Homework for an English class, assigned to 9th graders in the Sartell school district, included a microaggression worksheet. Kids Over Politics 748 obtained the curriculum in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filed in the school district and have been posting different aspects of the curriculum on Facebook to share with concerned parents and citizens.
According to a post from Kids Over Politics 748, the organization “will be exploring curriculum and content being taught currently in the Sartell St. Stephen School district and presenting it periodically. The purpose of this is not to instruct parents and community members what to think about the curriculum, but simply to shine sunlight on it.”
The handouts from the 9th grade English course were titled “Pyramid of Hate” and “Microaggressions in the Sartell Community.”
According to the handout, Microaggressions at Sartell include asking to touch another student’s hair, mispronouncing names repeatedly, misgendering another person, and “asking others to teach you how to not be offensive.”
The handout also states that saying “there is no bias or discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or nationality because ‘this is Sartell’” is a microaggression.
The “Pyramid of Hate” handout “shows how acts of bias escalate if left unchecked.” It outlines the differences between “acts of bias” which would include non-inclusive language and insensitive remarks and “acts of prejudice” which would include bullying, ridiclue, and slurs, and how those things can supposedly lead to genocide.
Another post from Kids Over Politics 748 showed a handout for a “genderbread person.” It was allegedly from Sartell’s health curriculum regarding sexuality and gender. According to Kids Over Politics 748, “This curriculum uses a ‘genderbread person’ to help students understand what they describe as the difference between biological sex, and the fluidity of gender and sexual orientation.”
The handouts go on to explain how sexuality plays into human attraction, gender identity, gender roles, gender expression, and biological sex. It was unclear what grade levels used the “genderbread person” curriculum.
The worksheets outline different types of sexuality, like heterosexual, pansexual, asexual, homosexual and others.
The “genderbread person” worksheets appeared to be from a website called The Safe Zone Project. According to The Safe Zone website, “The Safe Zone Project is a free online resource for powerful, effective LGBTQ awareness and ally training workshops.”
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun and The Wisconsin Daily Star | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Pyramid of Hate” by Kids over politics 748.
