Drag Queen Story Time - all the reasons it has no place in Early Years

[2fallsfromSSA]

Article from SSA outlining all the reasons DQST has no place in early years.

I know someone who got reported to her head teacher for objecting to a book called The hips on the drag queens go swish, swish, swish. There was a complete witch-hunt, it is referenced in this article:

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/2022/01/09/drag-queen-story-hour/

It seems now that "breaking down barriers" more often actually means "breaking down boundaries"

Excellent point well put. Children are relentlessly taught to be kind, not to judge, to be accepting. Are they ever taught to know their boundaries, ask questions, use common sense, trust their instincts, respect consent? Or are those all seem as old fashioned ideas in the new queered classroom?

“Who would want to destigmatize the shame associated with adult men exploring embodiment with children and why?”

Well quite. The problem we have in many schools, not just DQST but across the RSE curriculum, is that we have adults actively breaking down those boundaries in the classroom.

“ FYI - I grew up around drag queens from a very very young age”

Nosquilt I think you experienced growing up around drag queens in a theatrical setting is likely a very different to one to What the article discusses here. I don’t think you can compare them. If you read the article thinking it was talking about your childhood then I can see how you would dismiss it. This is, in part, about the “queering” of the early years curriculum. Queer theory has no place around children, it’s all about breaking taboos and removing boundaries which is why anyone supporting it in schools raises a red flag.

Children do not need to be taught how to dress up, there is a dressing up box in every early years setting and boys as well as girls out in fairy and princess dresses with no judgement or comment. Boys who dress up are not trans or drag queens. They are children playing dress up. Children do not need drag queens to teach them how to do it. I know a couple of old school drag queens. They completely agree with this article.

You dismiss the SSA article as tosh. I’d like to draw your attention to this paragraph:

The authors of the paper promote their decidedly adult idea that drag should “actively destabilize the normative function of schooling.” Again, not only does this transgress the boundaries that are so important to keep children safe, but it also violates home-school behaviour contracts. Any teacher that embraces this idea – that the normativity of schools needs destabilising – should perhaps reflect upon their choice of work setting and radically reassess what they consider the purpose of education to be.”

I spent most of the 80s and 90s in gay clubs up to my ears in drag queens and had good friends who did it.

This isn't drag.

This nonsense is queer culture imported from the US. It has a determined political agenda. They aren't doing it for the benefit of the children.

British drag has a history stretching back centuries. It permeates through our theatre history.
It's funny and filthy and anarchic and satirical. And very adult.
All the old drag queens I've known would rather die than read to kids in a school. None of the were up before midday anyway.

Normal sex education covers what most DC need in primary schools. Add in the more recent updates about pants being private areas for them and encouragement to talk to schools if they have concerns, and it's all covered.

Surely parents and staff haven't been saying, you know what the DC don't know about drag yet let's add this into lots teaching and learning lessons?

What would be the learning objectives to drag?

Bonhex
This nonsense is queer culture imported from the US. It has a determined political agenda. They aren't doing it for the benefit of the children.
British drag has a history stretching back centuries. It permeates through our theatre history. It's funny and filthy and anarchic and satirical. And very adult.

Very well said. Children are not there to affirm drag queens - in schools, libraries or anywhere else.

I agree. Children should not be used as a tool to validate mens' sexual identities.

And drag is inherently misogynistic and reinforces harmful stereotyping of women.

Has anyone seriously seen this (apart from the rainbow monkey man) in their DC school?

I cannot imagine the staff including heads at my DCs primary or secondary schools thinking this was a good idea.

Libraries here a lot.

I don't look into what my kids are doing at school in detail tbh!
If anything different to usual they came home chatting about it when they were primary anyway!

I mean also panto dames are total misogyny and everyone seems to take kids.

I just randomly feminist at them about whatever and they roll their eyes 😁

Is it really already happening in early year libraries - in primary schools?

What do parents and teachers think?

Here you are Enough4me. The charmingly named flowjob who I believe posted photos of the primary children on their facebook? page along with all sorts of other age inappropriate images. Just one example but there are numerous other incidences in primary schools and libraries:

www.scotsman.com/education/row-over-flowjob-drag-act-invited-to-speak-at-scottish-primary-school-1889329

@Goatsaregreat
Yuk, flowjob the drag queen. Poor kids being educated that it's normal to women-face!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3830536-Drag-Queen-Story-Hour-in-Scottish-Primary-School

Flowjob supported and introduced to the school by Mairi Black, MP.

Did Mhairi Black really say

“You just know that the people pretending to be livid that a drag queen read a book in a school are also the people who run out to buy their kids the latest Grand Theft Auto on release day,” she said in a Twitter message. “Your homophobia is transparent.”???

Wow. She seems to have total contempt for the parents of children at that school.

Yes, SSA covered the Flowjob debacle here: twitter.com/SafeSchools_UK/status/1232036705907204097?s=20

@Enough4me when a teacher friend I know commented that she thought that drag was not appropriate in an early years setting she got hunted down and reported to the head teacher of her school. Teachers are really worried and do not feel they can raise concerns. Once again the DfE is failing to do its job in allowing this in schools.

@UltraVividLament

Did Mhairi Black really say

“You just know that the people pretending to be livid that a drag queen read a book in a school are also the people who run out to buy their kids the latest Grand Theft Auto on release day,” she said in a Twitter message. “Your homophobia is transparent.”???

Wow. She seems to have total contempt for the parents of children at that school.

It's very worrying that most of the trans guidance issued by the self interested groups for schools positions parents as potential enemies of their children, usually advising teachers to transition children in secret from their parents (in open defiance of safeguarding principles).

Its done mostly by stealth. The schools are approached and its discussed away from the parents. Most parents would be right horrified by this.

You only get a few parents who are so right on they gladly accept it but most are like 'wtf?'

I digress but its like the library that hired a group of animals to do story time but in fact they were animals with huge swinging cocks and the parents rightly kicked off

Mhairi Black in this jaw-dropping film (just the first 5 minutes of the link below) also read out some of her correspondence and ridiculed the views of women, including making some utterly irresponsible claims about suicide. She finished by responding to women's concerns about male violence with 'don't be a Jeremy Hunt'.

Very professional. Much politic. So kind.

• it's a damn shame, too. I had high hopes for Mhairi, who started her political career so full of energy and big ideas.

What is even the purpose (not the real one that they deny)?

Flowjob went to school as part of Pride Week, or LGBT awareness week, I believe.

It's to represent the interests of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans people, ostensibly. Not sure why they can't just have a LGBT person, tbh. I mean, Mhairi herself would have been an excellent role model for young girls in school, once upon a time, before she started calling them all Jeremy Hunts for writing to her with questions she disagreed with.

"Flowjob went to school as part of Pride Week, or LGBT awareness week, I believe."

So to normalize fetishes. Because as you say, why not just send someone LGBT? Drag isn't any of those 4 acronyms. And certainly not someone who has done what Flowjob has done.