A primary school in London has introduced a controversial new program which involves students being made to pen fairytale stories in which they are required to depict themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.
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“You’re Prince Harry, and you’re going to tell Thomas why it is a brilliant idea for him to marry you,” Bewsey Lodge Primary School teacher Sarah Hopson dictates to her attentive class of young kids in a video piece by BBC Radio Manchester.
In the story, which the entire class can be seen dutifully transcribing onto paper, the prince desires to marry his servant. The exercise is part of this week’s lesson on gay marriage.
Hopson believes that these practical exercises in LGBT story-telling prepare the young children for the diversity they will experience in the world as they grow up.
“They are going to go out into that world and find this diversity around them, and they’ll find that at a young age as well,” the teacher explained. “And the more they can be accepting at this age, you’re not going to face it further on because the children will be accepting now and will be accepting this diversity around them.”
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The school also employs a gender-neutral clothing policy, electing to get rid of traditional gendered guidelines for their uniforms, such as slacks for boys and jumpers for girls.
But not everyone agreed with Hopson’s ideologically driven methods.
“This is wrong!” one Facebook user commented on the video. “A Child should have their innocence. I’m Lesbian and Do not agree with this.”
Others elected to suggest educational topics they believe would be much more beneficial to the young people of today.
“Why not teach them life skills, how to cook, how to wash and iron, how to manage money and save, learn about bank accounts and mortgages…” one user advised. “So many people nowadays don’t even know the basics.”
Despite the pushback, Hopson’s approach appears to have earned approval from higher-ups in the educational community. In June, the school was awarded the “Educate and Celebrate” Best Practice Gold Award for its LGBT-inclusive work.
(H/T: BBC Radio Manchester)