Schools Push To Avoid Terms "Mom" and "Dad"

In an effort to make the campus more inclusive, few New York City private schools push to avoid gender-sensitive words such as mom and dad.

Even before the pandemic, bullying that pushed children to have suicidal tendencies was rampant. Thus, some New York City private schools push to avoid this problem and have provided guidelines recommending that terms like "mom and dad" and "boys and girls" be avoided.

According to the school, Grace Church School's 12-page "Grace Inclusive Language Guide" was created to provide staff with language appropriate for the school's mission. They explained that while they understand that hateful language that encourages racism, bigotry, homophobia, and other types of prejudice is already discussed in their school handbooks, we also recognize that we should use language to construct accepting and inclusive spaces.

This guide explains how we can eliminate negative assumptions from our interactions. It also states that people, folks, and mates should be used instead of "boys and girls" or "ladies and gentlemen," according to the school. They also claim that instead of assuming a student's gender based on appearance or clothes, they should be asked how they want to be identified.

"Mom and dad" should be replaced with terms like "grown-ups, folks, or relatives," according to the paper. 

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The guide was posted in September, according to George Davison, the school's head of school. He explained that they are not prohibiting specific terms or phrases but instead want to avoid making assumptions.

"We've been trying for years to help families find the right terms, and this was created to help with that," he said. 

There are also tips for dealing with religious holidays and diversity in the guide. If the student identifies as a person of color, terms like "minority" should be replaced with "person of color," and "Merry Christmas" should be replaced with phrases like "Have a nice break."

The school pushes to avoid making assumptions about a person's sexual orientation.

"People are free to love whomever they want. Make no assumptions about how adults identify in the present or how children may identify in the future. Along the course of a person's life, sexuality can be fluid," as written on the released guide.                                                                  

As part of a push to reduce the suicide rates of young people in the LGBTQIA+ community, Victorian schools are being encouraged to stop using gendered words such as "mum" or "dad."

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Schools push to avoid suicidal tendencies among LGBTQIA+

In an effort to be more inclusive, The North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network's #SpeakingUpSpeaksVolumes initiative will also incorporate unisex toilets, rainbow flags, and non-gendered sports teams.

Dropout rates will be reduced, and young LGBTQIA+ people will feel more comfortable, according to the initiative, if non-gendered language is used in schools and sports groups.

According to the campaign, LGBTQIA+ people aged 16-27 are more likely than the general population to attempt suicide. People aged 18 and up are almost 11 times more likely to be transgender. 

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LGBTQIA+ individuals are also more likely to suffer from mental illness. The campaign recommends using non-gendered words like "parent" instead of "mother" or "father" and encourages others to inquire about their pronouns.

Colin Burke, the principal of Craigieburn's Elevation Secondary College, told The Herald Sun that homophobia was "really harmful to our student community" and that the school was already doing a lot to be more inclusive.

He claims this involves adding gender-neutral restrooms and removing signage that refers to boys and girls.

Mr. Burke also stated that while gender-specific words were not prohibited, they were not banned.