The survey addresses things like drug and alcohol abuse, as well as questions about depression, bullying, and sexual behavior. But the parents in Bourbon, MO, are freaking out this year because the survey includes two questions about sexual orientation and gender identity. As one outraged parent said, "The most inappropriate one was if they were transgender or thought about changing genders. My daughter, I mean, she just doesn't understand that."
Both the state and the school are doing backflips to get as far away from this LGBTQ-inclusive survey. The Department of Mental Health is telling everyone that the survey is completely optional and that the school could have excluded LGBTQ-inclusive questions. And officials at Bourbon Middle School have assured parents that their kids will never be asked LGBTQ-inclusive survey question ever again.
I find it interesting that the news stations couldn't find one single parent or official who could support an LGBT-inclusive survey for teens. Apparently, even the students themselves found those questions inappropriate:
The survey has even raised concerns for some sixth graders. “He thought it was incredibly inappropriate," Shane Burns said. "He was actually worried about some of the kids had no idea what the stuff was, and now they know. It's kind of a parent's choice to introduce that kind of subject matter."My experience as a parent is that most kids have a basic knowledge of sexual orientation and gender identity by the time that they're in sixth grade -- even if such conversations make some of them uncomfortable. Most kids who think they may be LGBTQ are generally aware that there's something different about them by sixth grade. So it might be good for the state to have a general idea of how many LGBTQ teens are out there in their school.
I do have to wonder though how traumatic it was for most sixth graders to check "no" when they were asked if they are transgender?