James Fieseher MD, FAAFP, of Dover is a retired primary care physician.
SB 272 has been mislabeled as New Hampshire’s “parental bill of rights” because it forces teachers, counselors, and other school officials to interfere in the family dynamic by “outing” transgender or gender nonconforming students who want to use a different name or pronouns with their peers or teachers.
School officials have many procedures in place to inform parents of student actions that could potentially harm themselves or others.
Statistically, trans and gender-nonconforming kids are often abused or kicked out for being who they are. If SB 272 is enacted into law, teachers and other school officials would be unable to protect them from harm from other kids or from themselves. These kids already disproportionally account for many of New Hampshire’s runaway and homeless teen population (603 Equality). That problem is likely to get much worse under SB 272.
SB 272 oversteps basic safety concerns and specifically targets trans and gender-nonconforming students. Young people know their family dynamics better than any school staff member. If a student is having a problem discussing a personal topic or issue with a parent, the answer isn’t to use the government to force teachers and counselors to squeal on that student to that parent. The answer is to have mechanisms of support in place to enable better judgment-free communication between the student and the parent.
When parents behave like they don’t trust their children, they shouldn’t be surprised when their children feel the same way about them. SB 272 only extends that distrust to teachers and other school staff. Whatever problem a parent thinks will be “solved” by getting the government involved will only be compounded later on by further distrust and depression.
During my over 30 years of medical practice, I saw the benefits of having safe places within the community where teens and adolescents could turn for answers and support to personal questions they felt too afraid or too embarrassed to talk about with their parents. Similarly, teachers can and should do no harm, and not be compelled to insert themselves in complex family dynamics.
SB 272 and its house version, HB 10, which was rightfully tabled, are bad ideas that will make it more difficult for teachers, parents, and students to trust each other and further divide our already beleaguered communities.
Please urge your local representative to oppose this bill to preserve the rights of all parents and their children.