been increasingly showing up at schools to protest the sexual orientation and gender identity educational resources called SOGI 123.

In response, the provincial government has recently introduced the Safe Schools Act. It will prohibit these kinds of protests within 20 metres of a school so that children can learn without feeling afraid of the grown-ups outside or whatever message they espouse. And I am grateful.

For the record, I've been to more demonstrations than I can count. I wholeheartedly believe in the freedom of assembly and speech. As a university student, an advocate, and an MLA, I have lived their importance and value.

Kootenay residents, fellow MLAs and I saved Jumbo Glacier from a massive development using the power of protest. Pregnant moms saved maternity services at Kootenay Lake Hospital through peaceful civil disobedience. And many constituents protested different issues in front of my MLA community office as a way to have their voices heard.

Yet, one's right to demonstrate, shout their views over a megaphone or write pointed messages on a placard are not the end-all and be-all. These rights cannot be used to suppress those of others, including another person's right to safely access medical care or education.

And as people, children have those rights too. With all the talk of parents' rights, that sometimes gets lost. But it doesn't change the fact that all children — yours, mine, and the kids down the street — also have legal rights that must be respected. Among those rights, they have the right to safely attend school without being bullied, intimidated and targeted with hateful messages about their family, race, culture, religion, ability, gender or sexual orientation.

Those who don't like SOGI 123 might say that if children can't handle a group of adults protesting at school, then they can't handle learning about sexual orientation and gender identity. I disagree, because kids are experiencing these things in their own way, and countless people's lived experience shows us that they need safe spaces and age-appropriate information to understand what they feel, their lives, and the very real diversity that exists in our society.

But we can discuss that someplace other than on school grounds and leave our schools squarely for the kids to focus on learning, being themselves, and discovering their best potential.