Hi there! Welcome to Easy A–Your go-to source for quick and easy actions you can take in five minutes or less about the issues you care about.
Are you a busy mom? Or maybe your work is so hectic you can’t think about anything else during the day? A lot of us are also taking care of parents or other loved ones too, leaving little time for anything else.
The good news is that these are things you can do while you’re waiting in the school pick up line, on your lunch break, or even at your kid’s soccer practice – anywhere you happen to be! And you can easily share Easy A with your friends so they can be in the know, too! We’ll send you a new action to take every week–just one, we promise –and it will always be something you can do in five minutes or less. Ready to get started? Let’s go!
Do This: The Truth About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs have a long history of preventing discrimination in the U.S. And it’s been proven that even if each DEI program isn’t meant for us individually, on the whole, they make things better for everyone.
Unfortunately, extremists are lying about DEI and they’re getting really important programs cut within the government and in private business. These cuts will have a lasting impact on our country. So, now that you know the facts about DEI, it’s time to earn your Easy A this week by spreading the word!
Scroll through and pick one — or all! — of the three posts below to share our information with your friends and family on social media. Let’s stand up together for diversity, equity and inclusion in our communities.
Read This: The Impact of Active Shooter Drills
Did you know 95% of school districts conduct active shooter drills? Some fast facts:
- There is NO research that backs up the value of active shooter drills.
- There’s significant evidence that these drills actually have a negative impact on the mental health of students, teachers, and school staff.
And here’s the kicker:
- The push for active shooter drills has created a $2.7 billion industry that feeds off the fear of school shootings. That’s right…companies are profiting off our kids’ fear. And these drills are just a bandaid on the problem that elected officials refuse to take action on.
Research conducted by Everytown for Gun Safety and Georgia Tech found that active shooter drills in schools are associated with a 39% increase in depression, a 42% increase in stress and anxiety, and a 23% increase in mental health problems. There was also a 22% increase in concerns over death in students, some as young as five years old. These fears of death also affect teachers and parents. So while active shooter drills are continuously being pushed instead of passing gun safety regulations, the long term impact on schools and the wider community is being ignored. And our children are paying the price.
Victims of gun violence often talk about a tipping point, when enough Americans will demand action on gun violence in this country. We know it is past time that our elected leaders take action on gun violence prevention. Children should not be the ones paying the price for this extremism.
Thanks for taking your easy action for this week. See you next Thursday!
We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming: Are You Registered to Vote?
Feeling a little busy? We get it. Summer vacation plans are in the rearview mirror. It’s back to school season, and fall sports are picking up. And the holidays are right around the corner – but do you know what else is coming up? Election Day! And because it’s an “off-year election” voter turnout is usually pretty low. So that means your vote is even more important! That’s right…You have the power to influence the outcome of this election! This week’s Easy A action is simple, just check to make sure you are registered to vote and that all of your information is up to date. Head to www.vote.gov to check your voter registration. It’s that easy! Thanks for taking your Easy A for this week.
Take it One Step Further: Decoding Parents’ Rights
Sign this petition right now to tell mainstream media like ABC, NBC, and Fox News that extremist groups like Moms for Liberty do not speak for you. Remind them that regular American parents like you and me don’t support banning books, eliminating sex education, or whitewashing American history. We want our public school teachers to have the resources they need to make sure our kids are learning what they need to know to prepare them for the future.
Share This: Decoding ‘Parents’ Rights’
Now that you know the truth about the misleading “Parents’ Rights” movement, you can help us get the word out about it! We tend to underestimate the influence we have, but you, my friend, are an influencer! When it comes to your friends and family, you are a trusted source of information. The people you know are more likely to believe you over a complete stranger. Are you ready to use that power?
Click below to share this post online to spread the word about extremists trying to take away our freedom to parent our kids.
Listen to This: Decoding Parents’ Rights
Mainstream parents have had enough of the “parents’ rights” crowd telling them how to parent their children. We all want to be able to make parenting decisions that are right for our family. Listen to a short clip of our conversation with Red Wine & Blue founder, Katie Paris on The Suburban Women Problem podcast. Katie declares that we all have the freedom to parent our 21st century kids and we couldn’t agree more. Our kids need to be ready for the modern world.
If you want to hear more of our conversation with Katie Paris, you can listen to the full interview on The Suburban Women Problem podcast, season 3, episode 13 – Mainstream Parents are Calling BS with Chastain Buttigieg and Katie Paris. Also available anywhere you get your podcasts.
Read This: Decoding ‘Parents’ Rights’
Have you noticed everyone seems to be talking about “parents’ rights”? Lately, it’s been all over the news and even in our local chat groups. On the surface, it sounds like a good thing, right? I mean, we probably all agree that parents should have certain rights when it comes to parenting our kids. But don’t we already? What exactly are they talking about?
Here’s the thing. Extremists are using the term “parents’ rights” to confuse and mislead us. They want to control how ALL parents raise their kids and they want to pass laws to do it. According to them,there’s only one “right” way to raise kids, and it’s their way.
So what are these extremists really after? They are trying to destroy public education by taking out our trust in our public school teachers, administrators, and librarians. Public education is the great equalizer. Access to free public education is key to our democracy. But these folks don’t want every American kid to be prepared for living in the 21st century – they just want that for a select few.
Parents should be free to make their own parenting decisions – about their own kids. For example, if a parent doesn’t want their kid reading a certain book, they can make that decision and let the teacher know, and the teacher can give that student a different book. But that one parent shouldn’t get to decide whether all the other kids in that class can read that book. That is NOT their right as a parent. But that’s exactly what this very loud, but very tiny group is trying to do.
And even scarier, here are some other things they are trying to sneak in under the guise of the “parents’ rights” agenda:
- Tracking kids’ periods
- Requiring genital inspections for kids to participate in school sports
- Suing teachers who wear “I’m here” badges in support of LGBTQ+ students
- Banning books about the Holocaust, civil rights, climate change, and accurate American history, even books about historical figures like Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, MLK Jr., or that contain LGBTQ+ characters.
- Erasing history of racism from textbooks
- Completely defunding public schools in a move to privatize education
None of these restrictions actually protect individual freedom. Instead, they’re about controlling what students and families believe, do, read, and learn. These bans and laws take away our rights and the rights of our kids.
It’s important to understand that his whole “parents’ rights” campaign isn’t even a real movement. It’s driven by national extremist groups with big outside funding. In many cases, the people yelling at school board meetings don’t even have kids in the school district. Even worse, they’ve become known for using harassment and intimidation to silence librarians, teachers, parents, students and community leaders. Moms for Liberty members have threatened people with gun violence, accused parents of child abuse and grooming, and even tried to have children removed from healthy family homes.
The chaos is causing real harm in our communities, and it’s getting expensive. One school district has racked up $1 million in PR and legal fees as a result of its discriminatory policies. Those are taxpayer dollars that could have gone to improving our public schools. And that’s really the whole point. The extremists causing this chaos are intentionally undermining our public schools, which eight in ten children in America rely on for their education.
Mainstream parents like you and me don’t want to be told how to raise our kids. Parenting is hard enough – we’re done letting extremists who want to ban books, censor school curriculums, whitewash history, and target families of transgender children control the conversation. We want the freedom to raise our kids and prepare them for the real world.
Take it One Step Further: Book Bans
Still feeling curious about book bans and want to learn more? Are you a bookworm who just loves reading books? We’ve got just the thing!
Join our Banned Book Club Every 6 weeks or so, we pick a new book to read, then we get together online, learn a little from a guest speaker, and then break up into small groups for the discussion questions. It’s a really wonderful way to make friends and stand up to book banners at the same time! We’d love to see you there.
Do This: Help Warn Your Friends about the Dangers of Book Bans
Did you know that one of the most effective things you can do is talk to your friends and family about issues affecting our communities? That’s because people trust their friends and family and are more open to learning from them than from strangers. For this week’s action, take a minute to share this post on social. We’ve made it super easy – just click!
Watch This: Author Jodi Picoult Talks about the Problem with Book Bans.
Some of our favorite authors are getting banned, and it’s usually for very questionable reasons. Check out our conversation with best selling author, Jodi Picoult as she shares how one parent had 20 of her books banned in one county.
If you want to hear more of our conversation with Jodi, listen to her full interview on our podcast, The Suburban Women Problem. You can also listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Read This: What’s Up With All The Book Bans?
These days it might feel like everyone is talking about book bans, from the U.S. president to the PTA. That’s because these bans are happening all over our country, and affecting every community. Whether it’s a ban in a school, a bookstore, or a public library, these bans affect us all, so it’s important to learn about these book bans and why they are happening.
Ok, so what exactly are these book bans all about? Despite the fact that 80% of Americans oppose banning books, in the last few years extremists have become laser focused on trying to control what our kids can read. It’s not enough to just tell their child to not read a book – under the guise of “parents’ rights,” they want to stop all kids from reading certain books. And it’s not because these books are actually dangerous or harmful. It’s because they are written by or about people of color or the LGBTQ+ community or they discuss things extremists don’t want kids to learn about, like accurate American history, sexual education, mental health, even climate change!
Who is banning books? Are you ready for a really crazy statistic? It turns out that just 11 people are behind nearly all banned or challenged books in the US! In many cases, just one person can get dozens of books banned, simply by filing a complaint – even if they haven’t read the literature. They don’t even have to be a local parent or member of the community to do it. This is why the same books tend to get banned across several communities – well-funded, national groups posing as grassroots organizations are targeting these books.
How are our kids impacted by book bans? First, we want to make sure it’s clear these books are being banned and challenged under false pretenses. Age-appropriate books are being pulled from shelves every day for misleading reasons with really harmful consequences. Not having access to these books prevents kids from better understanding the world around them and better understanding themselves, making them less prepared for the real world. We are not helping our kids by banning teaching accurate American history, by erasing LGBTQ people from our schools, or by eliminating comprehensive sex education curriculum.
Want more info? Check out the map below from American Library Association or click here to see a map from Pen America of where books are being banned and why.