Controversy exploded in Charlottesville when a video of students at Johnson Elementary School was posted by local radio host Rob Schilling. The video shows fourth graders reading ABC Pride, a children’s book about Pride month, at a school-wide morning meeting.
Schilling posted the video on his website and played a portion of the audio on his WINA radio show. Under the headline “De-based: Charlottesville schools defend pre-k to 4th-grade grooming assembly,” Schilling linked to a YouTube video of the fourth graders reading the book. The video has since been made private, and Schilling has taken down the post.
Before “The Schilling Show” took down the content, the video was picked up by multiple right-wing media outlets, including Fox “Primetime” with Jesse Watters. The Fox host used a clip of the video to open a longer segment of his show, “We All Have a Breaking Point,” and talked about the Johnson Elementary meeting for several minutes.
“Nine-year-olds shouldn’t know what ‘non-binary’ means,” said Watters. “I don’t know what that means.”
Schilling and Watters’ comments are the latest in a broader conservative criticism of LGBTQ content in schools.
While several conservative pundits—including Watters—have labeled the book “perverted,” ABC Pride is a book written for children 3 years and older, and never mentions sex.
According to Charlottesville City Schools, the video was taken and posted without permission. In a statement released to the public, the school system said, “Each month, grade-level teachers coordinate the morning program, sometimes working with their students. For the June meeting, fourth-grade students took the lead to coordinate the program. As one part of the summer celebration, they decided to read an alphabet book about LGBTQ acceptance, which included words like ‘belonging,’ ‘gender,’ and ‘kindness.’”
For many Charlottesville parents, the video was alarming not because of its content, but because of the unauthorized publication of media featuring students.
In a Twitter post @SexonBekah alerted local parents to the video, tweeting, “Cvillle Parents! If your child has just finished 4th grade at Johnson, you might want to make sure your child’s image is not included on the video making the rounds on right wing social media. Tell the school system you did not give authorization for this release.” CCS responded, tweeting that it “did not authorize the release of this video to media,” and was “reaching out to impacted families.”
“It’s disgraceful that an adult chose to weaponize that compassion just to make a political point,” says Charlottesville parent and elementary school music teacher Michael Salvatierra. “Whether or not it was legal to film, this person who took the video still put students in danger, and broke trust with other families and the school. I hope that the person will step forward and take responsibility for the harm that they have caused. All media outlets that amplified the video also acted irresponsibly and should be held accountable. The video absolutely needs to be taken down.”
While the continued circulation of the video is concerning to Salvatierra, the meeting itself highlights students’ positivity.
“As a parent and as a teacher, I have seen firsthand that when students of any age are known and loved just as they are, they are more ready to learn,” says Salvatierra. “When we listen to them and give them space and language to talk about who they are and how they experience the world, that security allows them to thrive in school in ways they never did before. Even more importantly, they become kinder, more empathetic people. Isn’t that what we all want for our kids?”
Salvatierra adds that some children who identify with the LGBTQ community aren’t always supported by families and caregivers at home. “School may be the only place where they can be honest and not feel alone in their struggles,” he says, “so I’m glad that teachers are working to see this happen at Johnson and throughout the division.”
Although Schilling has since taken down all posts related to Johnson Elementary School on his website, links remain on his social media accounts. The radio host returned to air on June 19, and interviewed Republican House of Delegates candidate Steve Harvey.