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On September 13, 2023, teachers were informed about new legislation passed by North Carolina lawmakers that could impact current local school policies. The bill, called The Parents Bill of Rights, includes several sections which address how parents can access information about their students at school and what information schools can collect.
One section refers specifically to how teachers may address students without parents being notified. In section 115C-76.45 of Senate Bill 49, the language reads as follows: “The governing body of a public school unit shall adopt procedures to notify a parent…prior to any changes in the name or pronoun used for a student in school records or by school personnel…”
Local school boards interpret this to mean that if a student is going by a name or pronoun other than their official PowerSchool name in class, the parents must be notified.
After the enforcement of this bill, some students' trust for Watauga has changed, and not for the better. They feel like the trust and comfort they were once able to have here is no longer available.
The Powderhorn interviewed two students who will be impacted by the bill. One student has opted to remain completely anonymous due to personal concerns. This student will be referred to throughout this piece as Anonymous. The second student will be referred to as Bee. The Powderhorn used discretion for student’s safety and our advisor was not informed about the identity of the students.
What follows is our conversation with these two students:
How do you feel about the bill being enforced, here at Watauga?
ANONYMOUS: “I think the senate bill, the way it's worded, makes it seem like it's not a big deal, like it's not affecting kids the way that it is. What this bill does is it restricts your privacy and your basic human rights in a way that makes it seem like it's okay. In a way it seems that it's protecting you, but it's not. I know there's a lot of kids that are not going to be safe in their own homes.”
BEE: “I agree with the fact that it’s going to end with people being very emotionally distraught. It's going to ruin people’s mental health. Not only does it remove your privacy, in a way, it’s also just removing your safety. From a young age we are taught that school is your safe space, if home isn't your safe space, school is your safe space. By combining school and what goes on there with your home life doesn't make school a safe space. The combination makes it more dangerous than I think people realize.”
How will the bill affect your relationship with teachers?
BEE: “I feel like a lot of students will feel very betrayed by their teachers. I feel like everyone that said they go by a preferred name at the beginning of the year. Teachers that they felt like they could trust and felt like it was safe and now these teachers have to go and tell their parents all these things.”
ANONYMOUS: “I think what [Bee] said is correct. This is a matter of trust and we should be able to trust our teachers. That’s just kind of a given. You should be able to trust teachers to teach you what needs to be done. You should be able to trust your teachers to be emotionally there for you, which is vital to learning. Some kids have to go up to their teacher, they have to tell them I go by this name. Please don’t tell my parents because I won’t be safe if you tell my parents.”
How do you feel this law will impact your relationship with other students?
BEE: “When it came time to say preferred names, teachers would make me say it in front of the entire class. I tried to avoid that because then everyone turns around, everyone turns their head and it creates this hostile environment. Especially because some kids are going to get scared and immediately start going by their PowerSchool names which is fair. It’s going to, if not create confusion for some students, but put a target on them. Other students see you as one name, then suddenly it's different, and they will see an issue with that.”
ANONYMOUS: “At the end of class after everything is done, I will go up to my teacher and be like, hey safety thing, please use my preferred name, please. That was always nice because it was the first day of school and nobody noticed, nobody cared. I could go by my preferred name and I wouldn't have to worry about it, I wouldn't have to worry about students looking at me in a different way. With this bill changing that, especially in the middle of a semester, to have that just complete 180, it’s not going to go well.”
After the passage of the recent budget bill, SB49 will not go into full effect until January 1st. But Watauga County Schools are attempting to comply as early as possible.
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