Let’s Say No To Bullying And Stand Up For #TransRights

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I don’t blog about politics.

I hate politics. And I’m Canadian, so I usually try to bite my tongue about American politics. Also, I’m very aware that more than half of our readers are Republicans who have different political opinions than I have.

But, I do blog about bullying.

I’m passionate about creating awareness about bullying and trying to help parents teach their children how to recognize and help stop bullying whenever they see it.

One of the most important lessons parents and educators need to teach kids to stop bullying is to be an UPSTANDER instead of a BYSTANDER.

Targets of bullying cannot stop the bullying.

And the bully will not stop bullying on his/her own.

The way bullying stops is when bystanders stop standing by and watching what’s happening and instead stand up and stop what’s happening.

Bullying Transgender People

The “bathroom bills” are a form of bullying.

Bullying is always about POWER.

Bullying happens when there is an imbalance of power and the bully takes advantage of the power imbalance to hurt the target.

As we all know, schools are one of the most common places where kids are bullied. And we all expect that parents and teachers should do everything they can to prevent and stop bullying.

That’s why I think it is critical that we all stand up for these kids and make sure the government puts appropriate laws in place to protect all kids.

If a parent or a teacher walked through a hallway and saw a group of students standing in front of a bathroom and refusing to let a child go in to relieve himself/herself, one would assume that they’d tell the students to move and let the child go to the bathroom. (Hopefully, they’d also seriously reprimand the students.)

We instinctively know blocking a child from going into a bathroom is wrong and unacceptable.

So how can we stand by and allow it because the target is transgender?

The fact the child is transgender has nothing to do with anyone’s religion.

It is simply a fact about the child.

That fact is not an invitation to discuss religion or sexuality.

A transgender boy deserves to be treated like any other boy. A transgender girl deserves to be treated like any other girl. And they all deserve to keep their private parts private.

But sadly, most transgender children are not only treated unfairly but they are often bullied by other students.

It is the job of the teachers, the administration, the law makers, the law enforcers, and the parents to stand up to protect ALL targets of bullying.

Regardless of their religion, skin color or sexuality.

It couldn’t be simpler.

As parents we teach our kids, “your privates are private”, we also teach our kids to “mind your own business”. So why can’t the administration see how inappropriate these bathroom bills are? It is nobody else’s business what a child’s privates look like or what they used to look like.

Nobody is allowed to ask any other person questions about their genitals. That would be grossly inappropriate. So why do people think they should be allowed to ask transgender people about the past, present or future state of their genitals?

Where Do You Stand?

If you currently feel that a transgender boy shouldn’t be allowed to use the boy’s bathroom, or that a transgender girl should be forced to use a boy’s bathroom, I beg you to pause for a moment and imagine…

Imagine you’re standing in a school hallway, and this little boy wants to use the bathroom. But there’s a crowd of people standing in front of the door telling him he can’t go to the bathroom because he is not a normal boy. They’re telling him he’s weird and dangerous. That it’s not safe for the other kids if he is allowed in the bathroom.

How would you feel? What would you do?

Could you look at him in the eye and tell him he doesn’t deserve the same human rights as all the other kids in the school?

Or would you stand up for him and tell the crowd to move out of the way?

(The boy in the photo is Joe Maldonado and he was recently in the news because the Boy Scouts kicked him out for being transgender. Would you tell that little boy that he couldn’t use the boy’s bathroom?)

If you believe that human rights apply to all humans, please stand up and help stop this bullying.

Let’s let ALL kids go to the bathroom at school.

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Written by Susan Carraretto, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with me: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
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