Huh, It’s As Simple As That! TikToker Shuts Down The “Let Kids Be Kids” Nonsense
TikTok user Emily (@therealemilyroach) has posted a video in response to a commenter saying that kids should not be taught about gender identity. In her video, Emily uses a clever and simple analogy to demonstrate how easy it actually is for children to learn these concepts and how silly it is we think otherwise.
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty
Debates about whether children should be taught about alternative gender identities and sexual orientation is heating up in the political arena. Many believe that children should be given all the tools to understand these ostensibly dense concepts. Many also believe children shouldn’t be exposed to things beyond their maturity and comprehension levels.
Therein lies a core similarity between conservatives and progressives; we all want children to be healthy, happy and informed. The contention is about what defines those metrics. Emily made a video about why teaching kids about gender identity is NOT the same as teaching them religion. One commenter named Maddie replied saying, “I’m all for this, but I feel we’re teaching kids such complex concepts at too young of an age. Let them be kids.”
Emily uses the analogy of a coffee cup to demonstrate why gender identity is not that complex for children to learn. She holds up a takeaway cup and explains that we grew up being told anytime someone is holding one they are drinking coffee. “Then, as we got older, we found out some people have tea in here. Some people have hot chocolate in here and some people have mocha,” she says. “Now we have to go back and unlearn all the misinformation that we’ve been taught and relearn the correct information.”
This analogy simplifies the sociological concept of interpellation and ideology. For children, what they learn in the developing years helps define and annotate what they will use as a frame of reference for the majority of their lives. Emily goes on to explain that if you tell a child that the cup is a vessel that can hold many kinds of drinks, that will be the frame of reference they have and won’t jump to the conclusion it’s always coffee.
Gender identity and sexual orientation are only difficult concepts for adults to understand because it requires us to take what we know and question those norms. Children are sponges and will absorb these concepts with the same ease that we did learning those cups are for coffee.
Emily’s explanation is an accessible and effective explainer for anyone concerned about teaching children about concepts that are too difficult. The original commenter even replied saying, “I hadn’t looked at it likes this! Thank you!”
