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When a child goes to school each day, they have the right to feel safe. When a child is bullied, or they don't feel safe, going to school each day can be frightening. This can result in frequent absenteeism and poor grades. Unfortunately, not every school department believes this.
Ten years ago, you heard about adults transitioning from male to female or vice versa. People were far less tolerant back then, and children didn't feel safe to be who they were. Today, things have changed. More children are feeling safer and are more willing to be who they really are. Unfortunately, there are always going to be people who are against people who are trying to be who they truly are. Some people are afraid of these people. Unfortunately, some people use violence and intimidation as a way to quell their own fears. This was the case one day in North Pole High School in North Pole, Alaska, and it ended in a way that nobody expected.
There was a student at North Pole High School who was transitioning from female to male. The school allowed him to use the boys' bathroom because he identified himself as male. Many students weren't bothered by this; however, a group of seven boys had a serious problem with it. In fact, they decided to protest against the school's decision and things at North Pole High School went south quickly.
A young lady was in the girls' bathroom after lunch one day. There were a couple of other girls in the bathroom with her when a group of seven boys forced their way into the bathroom. One of the young women tried to get out of the bathroom, but the boys blocked the door. Feeling threatened, the girl kneed the boy blocking the door in the groin so that she could get out of the bathroom to safely.
All of the students involved were sent to the principal's office, the boys and the girls. The principal needed to get to the bottom to things. When the girl was asked why she became violent with the boy, she said that she felt threatened. The boys stormed into the girls' bathroom, and they blocked the door so that she couldn't get out. She immediately felt threatened, and she reacted.
When the boys were taken to the principal's office, they told their side. They didn't agree with the fact that the girl who was transitioning to a boy was allowed to use the boys' bathroom just because he identified as a boy. They said that they pushed their way into the bathroom as a form of protest. It is sad that the boys were so intolerant of a transitioning classmate who meant nobody any harm.
When the principal gave his ruling, it shocked just about everyone. Rather than punishing the boys for being in the girls' bathroom without permission and not allowing the girls to leave, the girl who kneed the boy was punished. She wasn't given detention or a stern talking to. She was expelled from school. This young girl expelled after defending herself from boy in school bathroom, and it was outrageous. Due to her expulsion, she wasn't allowed to attend prom or the school field trip. These were two things that she was looking forward to the most during the whole school year. The boys were unlawfully entered the boys' bathroom received no punishment at all. They started the whole thing, and there were no consequences for them.
Karen Gaborik is the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Superintendent. She admits that the boys forced their way into the bathroom, but believes that the young lady used too much force. Many people don't agree with her. What constitutes too much force when you feel threatened by seven boys? If you think that you are going to be attacked by seven people who are much stronger and much bigger than you, is there a such thing as too much force?
Tammie Wilson is an Alaska State Representative, and she spoke about the incident at the House Majority. She disagreed with Karen Gaborik's assessment of the incident. In her statement, she said, "We had an incident last week to where some boys entered the girls' bathroom, and a girl kneed a boy, feeling threatened. They were blocking her way, and she was suspended from school because she used too much force. If you ever feel threatened, for your safety, whatever force you think you have to give, I will stand by you and so will your community, and not for those boys who were where they didn't belong."
Tammie Wilson is right, but the young lady in question's punishment stuck. It is sad that a case of intolerance against people who are a little bit different is what caused this in the first place. If these boys had allowed the transitioning student just to be himself, they never would have planned a "protest" in the girls' bathroom, and the young lady in question would not have felt threatened, been expelled, and missed out on events that she was looking forward to.
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