cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18749281
The Wisconsin English teacher, Jordan Cernek, argues in the suit that the district violated his freedom of religion and free speech in mandating the use of the students’ preferred names and pronouns.
A high school English teacher is suing a Wisconsin school district, alleging it did not renew his contract last year because he refused to use the preferred names of two transgender students.
Jordan Cernek’s federal lawsuit alleges the Argyle School District violated his constitutional and civil rights to be free of religious discrimination and to be able to express himself according to his religious beliefs when it did not renew his contract because he refused to abide by a requirement that teachers use the names or pronouns requested by students.
I can understand how difficult it would be to call your son or daughter by a different name. But if I am introduced to someone, and they tell me their name is Molly; I’m gonna call them Molly. You’d have to be a real piece of work to go out of your way to call them something else.
But then again, paperwork and role call, etc for the school – How was that printed out? Because I am fucked when it comes to names and remembering shit. If roll had “Greg” printed on it, but Greg wanted to be called “Molly”; I’d have a hard time flipping that in my head every day when I’m reading one thing and having to change it to another. It’s like that mental test where you read the word “Blue” but the word is in red and you’re supposed to say what color the word is.
So I’d like to know - did identification from the school match their preferred names? If not; why not? The school might be just as at-fault here.
I feel like remembering people’s names properly is a superpower teachers have. I sure as Hell don’t understand how they manage it, but in my experience they consistently manage it.
(Besides, I assume they could just annotate the attendance list with the preferred names/pronouns on the first day of school.)
Was a teacher. I used tricks like assigned seating with a name chart until I learned each name. It’s just repetition, and anyone could do it. Usually took me about a week to get them all. And if you forget a name during that week, you just ask. It’s not a big deal. I would always say something like, “Sorry, I know you. I’m getting it.”
They get a lot of practice since it is part of their job with all the nicknames that differ from class rosters and also see the same kids every weekday, grade their papers with their names on it, etc.
Most, and maybe all, School Information Systems (SIS) that are used have a field for nicknames/preferred names because of how common nicknames are.
Pretty sure that’s what they do. When I was school most teachers had trouble pronouncing some names, so they’d just ask us what we preferred to be called, or how we’d prefer our names to be pronounced and they’d make a note.
Most kids had nicknames that they preferred to use anyway, so that’s what how they’d be addressed. All official paperwork had the given name, but their friends, and teachers would just refer to them by the name they preferrred…which is why this whole name situation is just baffing to me. I’m guessing they didn’t renew his contract for other/additional reasons, this is just his way or trying to hit back
Imagine how ridiculously terrible he must be if this self-report is his idea of trying to make himself look less bad, LOL!
From this article it sounds like he’s one of those religious nuts trying to force their views on everyone. He probably starts off every conversation with “well, you know, as a Christian.”
It’s never about religion with a POS like this, it’s almost always about control. Hopefully the lawsuit gets tossed before it costs the school district too much money, and he can go work at a religious school where his views will probably not cause waves
I was always called by the “shortened, nickname” version of my actual first name, in Catholic school, starting in 1975. Plenty of other kids where, too: Richard, Rich; Robert, Bob; Jennifer, Jenny; Elizabeth, Beth. There is no problem referring to someone with their preferred name.
I will confirm that it requires real conscious effort to use someone’s preferred pronouns, when you have been referring to them with different pronouns all their lives, as well as having the deep inertia of the English language set like concrete in your brain – especially when they themselves are navigating the minefield of gender identity as a teenager right along with you. I do tend to rankle a bit at “constructed” pronouns (think “xe”), because I feel that insisting that everyone immediately use placeholder words that have not firmly made their way into the lexicon is asking a bit too much. I will happily use the singular they/them; that’s something which has been in common usage that way for a very long time, and is not gender specific.
Maybe something like “xe” will end up as common usage, and I’m fine with that, too. Being old, it would certainly take me more time and effort to adopt that than younger people would have to expend, and I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
A teacher gets to know their students and will use nicknames like Bill and Jim in place of. William and James on request. Any teacher who doesn’t do that is an asshole who shouldn’t be teaching kids.
This teacher lost their job because they continued to refuse to use the child’s preferred name and tried to hide behind bigotry as a justification.