Good news happening in schools?

live yes Cam we're live oh he kind of caught me by surprise there that's okay we're it's good we're live on Facebook and YouTube I'm Jill simonian with prageru kids saying our weekly hello to all the parents and Educators out there we have first of all today's Wednesday June 21st it's the first day of summer yay do I sound like a child I don't care I am happy it's summer because the sun is shining in Southern California for the very first time in a very very very long time listen today we've got two good headlines and I say good for a very important purpose because cam I know we probably can't see you but guess what I am so tired of lately I am tired of bad news I am so tired of bad news and I am so tired of Doom and Gloom and cam are fantastic technician is like looking at me now kind of smiling and rolling his eyes in a most fun and welcoming way but I don't care I am tired of bad news it is summer I am a mom I am happy that my children are home doing all sorts of great activities for the summer but and I want to talk about good things so I found two good headlines happening in education with the hope that they will give you hope wherever you are across the country please leave your comments on Facebook and YouTube If you happen to be watching live right now saying where you're from and what's happening in your neighborhood if there is good news happening in education let's tackle this first headline from Fox News and I believe that this headline news actually broke either today or yesterday so this is fairly recent the Holy Bible is no longer banned in a Utah School District I'll give you all a moment to applaud right right I mean you know so much talk about book Banning these days and uh you know that that's another conversation in terms of what constitutes a ban and what doesn't constitute a ban but here at prageru kids we love to continually celebrate the First Amendment and all of our rights and we want to teach our children our rights and one of those rights under the first amendment is of course freedom of religion and freedom of expression and so let's get a load of this headline Fox News Utah School District puts Bible back on bookshelves after pushback because they're citing here it has significant serious value oh look at that newsflash it's not news that the Bible has significant serious value we've been talking about that for years and years and years here at prageru and now at prageru kids the Davis School District in Utah determined the Bible was in fact back to age appropriate for all students forgive my Chuckles here because this is just aren't we living in a Preposterous age where the most unbelievable things are now believable as you know as far as the Bible being questionably agent appropriate According to some parents in Utah let's take a look at this article now I'll read you a bit of it a school district in Northern Utah on Tuesday reversed its prior decision to remove the Holy Bible from its middle and elementary schools the Davis School District determined the texts were appropriate for students and will now be available in all District Libraries District officials said at a board meeting on Tuesday now this reversal comes after 70 community members appealed last month's decision to ban the Bible over claims that it was not age appropriate so here's what happened in a nutshell and I was not aware of this story if you happen to be in Utah and you know maybe details of this story that I am not including or that the Fox News article here is not including please weigh in in the comments and we'll take a look and and and you know we love it when people add to the conversation and positive and productive ways so last December the district which is north of Salt Lake City received a request for the Bible to be reviewed in response to the state's sensitive materials law that passed that year allowing different residents and people to challenge books found in schools and libraries that they thought to be inappropriate for children we've been seeing across the country this past year plus a lot of books on Library shelves readily available to minors on taxpayer-funded properties such as schools being available to students that have really explicit material in them I'm not talking about you know A diversity of thought or I'm not talking about you know speech that is uh questionably offensive I'm talking about truly explicit descriptions and materials involving adult sexual themes acts etc etc um one of the most famous books that was making the rounds last year at a variety of high schools around the country was the book genderqueer which included um you know dozens of very graphic um sexual scenes that were really inappropriate to have at a school so last year Utah's parents were arguing that books like these are not appropriate and then one parent one wise guy I don't know if it was a man or a woman but I'm just calling them a wise guy one parent allegedly went to the district and said well you'll no doubt find that the Bible has no serious values for minors because it's pornographic and this person said to the district when the other parents were trying to ban the explicit books you left off one of the most sex-ridden books around to ban you should be banning the Bible this Challenger um read to the district and it was just you know you could you can read this article on foxnews.com but the school board said that no the Bible is now as of the last 24 hours now allowed to be returned to schools because it has significant serious value for minors which outweighs the violent or vulgar content it contains so hooray for this school district in Utah getting its wits back because I I mean you know let's I'm a mom and for full transparency purposes yes I am an armenian-american Christian and I happen to teach Sunday school on Sundays at my local Armenian Christian Church and let's think about this Holy Bible for a moment now now if you don't believe in the Holy Bible or if you're not a Christian I just want to tackle what kinds of things are included in the Bible you have decency you have kindness you have perseverance you have Justice you have rules for right and wrong choices the Bible offers wisdom for tackling life's problems stories about helping your fellow man the Bible will help you develop good character how to be brave how to deal with jealousy the value of sacrifice David and Goliath the famous story which we incidentally just uh did a Auto's Tales story time about which will be uh which will be on our website prageru kids.com in the coming weeks David and Goliath honoring and fighting for truth those are the values in the Bible and in my opinion personally that that might be one of the most important ones is is honoring and fighting for truth with bravery story after story in the Bible really communicates that value of truth that we hold so dear and it's also interesting because we so so all of those values aside even if you don't necessarily identify as a religious person all of those character traits and values are can be enjoyed someone who doesn't identify as being religious can still enjoy the tenets of the Bible and what it has to offer in our society and I don't want to forget we in fact we've just filmed another craftery for prageru kids about how education in America started with the Bible remember now listen I I'm gonna give a brief history lesson the Puritans came to Massachusetts for Religious Freedom right America's 13 colonies and Independence was founded on judeo-christian values whether or not you happen to like that fact if you are an American if you live in this free country if you appreciate the ability to have freedom of speech you can thank judeo-christian values and the founding of this free country on the Bible because it is an undisputable fact that the founding fathers relied on the Bible to form a free Society you know I I often think Dennis Prager with all the wisdom that he shares with us both all of us on the Fireside Chats that he does in the five minute videos but also one particular talk that he gave here at our headquarters I think it was last year he it was just it was a quick little line he said but it really stuck with me and he said the Ten Commandments were God's laws for living in a free Society you cannot have a free Society without rules and order otherwise the whole thing devolves into chaos and isn't that what we have seen happen in our society and frankly in our school system with the complete abandonment of the tenets of the Bible I mean you can't even think of it you can't even say a prayer on a football field in public without getting persecuted and reprimanded now although I do think that particular coach won that case from a few years ago I think so um but think about it there used to be days where the Bible was the foundation for our edible educational system the Bible was used without controversy in schools to to to to educate people to teach them how to read to teach them their letters for to teach children their letters you know I have a lot of learning to do still but I'll share this as a parent I never until recently understood the travesty of not allowing prayer in schools and not allowing the Bible to simply be present in schools and I see now now I see with how our schools and Society has devolved into almost complete chaos now I see that not having the Bible or the tenets of the Bible present in schools is a direct violation of Millions of Americans First Amendment rights I see that now and the saddest part is is that we've all come to accept that it's okay it's okay it's okay to you know you can't say a prayer at school kids because you might get in trouble you can't say a prayer backstage before you do your play at your public school kids because you know you don't want to offend anyone this is ridiculous it is ridiculous and I am very happy to see that Utah has reversed chaos in a sense and has returned the Bible to being acceptable to exist on school property so thank you to that so um I thought it would be fun to just take a look also for those of you watching how the Bible compares to some of the radical books that parents were trying to keep out of kids libraries this is a tweet right now if you're watching the screen from Roger and I I'm just gonna scroll down so you can see this is pages from the graphic Memoir genderqueer um the book by Maya kobabi who was a non-binary author um quite frankly I I don't care what authors happen to identify with I don't care if an author is gay I don't care if an author is straight I don't care if an author is religious non-religious I don't care if that author in their own mind or sense of self identifies themselves as non-binary but what I do care about is if an author is insistent or a publishing company for that matter or a school is insistent on including explicit graphic material in schools for minors that I have a problem with so let's go ahead and just scroll down and look at this as a refresh for those of you who might not be aware the contents of genderqueer that many parents were citing as being in a pro appropriate to exist on school property do I dare read this out loud ah I don't know I'm very conflicted about this fast forward we've been dating for two months I'm reading from the page now we've made out we've had sex we've moved on to sexting at work okay what is this on school property there's I got a new blank blank harness today can't wait to put it on you will fit it my Pro I'm not gonna read it out loud because I'm a mother and I do not want to read this out loud on the internet you're gonna look so hot I can't wait to have your blank blank blank I'm gonna give you the blank blank of your life okay I'm scrolling down to the next picture you can use your imagination oh you don't have to use your imagination because look at the picture here folks this was on the pages cam is laughing at me are you laughing with me or you're laughing at me CAM we don't know what to do anymore we're just laughing a little bit of both he might be embarrassed because I myself am a little embarrassed but here I am with all of you showing the pages of what a truly explicit book is and for that Utah oh here's another picture I'm just going to let you guys look at the pictures if you're listening to this you can log on and uh look at the pictures yourself because I don't really think it's necessary for me to describe this out loud but these are the explicit things that parents don't want in schools and for the for that one Utah parent alleged Utah parent that was cited in the article that I just went with you went through with you on Fox news for that one Utah parent months ago to say oh well you should ban the Bible because it's just as explicit with violence and sex no I don't think the Bible includes imagery explicit like this that I am showing you on the screen now okay Point made our education system is broken which is why prageru kids exists okay I do want to jump now to my second good news headline next good news headline of the day RFI which stands for Religious Freedom Institute supports Maryland Muslim parents fight for Religious Freedom on June 6th hundreds of Muslim and Christian parents and students rallied outside a meeting of the Montgomery County Maryland school board to protest its decision to revoke the right of parents to opt their children out of instruction in sexual morality that contradicts their religious teachings so for those of you earlier and I haven't checked the comments yet on Facebook and YouTube but for those of you maybe who were watching if you happen to drop something in the comments about you know not everyone is Christian or or you know something to that effect I completely agree I completely agree with you not everyone is Christian not everyone is Jewish not everyone is Muslim however these are all religious beliefs that are protected under our United States Constitution and we as parents have the right to raise and educate our children with the religious beliefs that we may hold deer so for people saying oh it's the far right Christians who are trying to cause trouble in our school districts here we have a living breathing example that just happened a few weeks ago in Maryland a few weeks ago in Maryland to push back on their radical sexual ideology and the um their latest initiative to prevent parents from opting out of any and all sexual and gender identity lessons in schools for for elementary school kids here we have parents of all different religious backgrounds and beliefs uniting to say hey this has nothing to do with how anyone wants to live their lives we are just asking as constitutionally protected parents raising our children to keep these topics out of schools and keep age inappropriate themes away from children who are not developmentally ready to learn it to handle it without the consent of a parent that's all this is and right now I want to take you to a most inspiring video clip that I found this morning on Instagram speaking to what I just talked about regarding it's not about Muslim or Christian or Jewish this clip that I'm going to show you is of a gentleman I don't know his name but I think this was from the Glendale Unified School District board meeting from last night June 20th if you've been following the Glendale Unified School District in Southern California obviously uh in on in on national news it continues to escalate the parents who are pushing back there the gusd parents voices on Instagram they are not cowering to fear they have been faced with aggressors from antifa outside organizations people who do not have students or connections to the Glendale Unified School District at all yet they continue to now show up at Glendale school board meetings to try and counter protest the parents who have been fighting for the past two years to keep school and education in the Glendale California area age appropriate and this gentleman again I don't know his name I applaud him for what he's about to say take a listen because this is what it's about oh can we hear it absolutely beautiful to see the true United States of America in action [Music] listen up I love this All Blacks I saw whites I saw Asians I saw Arabs Armenians Persians Filipinos every race who lives in Glendale I saw Muslims I saw a Jewish person and I I saw some Asians I'm sure they're Buddhists or the Hindus is absolutely irrelevant what we are united as in the United States of America is we are people we have freedoms 43 years ago I came to this country because of its freedom because in my country it was oppressed in this I came to the United States for the freedom of speech freedom of religion and every freedom that we are permitted under the United States Constitution those freedoms in recent years have been taken away from us yes they have those freedoms have been taken away from us and the most heartening thing that this gentleman said was at the very beginning I saw blacks I saw Muslims I saw Hindus I saw you know every single race Creed ethnicity it doesn't matter it is irrelevant we are people here in the United States of America we are people and especially we are parents wanting to educate our children in a way that is truthful that is appropriate that is knowledge based that unites us as a people no matter what religion or ethnicity or Heritage or or or non-religion you happen to be thank you to this gentleman who said that because it really does exemplify the movement that is happening now across the country whether it be Muslims and Christian parents uniting in Maryland whether it be parents in Utah saying hey we want the Bible back on our school shelves all of these things are a common movement having nothing to do with one group of people against another group of people it's about parents wanting to have freedom to educate our children in an appropriate way so there you have it I should probably try and check the comments because we are wrapping up on time now let me see if I am able to say hello to you any of you take some comments find some inspiration from people across the country let's see what do we got what do we got all in the name of prageru kids here this is why we created prageru kids.com by the way and if you haven't subscribed yet subscribe for free for values-based entertainment and education that's going to teach your kids financial literacy uh Freedom uh Civics we've seen Civic scores decline drastically in this country um you know across the eighth grade uh subscribe to pragerukids.com and get every single show pro-american show that celebrates our freedoms that celebrates America that really teaches children in a knowledge-based way get them into your inbox for free and you can also download our app prageru app for free and stream Prager you kids on your smart TV at home if you like the big screen experience let me see if I can find an inspiring comment from Yolanda it happened in Canada Muslims and Christians stood together against sexualizing of children yes it did happen in Canada as well the article I shared with you were parents in Maryland um in Montgomery Maryland but yes you're right Yolanda that did happen in Canada too let's see from Scott exactly you need to remember that children all need to learn but the leadership of schools and uh to be a part of that children need to learn leadership of schools and need to be a part of the community age-appropriate education is needed Katie I love it I love this so much let's see Yolanda he is so right parents and future grandchildren children I think she was referring to the gentleman from Glendale Shannon I have no inspiration for you but just want to say hello hey we appreciate hello Shannon Rosalind left a bunch of American flags thank you thank you thank you from Chad let's see I want to read this 1844. Supreme Court of the United States decision stated that no Public School receiving Government funding would be allowed to exist without teaching biblical principles in the U.S I love that you left that comment very interesting 1844 something to look up and learn more about not everyone is Christian or Muslim and we Jews except the term judeo-christians are rarely mentioned Debbie thank you for that comment um for I I appreciate that comment remember everyone the Old Testament of the Bible is essentially and correct me if I'm wrong I I don't mean to miss misspeak but the Old Testament of the Bible is essentially the Torah correct I'm asking cam for yes he's nodding his head yes I'm not set you know I'm not saying that as a as a religious scholar and I'm sure there are you know many many caveats and and and details regarding that but um but uh Christians and Jews both believe uh the Old Testament we believe in the Old Testament okay so I want to thank everyone for tuning in again this was a good news effort to kick off summer June 21st the first day of summer we hope that you are enjoying it with your family that you have a great summer planned ahead if you visit any of our American monuments please please please send it to us tag us on Instagram prageru kids we have a brand new prageru kids Instagram account and we are excited to continue this summer learning or rather giving families the materials so that they may learn at all ages ages pre-kindergarten through high school with our prageru kids shows and videos and resources uh please let us know what more you'd like to see from prageru kids we do have a summer watch challenge that is coming up we haven't announced it yet but I will be announcing it in the next couple weeks a summer watch challenge with all of our prageru kids shows to keep those brains sharp during the summer and to keep to keep us engaged and educated and active for our children's learning and teaching them values and their education for the long term subscribe to prageru kids.com follow us on Instagram and I'm on Instagram too Jill simonian on Instagram thank you and I'll see you all next time