Teachers Ordered To Call Students “Purple Penguins” Not “Boys And Girls”
By Robert Gehl
A school district in Nebraska has ordered its teachers to refer to students as “boys and girls” and instead use “gender-inclusive” terms like “purple penguins.”
As first reported by National Review, a document tells teachers:
“Don’t use phrases such as ‘boys and girls,’ ‘you guys,’ ‘ladies and gentlemen,’ and similarly gendered expressions to get kids’ attention,” it reads. “Create classroom names then ask all of the ‘purple penguins’ to meet on the rug.”
The document, handed out to middle-school teachers at Lincoln Public Schools, provides 12 steps to avoid creating a “gendered space.” It was developed by a group called “Gender Spectrum,”
a California-based organization that “provides education, training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for children of all ages.”
Also on the list? Put door hangers up that read “all genders welcome,” avoiding mentioning genders exist at all, and if it’s important, say “boy, girl, both or neither.”
Also, the document instructs teachers to interrupt and interfere with students speaking if they speak of “boys and girls” and instruct them it is wrong.
“Point out and inquire when you hear others referencing gender in a binary manner,” it states. “Ask things like . . . ‘What makes you say that? I think of it a little differently.’ Provide counter-narratives that challenge students to think more expansively about their notions of gender.”