Summarised by Centrist
Broadcaster Ryan Bridge has waded into the debate sparked by the PPTA’s warning, alleging rising extremism in New Zealand classrooms, arguing the issue is being overstated.
“Apparently, some kids say they’re ‘Trump boys’ – i.e. like a majority of Americans, a few kids here support the Republican Party or MAGA movement. The other problem, apparently, is some school girls saying they want to be trad-wives, or traditional wives,” Bridge told listeners.
“Children are allowed to have political views and societal views of their own, and teachers are not there to police politics,” he said. For him, the role of educators is to encourage critical thinking, not indoctrination.
Bridge also pointed to contradictions. “You can’t embrace kids changing genders with gay abandon, then demand state intervention when a girl says she wants to get married and have kids.”
He questioned whether labelling such views as extremist is fair, “If a girl wants to grow up to be a mum, is that radical? Or is that her choice? And if a kid wants to support Donald Trump, is that radical, or is that a choice?”
He accepted that overt misogyny should be addressed through disciplinary measures, but said the PPTA examples fell well short of that standard. “The problem with today’s story is that they don’t appear to be any examples of that actually happening.”
