Teacher was fired for refusing to call children by their preferred pronouns

[l0st]

When someone's intentionally rude to another person over a fairly trivial matter (a name), then the odds are pretty decent that they're doing it to be mean and to force a confrontation.  That's not an appropriate way to treat a child.

The child didn't ask to be bullied by an adult.  The child only asked for a preferred method of address.

Teachers are supposed to be empathic towards students -- a teacher who understands where the student is coming from can be a better manager of classroom problems.  Our modern school system approach (as flawed as it is) is a HUGE step up from the old system, where education was NOT a right and if you wanted an education, you danced to the demands of whoever the teacher was.  If the teacher wanted to beat you with a bookstrap, that was just fine.

Calling a child by their actual, legal name is NOT bullying or anything of the sort. There is an appropriate mechanism for the child to change their legal name, and they and their parents should have pursued this instead of politically grandstanding some high school class with a substitute teacher. Frankly, its behavior like this that is the exact reason this movement isn't getting the results they want.

Since when do we care what children want? This is right up there with Greta Thunberg in my book. Wailing incessantly about climate change - when did we start letting children dictate to grown adults how to run an operate a classroom or the world environment? Social culture does not give deference to children and for very good reason - they are not mentally equipped with the skills to handle being an adult. They should not be making any decisions that would normally require the authorization of an adult.

Since when are "teachers supposed to be empathic towards children'? Says who? I had plenty of teachers growing up who were complete assholes. It takes all kinds. The teachers aren't there to perform psychiatric counseling they're there to teach kids basic life skills they will need to succeed in the working world.