Well done Irish Parents! Protest today in Co Dublin against Trans ideology in schools! Link to video inside!

[Bláthannabuí]

https://gript.ie/keep-gender-ideology-out-of-schools-protesters-gather-in-dublin/

Link to video inside! 11 minutes covering the parents protest in Swords Co Dublin today. Protesting against the proposed sex education in primary schools. There was a small counter protest who had a very loud alarm trying to drown out the poor parents.

Watch the video, very encouraging!

@Genesis1v27 it is also referenced towards the end of this article

www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41110669.html

I don't think that full removal is the aim, just proper age restrictions, like with films and video games being age rated.

Yes for under 12s parental permission was needed. I am a Hunger Games fan so had no issues as I have read the series muself.
For over 12s no permission needed if they have the library card to match their age as they are taking out books within their age span.
@1Week explained the young adults is more segregated again into 12-14 & 15-17 so I guess it depends what age band the book is put in. But if your library card matches say the 12-14 no permission would be needed.

@Flounder2022 just to clarify u12s usually don't need permission but my dd chose the Hunger Games in young adults so 12-14 so I had to consent. They are strict on it.

Don't know tbh. It depends if the book is tagged 12 to 14, in which case it matches their age. Or 15 to 17. But a lot of libraries are small with one section for 12 - 17, which is kind of conflating things. I wonder how librarians manage day to day with that. Ours is quite strict with age ratings but if it's send down from On High as it were, what can the ordinary librarian do.
And it certainly shouldn't be recommended as further reading by the Dept of Ed or whatever for the younger age groups.

Great. So we know under 12s can't access this book.

When your child turns 12 will you check what they have borrowed from the library?

@1Week genuine question. Why would 'on high' send down instructions that this or similar books must be given out to anyone over 12, no questions, if they are usually really strict on the age ratings?

Yeah same in our house, Hunger Games for my 11 year old. I think parents sometimes rely on the librarians judgement which makes it - I dunno, a betrayal? - if this type of thing was ok'd by the library for young age groups. It shows that ideology is more important than what the public want, and that's against what people expect from libraries. Most people who go to libraries do feel attached, maybe that's just me but I don't think so

I mean "on high" would put this book in a particular age band. Thats a deliberate decision. It's centralised in that regard - I imagine- everything else is.

@Flounder2022 definitely not u12s without parental consent.. To be honest flounder I think I'll be more mindful about what they bring home.. It's a hard one obviously they can't read Harry Potter etc forever 😊 but I'll definitely take a vested interest & keep up to speed with what's popular etc.. I'm a bookworm myself so I'm naturally inquisitive about what their reading anyways..

But why? I'm genuinely confused why you would think that? The book is inclusive yes, but it's does not lean very heavily on the fact that the author is trans nor does discussion on trans issues get more focus or discussion in the book.

So what's the agenda or ideology that you mention?

Yes definitely & the staff in our local one have been there for years. It feels like they have just jumped on the bandwagon so to speak. And as we know all children are so different some 12 year olds will take longer to mature & are very sheltered.. Others are totally street wise so it isn't one size fits all unfortunately

The sexual explicitness. That's what shouldn't be shown to kids and young teens.
I wouldn't call it inclusive - it's by definition aimed at gay teens, a very small subset of the population. But I know what you're getting at.

I sure you've noticed that part of the progressive ideology is 'sex positivity', great labelling, who could disagree! But the devil's in the details, commonly, and plenty people don't agree with some of them. That's ok. That's very normal. In fact, its something like 11% - 15% of people in Western countries are Progressives, which means a lot of people aren't on board. Most people don't agree that encouraging teens to go for sex hook ups with randoms off the Internet is a good idea.

I sometimes feel we in Ireland were poisoned by the strictures of the Church, and now we're being poisoned by the backlash. There must be a happy medium, one of these days

Of course most people don't agree with that. Similarly most people don't think young people using drugs is great either. But young people do. And if they are going to (when has prohibition or 'just say no' ever worked) then the least we should ensure is that they are informed of the risks and then if they make an informed decision to still do it they know how to mitigate those risks.

Literally the start of that article:

Juno Dawson's young adult non-fiction book This Book is Gay has been removed by Children's Books Ireland from their Pride Reading Guide.

The guide is aimed at young readers aged 0-18

And later:

the HSE has said they will be removing reading lists from their Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) resource, including their Relationship and Sexuality Education unit for schools. The course is aimed at Junior Cert students as part of a roll-out of sex education for 12-15 year olds in Ireland. Dawson's book was included in the sex education course.

@Cailleach1's twitter link does not show what you have claimed.

@Genesis1v27 thank for the link to that. Well done to the parents involved for raising the red flag, it was good to see promt action & common sense prevailing.

One positive outcome is that I'm sure many concerned parents will be more vigilant & perhaps a tad suspicious about what their children are exposed to. Extra safeguarding is always a good thing!

@Genesis1v27 the first list is not related to schools.

The course is aimed at 12 to 17 yos. The supporting resources lists are aimed at teachers and parents.

I see what you're saying. But I think there's a difference between portraying something that happens and encouraging and condoning it.
Not a sharp boundary there of course but to me, this book falls on the wrong side.

@1week I genuinely don't think this book encourages it. Acknowledging it happens and giving factual info is not the same as encouraging it.

The same thing is said about access to condoms or other contraception for young people or clean needles for drug users.

Children's Books Ireland is a well regarded organisation. They produce booklets aimed at anyone involved in children's literacy, parents, teachers, kids themselves. A little catalogue with age tags, theme tags. They're authoritive and have reach. If a teacher had a bereaved child in their class, or had a disability, or any other struggle, they'd see what CBI has recommended for kids in that situation and assume its suitable. Same with LGBTQ. And it turns out, for some reason, CBI has let a totally unsuitable book into their recommendations. Are we to assume that's the case for books about living with autism? Or if your dad dies? Or is it only this topic?

And the teacher doesn't check more than the cover to ensure it covers what they think the student needs support with? They just randomly pick a book based on its name and what, a couple of lines of info on it?

Maybe you're right. Maybe I am. It's subjective, isn't it, and different kids have their own subjective biases as well.
I think the tone of the book is unmistakable, and it would be much more obvious if it were a cheerful cheeky book about melting heroin in a spoon! I definitely don't think hard drugs/random sex are normal teen rites of passage. A spliff and fooling around with someone you care for is much more commonplace. A matter of degree.

@1week well said.

Well, yeah? You've a budget for the school library, you're aware of certain issues in your classrooms. You're not a trauma specialist, but a teacher. That's why the likes of CBI exist, you trust them to know what you do not.
That's specialisation in an advanced society for you.

Unless you're the type that does their own research on vaccines and the like.

Well said 👏