'A lot of reason to be afraid,' says censured teacher critical of the woke revolution in classrooms

A teacher still battling her school board two years after a Facebook post about the culture war in classrooms landed her in hot water says people need to wake up to the woke revolution happening in education

Teaching is now a political act that involves indoctrinating children instead of educating them, said Chanel Pfahl, in an interview with the National Post. “There’s a lot of reason to be afraid. We are in a kind of cultural revolution and people really do need to pay attention.

Pfahl is another example of a professional caught up in the disciplinary machinery for speaking out against a controversial ideology, in her case, critical race theory (CRT).

Last week, Jim McMurtry, a teacher of 40 years with a master’s degree in the history of education and a doctorate in the philosophy of education with a specialty in Indigenous history, was fired by the Abbotsford School District. His crime was to tell Grade 12 students in Abbotsford, B.C.,  that most children in Indian residential schools died from tuberculosis and other diseases.

Psychologist Jordan Peterson has been threatened with a re-education program by the College of Psychologists of Ontario for a number of tweets, including some criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Pfahl came to the attention of the disciplinarians after she wrote a post on a private Facebook page for teachers. Pfahl, 30, who was teaching in Barrie, Ont., wrote:

“Kids aren’t in school to be indoctrinated with critical race theory. Schools should be non partisan. Focus on modeling kindness to everyone and speak out against any form of discrimination you see. This includes the antiracist movements (i.e. all white people are racist, etc.)”

Critical race theory is a four-decade-old concept whose core idea is that racism is structurally embedded in institutions, such as government, education, the media and the legal system. But critics argue it is also used to promote the idea of white people being inherently racist oppressors and Black people as perpetual victims.

Pfahl also posted a speech by Kemi Badenoch, a woman of colour who was serving as Britain’s minister for women and equalities, in which she argued that CRT is a “dangerous trend” and an ideology that “sees my Blackness as victimhood and their whiteness as oppression.” The government “does not want to see teachers teaching their pupils about white privilege and inherited racial guilt,” said Badenoch.

Following Pfahl’s posting, a fellow teacher filed a complaint. Shortly afterwards, in March 2021, the school board suspended her for a week without pay. She is still fighting that suspension.

A complaint was also made to the Ontario College of Teachers, which launched an investigation in March 2022. A finding of guilt by the college would have threatened Pfahl’s teaching licence. However, in February, the college decided to caution Pfahl, rather than suspending her.

“It was essentially just a warning not to make political comments online and just teach the curriculum and shut up,” said Pfahl, who is not teaching presently because of a medical condition. “I didn’t have to agree to anything. I didn’t have to admit to any wrongdoing, which I wouldn’t have done anyway.”

Pfahl’s real crime was to put her head over the parapet and disagree with current orthodoxy.

“I was essentially accused of a thought crime by a teacher I had never met, by saying I didn’t want to indoctrinate kids with critical race theory. I was basically outing myself as someone who  doesn’t agree with politically biased lessons in school and that is no longer an accepted view in our education system,” she said.

“I believe education should be about teaching kids the facts and encouraging them to consider the problems from various perspectives.”

Pfahl believes there is a divide between teachers who have bought into woke culture and those who haven’t but are afraid to speak out.

“There’s an illiberal ideology that’s been gaining traction for the last couple of decades and sped up in the last few years. The only acceptable philosophy nowadays among teachers is that teaching is a political act and that inculcating children with social justice values that stem from this illiberal ideology is not only justified but it’s necessary.

“Teachers can’t speak their mind unless they want to risk their jobs, which most don’t want to do,” she said. “I think there’s something really important in speaking the truth and I hope that more people start to speak the truth.”

While Pfahl is “terrified of the authoritarian turn that has happened in schools and also in other institutions,” she is also hopeful.

“I do see that people are waking up. It’s becoming easier to disagree with this stuff when you’re in a group of friends or a group of strangers. I’ve noticed people are getting tired of it, they’re getting tired of hearing about racism constantly and transphobia. They’re tired of being lectured, they just want to move on and treat everyone equally,” she said.

“It will be interesting to see what happens but I do believe we need to remain hopeful.”

National Post

Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) in Southern California has drawn media attention in recent months for their adoption of policies that reinforce the belief that whether someone is a man, boy, woman, or girl has nothing to do with one’s biology, but instead is determined by one’s subjective and undefinable “gender identity.” Parents have taken to school board meetings to voice their frustrations, some of which have gone viral on social media.

“Puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries are irreversible,” said Cattinson. “By affirming a child’s cross-sex identification, they are encouraged to reject their biological sex, seeking drugs and surgeries that destroy the function of healthy body parts. I think that instead, we need to tell kids they don’t need to change themselves to be themselves.”

Cattinson has said in previous interviews that she obtained her prescription for testosterone from Planned Parenthood after just a 30-minute phone call.

“Finally, I wanted to add there is a serious lack of quality research that any of these interventions improve mental health or prevent suicide in the long term,” said Cattinson. A recent analysis found that the claims promoted by activist researchers about the mental health benefits of “gender affirming” medical treatments for trans-identifying youth are false and misleading.

Abel Garcia, a 25-year-old male who medically transitioned when he was 19, called in to voice his concerns for the young students subjected to the same ideology that led him to believe he was a woman.

“I am here speaking up against the school board on the push that they are doing right now towards children with the transgender ideology,” said Garcia.

“I cannot expect a child — a high school, middle, or elementary [aged] child — to understand the full extent of the damage that will be done to their bodies, if an adult like myself wasn’t able to,” said Garcia, who went as far as to obtain breast implants at 21 years old.

Eighteen-year-old detransitioner Chloe Cole phoned in to tell the story of how gender ideology caused her to reject her female body, setting her down the path toward medical interventions with permanent consequences.

“I would get comments on my body both from peers and adults, some of which were sexual in nature,” Cole said of entering puberty. “I hated growing into a woman. I didn’t identify at all with the women around me. I decided that I wanted to become a boy and I chose a new name for myself: Leo.”

Cole’s story documents how she was introduced to gender ideology at 11 years old, which led to her self-identification as a transgender boy at 12 years old. Cole was prescribed puberty blockers and testosterone at 13, and received a double mastectomy surgery to remove her breasts at 15, all at the behest of “gender affirming” medical professionals who she says emotionally blackmailed her parents into giving their consent. Only one year later, at 16, she realized she had made an irreversible mistake.

“I had only about six months time between my initial referral and my actual surgery,” said Cole of her bilateral mastectomy. “Very quickly, I was given what I wanted, but it was far from what I needed. Two years later, I am still suffering from major complications.”

Cole ended her call by telling the school board that what happened to her could happen to other children if they continue to be “exposed to developmentally inappropriate and confusing content and ideas from a young age.”

Cole warned the school board that children should not be treated like adults and presumed to have the mental faculties for proper long term decision making.

“You are placing children in direct harm,” said Cole. “Children deserve better.”

The detransitioners’ surprise call-ins were met with overwhelming support and applause. However, one CVUSD trustee was not swayed.

“CA state law requires schools to support and affirm our transgender students. As a trustee, I will support and affirm our transgender students — not only because it’s the law, but because it is the right thing to do,” said Lisa Powell, a candidate running for a position on the CVUSD school board.

The three detransitioners recently formed a support network called Detrans United, the first advocacy group of its kind “created by detransitioners, for detransitioners.” According to the website, their goals include helping to “connect detransitioners with each other, mental health professionals, medical malpractice lawyers, and others who can provide support.”

Their first effort as a group was to write a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland in response to a letter sent the previous week from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and Children’s Hospital Association, who urged Garland to investigate and prosecute “high-profile” individuals they claimed were spreading “disinformation” about the “gender affirming” medical model they endorse.

When asked if the group planned to coordinate more calls to school board meetings, Cole said there were plenty more to come. “Next time with many, many more detransitioners would be preferable!” Cole told The Daily Wire.

No one knows exactly how many detransitioners there are, but many have speculated their numbers are growing exponentially. If the subreddit for detransitioners is any indication, it has now surpassed 40,000