Bathroom Access for Transgender Students

Bathroom Access for Transgender Students

By Max Quinton

          Imagine this, you are a student and you simply have to go to the bathroom. Normally, you just ask to go to the bathroom and are on your way. But this situation is different. You, being transgender, have two options. Hold it, or go into a bathroom that does not correlate with your gender identity. Across the country, especially throughout the course of this year, transgender students are being revoked of the right to use bathroom facilities and locker rooms that correlate with the gender they identify as. People argue that allowing transgender students to use the facilities of the gender they identify as, will go against people’s religious beliefs. Furthermore, people argue that men will disguise themselves as transgender women to enter the women’s bathroom and sexually assault them, yet there have never been any reports of this. The Trump Administration is making it very clear that they will not be supporting or protecting transgender students in public schools leaving them without a safe place to exist, without any protection in court cases involving discrimination in schools, and leaving them even more vulnerable to violence and bullying.
          When needing to go to the bathroom, most people do not have a second thought about it. When transgender students attend schools that do not allow them to use the bathrooms that their gender identity aligns with, they feel trapped and unsafe in a place where no student should feel unsafe. They are being stripped of the comfort that every other student gets to have while going to the bathroom or changing for gym. In schools in states including Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee and many more, there are discrimination laws in place that require transgender students to use facilities that correlate with the gender they were assigned at birth. This leads to students holding in waste which is not healthy and leads to them feeling unsafe in their school. To take away their right to use facilities specified for the gender they identify with, is to take away a place for them to exist and is initially trying to erase them and silence them in schools across the country.
          In addition to these discrimination laws, the Department of Education confirms that they will no longer investigate complaints. They said they ¨will no longer investigate civil rights complaints filed by transgender youth who were banned from accessing restrooms that match their gender identity¨ (MJ Okma). Because of the Trump-Pence Administration, the Department of Education is lowering their bars for protecting and enforcing civil rights laws in schools, widely impacting transgender students. During Obama´s presidency, he states that transgender students are to be protected under Title IX, prohibiting the discrimination of students due to gender identity. Not even a year into his presidency, Trump revokes this statement saying they will not be protecting transgender students, stating that Title IX only protects the discrimination of sex, not gender identity. Court cases filed by transgender students across America are being flat-out declined because of this ruling. Transgender students are being denied in courts all across the country including a transgender boy from Virginia named Gavin Grimm, who brings his issue as far as the Supreme Court and still, is dismissed.

          As if these students are not already exposed to enough violence and bullying in school, these discrimination laws will ultimately increase the taunting they receive. These discrimination laws that are set in place in various states are already a huge form of bullying and violence against transgender students in itself. Without the protection of the government, transgender students are left to fend for themselves, as if being transgender is not already hard enough. A transgender student cannot enter a bathroom that is designated for their assigned sex at birth, as they put themselves at risk of being verbally and even physically harassed. If a transgender student is passing as the gender they identify as, or has already physically transitioned, it is a danger to themselves and others for them enter a bathroom that is meant for the opposite gender. Transgender students are already at a higher risk of harassment and violence and the bills that are being passed are increasing these things in schools across the country.
          Looking at the fact that anti-discrimination laws were already in place during Obama’s presidency, these laws should be put back into place and reinforced. There is no reason for these laws to not still be in place, other than pure trans phobia. People need to recognize that no student should be at risk or unsafe in their own school, and that they should be protected under the law. All schools should allow their students to use the facilities that correlate with their gender identity, or wherever they feel comfortable. At the end of the day, we are all human, and every human wants a safe place to simply go to the bathroom.

Okma, MJ. “One Year after Trump Revoked Federal Non-Discrimination Guidance to Protect Transgender Students, States Are Emboldened to Target Trans Youth.” GLAAD, 22 Feb. 2018, www.glaad.org/blog/one-year-after-trump-revoked-federal-non-discrimination-guidance-protect-transgender-students.

Human Rights Campaign. “Department of Education Rejects Civil Rights Complaints.” Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org/blog/department-of-education admits-to-rejecting-trans-civil-rights-complaints.

“ Education Department No Longer Investigating Transgender Bathroom Complaints.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 12 Feb. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/02/12/education-department-will-no-longer-investigate-transgender-bathroom-complaints/?utm_term=.c4797525e9c8%5C%5C

Schools and Mental Health

Schools and Mental Health

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Getting out of bed feels like a chore, in fact everything feels like a chore. You’re numb and nothing will

help; your grades are dropping but you cannot find the motivation to do your work. This is what nearly 20

percent of the teen population struggles with everyday, and most are uneducated and diagnosed (nearly 30

percent go untreated). Now more than ever, teens are struggling with mental illnesses or symptoms of them.

They are not informed on what is happening so they continue to struggle instead of getting help. The issue

at hand is the fact that not only students, but also teachers are uneducated on mental health and how to help

their students. Mental health is a serious issue and it is not being treated as such. There should be a topic on

mental health (and not just about depression and anxiety, about the other not as common mental illnesses

so people can be aware of those as well) in health class and or a class teachers could take to become more

educated on this growing epidemic.

A main problem with people being uneducated, is that teenagers are not being treated seriously. While

interviewing one of my friends (she wishes to stay anonymous), who struggles with mental illness she told

me that “teachers think that you can work through it when it’s hard to without the proper treatment, gym

teachers don’t make you play if you have a disadvantage like a broken leg. Why should

you be treated differently just because people 

cannot see your illness?” She brings up a very interesting point. People believe that teens are just being lazy, brushing off the fact that they are actually struggling. Based on some of my personal experiences, teachers sometimes tend to have an annoyed look when a student asks to go to guidance; that’s a problem. Staff members should not make students feel shame or embarrassment for trying to get the help they need. Even if the teacher thinks them going to guidance is a burden, they should not make the struggling student

feel that way.

Most teachers are not trained well enough in the subject of mental health. 41 percent of people, students

and teachers alike, go untreated with mental illness because they are uneducated. While talking with Ms.

Kassin, she tells me that she thinks ¨we don’t spend enough time teaching about mental health in schools.

At the high school level I students are able to start taking responsibility for themselves so I think it’s an

appropriate time to start talking about these issues.” Going off of Ms. Kassin’s words, students need this

kind of education. They need to be able to see that something is off about the way

they are feeling so they can reach out and get help; but without the proper education there’s a possibility they will never find out or know that something is wrong. Another person who struggles with mental illness said they ¨thought the way I was feeling was normal, I thought everyone else felt like this so I didn’t reach out to get help.” Now imagine this, someone broke their leg but assumed everyone else felt that pain and just kept on trying to thrive. That’s the same thing as what happened to that person, can you see how damaging that is? Mental health education.

Students with mental health problems are more likely to miss school. “youth with emotional and

behavioral disorders have the worst graduation rate of all students with disabilities.”(ACMH) Only

around 40 percent of students with mental health issues graduate and that’s a problem. That will

most likely decrease if we treated mental health more seriously. It’s hard to go to school when

you can’t even get out of bed and staff should be aware of that. “It’s hard to focus in class, my

mind is thinking of everything other than what’s happening on the board. I feel miserable at

school all I want to do is go home.” Students should not feel miserable at school.

In conclusion I believe the solution to helping these issues would be to have more education on this
subject. With more education, more people can be aware with how to approach mental health;
with others and themselves. Students would feel more welcomed in school rather than depressed
and hurting.

Citations:

“Problems at School | Association for Children's Mental Health.” ACMH, www.acmh-mi.org/get-help/navigating/problems-at-school/  

Gold, Jenny. “One out of Five Children Have Mental Illness, and Schools Often Don't Help.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 13 Sept. 2016, www.pbs.org/newshour/health/one-five-children-mental-illness-schools-often-dont-help.

NAMI.” NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers. Accessed 23 Oct. 2018. 

Admin. “Why Today's Teens Are More Depressed Than Ever.” Center For Discovery, Center For Discovery, 24 Sept. 2018, centerfordiscovery.com/blog/todays-teens-depressed-ever/. 

Pictures:

Greech, Veronica. “Why Our Mental Health Takes a Village .” The Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com/articles/why-our-mental-health-takes-a-village-1516640136. 
Slate, and Thinkstock. “How to Fix America's Broken Mental Health.” Slate, slate.com/technology/2018/02/how-to-fix-americas-broken-mental-health-care-system.html.
Webb, Neil, and Getty Images . “PCOS Linked to Mental Health Issues.” Everydayhealth, www.everydayhealth.com/pcos/affects-womens-mental-health-babys-risk-adhd-autism/.
“Ideas about Mental Health.” Ted, www.ted.com/topics/mental+health.

Uncomfortable and Unappealing Uniforms

If you’re a student at Wilmington High School, you’ve probably seen the variety of different sports uniforms that athletes wear to school on game days. For the athletes having to wear their uniforms to school, this could be either favorable or unfortunate, depending on the sport they play. For football or soccer players, the uniforms are updated quite often, and even more frequently for the varsity teams. But for sports like softball or field hockey, the uniforms are rarely updated. While the varsity field hockey team gets new uniforms at least every 6 years, the junior varsity and freshman teams have been waiting for at least over a decade. In fact, the junior varsity team has been sharing skirts with the girls lacrosse teams in the past, but this season the team was not given the lacrosse skirts back and was forced to use skirts from over 15 years ago. Even though the freshman and junior varsity teams are at a lower playing level, they still deserve properly fitting and pleasant-looking uniforms that don’t become distractions to the athletes playing during a game.

A main issue of the uniforms is the outdated material, and how it affects the way the uniforms fit players. This season, members of the junior varsity team have referred to their skirts as “tablecloths” since they are essentially the same material as tablecloths, and are being held up solely by buttons or pins. Abby, a junior on the team, stated, “Instead of focusing on the game, I have to worry if my skirt’s gonna fall off,” and this is no exaggeration. Many players including myself often find themselves having to adjust their skirts or shirts several times during each game, as they are either plainly uncomfortable or just do not look right. A sports blog website about how uniforms enhance performance also concluded that today, lightweight and breathable fabrics are in, while bulky and uncomfortable materials are out. If you saw the junior varsity uniforms, you would know that this statement is simply not true for the team. The top is made of a thick fabric, and often never fits the players correctly. The skirts-which are actually wrap-arounds held up with safety pins-are also made of an extremely thick material. They often move while players are running and must be adjusted in the middle of games. Another website talks about how gear affects a team, and mentions how uniforms that don’t fit properly or move out of place are a large distraction and severely obstruct an athlete’s performance. It says, “Your team’s gear should complement your players and elevate their game, not bring them down…When your players are wearing athletic equipment that is outdated or doesn’t fit well, it’s very hard for them to have confidence.” The field hockey team can agree with this. It’s much harder to focus in a game when your uniform is practically falling apart on the field, and wearing them to school is never enjoyable.

Other issues with the uniforms include how they look and how they handle weather conditions. First, they are simply not attractive. The team collectively does not enjoy wearing the uniforms, especially if they are not playing in a game. They are old fashioned, and are in desperate need of an update. They also do not hold up well in harsh weather conditions. While the thick material does make the uniforms manageable in the rain, they cannot handle wind. An article about the power of apparel in sports stated how an appropriately tighter uniform will keep athletes warmer and is better for wind resistance. The junior varsity uniforms are extremely loose-fitting, and the skirts constantly fly up during games. Evy, another junior teammate, told me, “My skirt actually falls down during games, last game I tried to safety pin it but had to rip them out halfway through because they weren’t strong enough to hold up the tablecloth.” The lower playing level should not change our need for fitted and matching uniforms; all teams should get new uniforms evenly distributed over the years to show unity within the teams.

In order to get new uniforms, money is needed to buy them. The money could be raised through fundraisers or by events organized by field hockey. Each year, we have two seperate fundraisers: one is a bake sale at the breast cancer game, and the other is through a car wash run by the field hockey players. The money raised at these two fundraisers goes to the banquet that is held at the end of the season. A teammate of mine suggested that more money could be raised along with the 2 events already in place that would go towards getting new uniforms for the junior varsity and freshman teams, or even new varsity uniforms so the past ones could be passed down. This money could be raised at any time, from selling more baked goods or hot chocolate at our games, or even
trying to raise money in the off season. Another idea by a teammate is instead of football and soccer teams getting such frequent uniform updates, the updates should be spread out much more evenly throughout the large varieties of teams. For example, softball uniforms have not been updated in at least a decade according to the coaches, but could have been possibly updated in recent years. In some cases, the school has the money, it’s just not being evenly distributed. The funds are necessary to make the uniform changes happen, but they are possible to gain.

There are several possible options for renewals to the sports uniforms, so changes should be put into action. Field hockey has a large organization, and could get the funding for new uniforms, whether it’s for varsity, junior varsity, or freshmen. Athletes should be able to play in their games without having to worry about constantly adjusting their uniforms. The uniforms for all teams should be comfortable, appropriately fitting, and made of a good material. This would benefit the athletes by giving them more confidence while playing and also just make the experience more enjoyable, because the players would not be uncomfortable. There are many factors that make the sports uniforms in desperate need of an update, and student athletes should no longer continue to have to put up with poor uniforms.


Works Cited

“Sports Uniforms Enhance Performance.” Cisco Athletic, 23 Sept. 2008, www.ciscoathletic.com/blog/sports-uniforms-enhance-performance/.

Quinn, Bobbie. “The Psychology Of Sports Equipment: How Does Gear Affect Your Team?” Gladiator Custom Mouthguards, 20 Feb. 2014, gladiatorguards.com/the-psychology-of-sports-equipment-how-does-gear-affect-your-team/.

Boheur, Amethyst. “The Power of Apparel in Sport - SimpliFaster.” SimpliFaster Blog, 21 Dec. 2016, simplifaster.com/articles/the-power-of-apparel-in-sport/.

“Women's Field Hockey Uniforms.” Indiamart.com, www.indiamart.com/proddetail/women-s-field-hockey-uniforms-14414854062.html.

Abuse of the First Amendment

Imagine a heterosexual couple entering a store that specializes in creating cakes for weddings. They request service and are tended to immediately without question. Moments later a homosexual couple walks in and asks for the same wedding cake, but they get turned down. Both ask for the same product, but one pair is denied due to the person they wish to marry. Envision the baker stating he is unable to sell a cake to a gay couple because doing so it would contradict his religious beliefs. While every American citizen is granted the right to free speech, some people abuse this power in order to discriminate against others. In Colorado, the baker did not face the repercussions of discrimination. Therefore the rights of any person, gay or straight, should be federally protected.

The skirmish between Jack Phillips and a gay couple is a now notorious story. This controversial case came to an end in 2017 with the Supreme Court ruling in the favor of Phillips. In several other places across the country, there are instances where a same-sex couple has been refused service. Whether this discrimination is based on the employee’s intolerant mentality or something else is difficult to discern. Nonetheless, some of these business owners claim that it is their first amendment right to refuse service on the basis of their religious beliefs. Freedom of religion should not interfere with one’s routine. To deny a customer of a right is an abuse of the first amendment’s power. On June 26, 2015, same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S. While this was a huge accomplishment for gay rights advocates, it necessarily was not the end of the battle. Hate towards LGBT people remains current, despite having laws protecting them from discrimination. There are currently public accommodations, which prohibit discrimination on sexual orientation, present in 21 states including the District of Columbia but the other states do not have one active. And according to The Harris Poll, 55% of members within the LGBT community have reported being discriminated against even with these laws active.

The Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 condemns discrimination which it defines as “the humiliation, frustration, and embarrassment that a person must surely feel when he is told that he is unacceptable as a member of the public because of his race or color.“ Today discrimination is applicable to one's sexual orientation. Using the first amendment as an excuse to not serve someone does not immediately disregard the possible discrimination taking place. Expressing religious beliefs can be acceptable when it is not promoting hate, although covering prejudice can be as simple as deeming the refusal as a violation of one’s faith. Because of this, these reasons can not always be credible. No one is open about being intolerant, no one wants to be seen as a bigot. They purely use false justifications to disprove their own bigotry.

The main purpose of most religions is to make oneself feel whole, to achieve the goal of salvation. Is it considerate to spend some of that time promoting hate toward certain groups? Religion is primarily about acceptance. The workers that claim making the product for a same-sex couple is a violation of their beliefs are not participating in the activities they do not agree with. All they are doing is fulfilling the request of a customer, who is willing to spend their earnings on the worker’s creation. Those who declare that the harmless manufacture of an item strips them of their beliefs are not the one being stripped of a right. They are the ones stripping the dignity of the couples they refuse, the equal rights every person is entitled to. Therefore, public accommodation laws should be existent in each state in the U.S. Protecting each and every same-sex couple from discrimination that prevents them from doing a basic activity heterosexual couples are able to take part in.

The years following the landmark decision that legalized gay marriage, same-sex couples continue to be discriminated against. No one should have to experience the feeling of belittlement even after such a battle. Equality should not be stunted by people who claim the couple’s request affects their religion. To try and put a stop to this blatant prejudice, state accommodation laws forbidding intolerance towards someone’s sexual orientation should be enacted in all states. It is unfair for one group to be turned down while the other is given the right immediately. Even after all of the hard work, the war against hate is not over.

Works cited

"Baker's case is not about the First Amendment - USA Today." 4 Dec. 2017,

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/12/04/supreme-court-baker-case-not-first-

amendment-editorials-debates/911452001/. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

"State Public Accommodation Laws."

http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/state-public-accommodation-laws.

aspx. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

"Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States | US Law | LII / Legal ...."

https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/379/241. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

"Public Accommodations - Human Rights Campaign."

https://www.hrc.org/state-maps/public-accomodations. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

"Accelerating Acceptance 2018 - glaad."

https://www.glaad.org/files/aa/Accelerating%20Acceptance%202018.pdf. Accessed 21

Oct. 2018.

"TO: INTERESTED PARTIES FROM: ASHLEE ... - Project Right Side." 18 Jul. 2016,

http://www.projectrightside.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/PRS-National-Survey-Mem

orandum-July-2016-Key-Findings-Memorandum.pdf. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

"New Campaign Puts a Spotlight on 31 States Where LGBT ... - Adweek." 19 Apr. 2018,

https://www.adweek.com/creativity/new-campaign-puts-a-spotlight-on-31-states-where-l

gbt-discrimination-remains-the-law/. Accessed 21 Oct. 2018.

"Gay couple, devout baker take cake fight to high court - USA Today." 26 Nov. 2017,

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/26/gay-couple-devout-baker-take-

cake-fight-high-court/875305001/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.

(Photos)

"How to make a Rainbow Cake." 5 Feb. 2017,

http://www.masteringbaking.com/how-to-make-a-rainbow-cake/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2018.

Harrer, Andrew. Washington D.C., 26 June 2015.

Media Bias: A Danger To Our Opinions

           In today’s society, information is the new currency. Everyone is hungry for the latest news, and many news outlets use this to their unfair advantage, spewing false information to gain more views and ratings. This idea is often called “fake news”. What does fake news really mean? The Cambridge Dictionary defines fake news as “false stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views or as a joke.” This idea is often used by political figures who want the public to stop watching a news station that is speaking out against them. However, a large part of “fake news” that is often overlooked is bias in the news.

            Fox News, a more conservative news outlet was compared to MSNBC, which is mostly left wing. In general, Fox News normally gives praise to Republican President Donald Trump, while MSNBC is more likely to criticize him. The two outlets were compared on their coverage of the trial and nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

           The compared articles were found by searching “Kavanaugh” on MSNBC and Fox News’ politics pages. The article that was analyzed on Fox was titled “Political Fallout From Kavanaugh Investigation”, while the MSNBC article read was “New Reasons to Question Brett Kavanaugh’s Credibility Emerge.” Right away, the articles are different. As predicted, the Fox article shows Kavanaugh in a positive light, while MSNBC attempts to discredit him and prove him untrustworthy. NBC states that “the judge and his team were communicating behind the scenes with friends to refute the claim, according to text messages obtained by NBC News.” Fox however, attacks Rachel Mitchell, one of the accusers, instead. “The accuser had a story where it changed a lot in terms of when it happened, how it happened, the number of people. It showed that she had very serious problems with her short-term memory and her long-term memory, and it showed that she had actually said things that were in contradiction with each other” was one of the quotes used in the Fox transcript.

            When searching “Trump” on these sites, the same results showed. In one of their news clips, MSNBC states that President Trump can not learn from the past, even stating his “incompetence”. Fox’s article on people blaming murders on President Trump urged journalists to confirm evidence before making accusations. These are starkly different, and someone who is uneducated in politics might easily be swayed to one side without knowing all of the facts. This is an issue that while being hard to solve due to freedom of the press, still has some potential solutions. This issue is a prominent one, shown by a study from Cornell University. The study found out that “There is systematic bias in the quoting patterns of different types of news sources.” from comparing quoting patterns in the news.

            While this issue is hard to solve because of freedom of the press, news outlets should be strongly encouraged to share facts with their audiences. A potential solution to this issue would be a law that requires news outlets to state when an article or news program is biased or not. The proposed law would require all news articles that do not classify as biased or not would have to include facts. This would make sure that audiences will know if their media is biased, while not interrupting the freedom of the press that our country holds so dear. Without reform of broadcasted news, people will continue to have their opinions influenced by biased news outlets.


Works Cited

Niculae , Vlad, et al. QUOTUS: The Structure of Political Media Coverage as Revealed by Quoting Patterns. www.cs.cornell.edu/~cristian/Structure_of_Political_Media_Coverage_files/quoting_patterns.pdf

“Blaming Murders on Trump.” Fox News, FOX News Network, video.foxnews.com/v/5804084233001/#sp=show-clips.

“Presidential Historian: Trump Doesn't Learn from the Past.” MSNBC, NBCUniversal News Group, www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/presidential-historian-trump-doesn-t-learn-from-the-past-1344958531592?v=raila&.

Benen, Steve. “New Reasons to Question Brett Kavanaugh's Credibility Emerge.” MSNBC, NBCUniversal News Group, 2 Oct. 2018, www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/new-reasons-question-brett-kavanaughs-credibility-emerge.

“Political Fallout from Kavanaugh Investigation.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 2 Oct. 2018, www.foxnews.com/transcript/political-fallout-from-kavanaugh-investigation.

“Definition of ‘Fake News’ - English Dictionary.” FAKE NEWS | Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/fake-news.