Reason’s Robby Soave has had a lot of really good takes. But because few people can be right all time, he’s also had a few clunkers.
His take on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law would fall into the latter category:
Everyone defending the Florida law along the lines of "Yes, it should be normal for your kids not to know anything about their teachers lives" is being very weird.
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 5, 2022
Who’s defending the law along those lines? We must’ve missed it.
Like, if this is something that bothers you, you should probably just homeschool your kids—I can't imagine the public school system can live up to your expectations.
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 5, 2022
I went to public school and remember teachers talking about their pregnancies, who they voted for, etc. Shame there weren't cameras in the classrooms so I could make TikToks about their wrongthink.
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) April 5, 2022
Same, and I went to Catholic school for 12 years. I knew where many of my teachers lived!
— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) April 5, 2022
Robby Soave’s (and Dave Weigel’s) framing of the law’s defenders’ rationale would be a lot better if it weren’t so disingenuous. But it is disingenuous.
And so, we’re left with no choice but to push back against Soave’s dishonest characterization.
I never knew anything about my teachers’ lives when I was in grades K-3.
Maybe they mentioned having a spouse at some point.
Maybe they mentioned where they went on spring break at some point.
— Max (@MaxNordau) April 5, 2022
Maybe I'm old school, but when I was in grade 1 I did not know or want to know anything about my teachers' personal lives and/or relationships. In my 7 y/o mind, my teachers only existed within the confines of my classroom, and even bumping into them in the real world was weird. https://t.co/GOT74OS4HS
— Emma-Jo Morris (@EmmaJoNYC) April 5, 2022
I also honestly don’t remember any of my elementary school teachers saying a single thing about their personal lives other than what you mentioned, save for when my 5th grade teacher left to have a baby.
— GrassleyPosting LLC (@ClapForJeb) April 5, 2022
Maybe they mentioned their own kids. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that.
And it’s probably pretty safe to say that very few of the people defending the Parental Rights in Education law have a problem with kids knowing that their teachers have families and lives outside of school.
This entire discussion is a very strange way of trying to distract us from what the law actually does. This shit is completely irrelevant. The law doesn’t prevent anyone from mentioning their spouse or talking about some other aspect of their personal life. https://t.co/6XSJIyZ8Nu
— Some Random Conservatarian (@violacesario_) April 5, 2022
And the bill doesn't prohibit kids knowing about teachers lives. But you know that!
— Andy Lancaster (@andylancaster) April 5, 2022
The issue isn’t K-3 kids knowing that their teachers are people; the issue is K-3 kids being taught about sexuality and gender identity by people who aren’t their parents, without their parents’ permission. There’s no reason that should be happening in a classroom environment. And there’s no reason teachers’ discussions of their personal lives should ever get below the most surface of surface stuff.
“It should be normal for kindergarteners to know about the love lives of their teachers” is weirder dude https://t.co/tADU7AXz1H
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) April 5, 2022
If Robby Soave wants to have an honest discussion about the law, he needs to be honest about the law.
libertarian and neo-liberals really need to learn how to read the room.
notice their criticism comes only for the law and the parents who support it and never for the people who make the law necessary in the first place?
where people aim their fire is always most telling. https://t.co/V2p4ThUd8r
— McFletch ☘️ (@FletchMatlock) April 5, 2022
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