Students in a Tampa middle school were instructed to fill out a form designed to measure how much privilege they have.
The children were given a form in their Spanish class at Monroe Middle School by teacher Yoselis Ramos titled “How much privilege do you have?”
The different categories included, “Race”, “Skin Color”, “Religion”, “Sex”, “Gender”, Sexual Orientation”, and “Disability.”
Parents were not happy about the assignment.
Regina Stiles has a daughter who revealed she had ADHD on the “privilege” form.
“She has ADHD and apparently the teacher said there are some kids in this class that have ADHD, and ADHD is a mental illness, and that’s why she circled that. To me ADHD is not a mental disability. It’s something she has,” said Stiles.
Other questions on the survey broached controversial subjects for middle-schoolers. Children were asked to identify if they were “Cisgender,” “Transgender” or “GenderQueer.”
“She’s 12. Some of these things should be taught at home,” said Stiles.
Stiles along with other angry parents approached the school principal, who began an investigation. It turns out the “privilege” form was not part of any official curricula or authorized by the principal.
“This is not a district form, this is a teacher-generated form and it was without principal consent and at the district level we do not collect that information,” said Hillsborough County School Spokesperson Tanya Arja. She also pointed out that students were not required to turn in the form.
According to Arja, the teacher said the goal was to teach the students about inequality through literature they had been reading.
Yoselis has been pulled out of the classroom while the district investigates. This is her first year in the Hillsborough Country School District.
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