Dr. Phil asks woke educators: ‘What makes you think you know better’ than parents what’s best for kids?

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Dr. Phil hosts fierce debate on 'woke' curriculum

Opposing advocates feuded on a Wednesday episode of Dr. Phil over race and gender ideology education in schools. 

Parents and educators feuded Wednesday on Dr. Phil over woke curriculum in schools, with both sides of the debate discussing the Parental Rights in Education law signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"National sex education standards right now for K-3 say that gender ideology - those children need to know by 3rd grade that you can be a boy or a girl, neither or both. That is very concerning to our moms and to parents," Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich said. "There is no reason that a kindergarten teacher need to teach that to 5-year-olds, that is something families should be discussing."

She later commented on how some curriculum has been notably hidden from parents over the past few years. 

Advocates debated over how issues of race and gender are discussed in schools.  (CBS)

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"The policies in the state of Florida, and this is from her organization directly, from when I was on the school board," Descovich said, pointing to Equality for Florida executive director Nadine Smith. "They have put procedures and policies in place in the state of Florida that not only don’t inform parents of these decisions being made about the safety of their children, they purposely deceive parents. This is very concerning to us, and this is one of the reasons that moms are so rallied behind this mission, they do not want to be deceived by teachers and school leaders."

Professor Jody Armour criticized Florida's Parental Rights in Education law as having a "chilling effect" on teachers, saying that it uses "vague and amorphous standards" to the point that "you don’t know if you’re gonna run afoul of them, you just avoid those conversations altogether."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at Education Freedom event in Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. (Ronn Blitzer/Fox News Digital) (Fox News)

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Armour added that while educators do recognize the "parental rights framing" and that "we want parents to be engaged with the development of their children … we also, as a public school system want to educate citizens who are gonna go out and be flourishing and thrive in a democracy that’s multicultural." 

"But the onus of that lies with the parents," Dr. Phil replied. "They’re in control of the care and custody of their children, and my question to you is what makes you think you know better than a parent about what should happen to a child when they have a life-determining decision about whether they’re going to make a decision about gender or anything else? You have to call before you give them a Tylenol."

Dr. Phil McGraw, television personality and psychologist, talks about cyber-bullying during a hearing of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 24, 2010. (REUTERS)

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Dr. Phil went on to suggest that educators cannot hide the political ideology that children are being taught in school from parents. "You can’t make a presumption that this child can’t take this information home."