as a teacher, reading about nex makes me fucking furious because I’ve seen that hate in the students I’ve taught. people who say young people aren’t bigoted and once the old fucks die off the world will be perfect have no idea how cruel children can be when influenced by society’s bigotry. while working with 8th grade, i had multiple situations of children harassing lgbt students, screaming slurs at black students, and mocking disabled, especially autistic, students. i was misgendered and degendered by these kids daily without them even knowing i was trans or gay, just that i was a feminine man. i had to dress hyper-masculine to have a smidgen of respect, and god forbid i let my disability show.
but what sticks with me the most when thinking about nex is when i had to intervene when a child proudly announced that she would murder her baby if they were trans (specifically nonbinary) because nb people were freaks, fully aware the person sitting next to her was trans. when i tried to intervene, i was disciplined because i was ‘teaching my personal politics’.
this is what our schools look like. when people say they cant believe these girls could do this, i shake my head because, to me, it’s no wonder nex is no longer with us. nex was a child with intersecting minority identities. our society is cruel and bigoted, and it is influencing our children. we HAVE to fix society because until we do, kids will stay cruel and kids will keep dying