Connect with us
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=12]

Opinion

High school calls police, bans parents from soccer games for silently supporting girls-only teams

Published

6 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Doug Mainwaring

The ‘No Trespass’ order alleged that parents wearing the pink wristbands ‘had the effect of intimidating, threatening, harassing, and discouraging’ the boy playing on the opposing girls team.

A New Hampshire high school halted a girls soccer game last week and called the police after parents, who were dismayed about a female-identifying male playing on the opposing team, were found to be wearing pink wristbands as a means of silent, peaceful protest.

Two parents subsequently received a notice from the superintendent of schools banning them from attending their daughters’ future games, asserting that by distributing the pink wristbands, which carried the simple message, “XX” (referring to the two chromosomes indicating the female sex), had the effect of “intimidating, threatening, harassing, and discouraging” the boy playing on the opposing girls team.

A NO TRESPASS order from Superintendent Mary Kelley sent to parent Anthony Foote of Bow, New Hampshire, alleges that “prior to and during the soccer game,” he “brought and distributed pink armbands to parents and other attendees to protest the participation of a transgender female student on the other team.”

“You are hereby prohibited from entering the buildings, grounds, and property of the Bow School District, including but not limited to all school administrative office buildings, parking lots, and athletic fields, until further notice,” the terse notice declared.

“You are also prohibited from attending any Bow School District athletic or extra-curricular event, on or off school grounds.”

“My daughter’s playing in the homecoming game this weekend, and I’m banned until the 23rd,” Foote told the NHJournal.  “I can’t watch her play in homecoming — which is ridiculous.”

Foote told the NHJournal that he doesn’t care about what Parker Tirrell, the male student playing on the rival team, wants to do with his life.

“What I do care about is that my daughter could be physically hurt, maybe not by Parker because he’s not the biggest kid on the field. But there’s a chance that next time will be different,” Foote said.

Gov. Chris Sununu had signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law in July, making the Granite State the 26th state to keep males from participating in girls’ sports events.

However, U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty prevented the law from being enforced.

“Judge Landya McCafferty”s ruling has settled the question of allowing males to compete as girls for the moment … but the issue of free speech is not resolved,”  NHJournal’s Michael Graham noted. “It’s possible the school’s treatment of these parents violates their First Amendment rights, or that the school district’s interpretation of what is ‘disruptive behavior’ could be viewed by a court as too expansive.”

Foote also said he’s concerned that social pressure may prevent a large number of parents from expressing their views about the matter of boys competing in girls’ sports.

“Bow is a very blue town, and the people who run things will defend any liberal issue. It’s hard to speak out. But I would say there’s a silent majority,” Foote said. “There are firemen, there are police officers, there are teachers from other towns. They don’t agree, but they have to think about their finances. They have to protect their families. They can’t say anything.”

Parental concerns about their daughters being injured by males playing on what not so long ago were “female only” sports teams are by no means unfounded.

In nearby Massachusetts earlier this year, a gender-confused male playing on a girls high school basketball team injured three female players, causing the remaining female teammates to fear for their safety.

The Daily Item reported that Collegiate Charter School of Lowell ended its February 8 game against the KIPP Academy girls basketball team after just 16 minutes due to the KIPP team’s inclusion of a male player reportedly six feet tall with facial hair.

Earlier this year, LifeSiteNews’ Calvin Freiburger explained:

Inclusion of gender-confused individuals in opposite-sex sports is promoted by leftists as a matter of “inclusivity,” but critics note that indulging “transgender” athletes undermines the original rational basis for having sex-specific athletics in the first place, thereby depriving female athletes of recognition and professional or academic opportunities.

There have been numerous high-profile examples in recent years of men winning women’s competitions, and research affirms that physiology gives males distinct athletic advantages that cannot be fully negated by hormone suppression.

In a 2019 paper published by the Journal of Medical Ethics, New Zealand researchers found that “healthy young men (do) not lose significant muscle mass (or power) when their circulating testosterone levels were reduced to (below International Olympic Committee guidelines) for 20 weeks” and “indirect effects of testosterone” on factors such as bone structure, lung volume, and heart size “will not be altered by hormone therapy;” therefore, “the advantage to transwomen (biological men) afforded by the (International Olympic Committee) guidelines is an intolerable unfairness.”

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Alberta

Alberta government should reform hospital funding to help shorten wait times

Published on

From the Fraser Institute

By Mackenzie Moir and Alicia Kardos

Other high-performing countries with universal health care (Australia, Germany, Switzerland) use “activity-based funding.” Under this model, hospitals receive funding based on the amount of care they provide.

Earlier this year, the Alberta Medical Association sounded the alarm on “rolling surgical outages,” patients diverted to other treatment sites, and the potential capping of services at major provincial hospitals. Unfortunately, the delays these problems create aren’t new to Albertans, as patients continue to face lengthy wait times.

According to the latest data, Albertan patients faced a median wait time of 33.5 weeks in 2022 for non-emergency medical treatment, a delay that was nearly six weeks longer than the national average, and three times longer than what patients in the province experienced in 1993 (when national estimates were first published).

When broken down, the wait in Alberta includes the first 16.4 weeks it takes for a patient to see a specialist after referral from their family doctor—then a second wait of 17.2 weeks to receive treatment after seeing that specialist. And these figures don’t account for the wait to see a GP in the first place, which is a significant issue in a rapidly growing province where remain without a family doctor.

Of course, we hear the predicable calls for more money. But in reality, spending more won’t get Albertans out of this problem. In a recent comparison of high-income countries with universal coverage, Canada (in 2021) was already one of the highest spenders on health care (as a share of their economy) while having some of the fewest doctors and hospital beds (after accounting for differences in population age among countries).

And when compared to nine other high-income countries in 2020, Canadians were found to have the longest waits for medical care. Specifically, Canadians were the least likely to report waiting under four months for non-emergency surgery (at 62 per cent) compared to higher-performing countries such as Australia (72 per cent), Switzerland (94 per cent) and Germany (99 per cent).

So what’s the solution?

In a word, reform. For example, Alberta could change the way it funds hospitals. Canada’s predominant approach is to provide hospitals a set amount of money each year, regardless of the level of services provided. This means that the money hospitals receive isn’t tied to the actual number of services they provide. This discourages hospitals from providing more care because each patient represents a drain on their budget rather than an opportunity.

In contrast, many other high-performing countries with universal health care (Australia, Germany, Switzerland) use “activity-based funding.” Under this model, hospitals receive funding based on the amount of care they provide. This creates a powerful incentive for hospitals to treat more patients, because each patient represents an opportunity for the hospital to earn more money.

Quebec decided in last year to fund all of its surgical procedures using this model, and now plans to expand the model to all hospital care by 2027/28. The Smith government has also taken some steps that lay the foundation for these types of reforms. This is good news for Albertans, if reform is actually on the way.

Across Canada, despite the availability of solutions, the status quo of long waits persists. Breaking from the past can be hard, but there may be hope on the horizon for patients in Alberta’s beleaguered and poorly performing health-care system.

Continue Reading

Addictions

‘We just hand out pills’, father of overdose victim tells MPs about safer supply programs

Published on

Gregory Sword fights back tears during his testimony at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health meeting ‘Opioid Epidemic and Toxic Drug Crisis in Canada’ on Sept. 24. (Screenshot/House of Commons)

By Alexandra Keeler

In a House committee meeting Tuesday, grieving father Gregory Sword provided a poignant account of the problems with safer supply

In a poignant testimony that laid bare the devastating toll of Canada’s opioid crisis, Gregory Sword, father of a 14-year-old overdose victim, urged the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health to confront the failures of safer supply programs.

Despite the emotional weight of his story, neither Liberal nor NDP committee members asked Sword any questions during the 2.5-hour session, choosing instead to engage with the expert witnesses.

“I had to sit there and watch my daughter commit suicide for a year without being able to help her,” Sword said during the committee’s Sept. 24 meeting.

His daughter, Kamilah, died from an overdose in August 2022. Sword is pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the B.C. and federal governments for alleged negligence related to safer supply programs.

Since November, the House of Commons committee has been studying Canada’s opioid epidemic. The committee has been focused on the effectiveness of current harm reduction strategies, including controversial safer supply programs.

Proponents argue safer supply offers a regulated, pharmaceutical-grade alternative to toxic street drugs, which can prevent overdoses and connect individuals with addiction to treatment. Critics say such programs fail to address the root causes of addiction and potentially increase drug use and diversion.

The meeting underscored the ongoing tension between supporters and critics of these programs.

Subscribe for free to get BTN’s latest news and analysis, or donate to our journalism fund.

‘One click’

In his testimony, Sword discussed how easy access to safe supply drugs — such as Dilaudid, or “dillies” — contributed to his daughter’s addiction and eventual death.

“The ease that she was able to get safe supply was just one click on Snapchat, and she would be able to get any drugs she wanted within five minutes,” he said.

Sword, who travelled from his home in Port Coquitlam, B.C., at his own expense to attend the meeting, shared the challenges he faced watching his daughter cycle between overdoses and hospitalizations for two years.

He expressed frustration with mental health professionals who quickly discharged Kamilah, and with drug counselors who insisted it was not possible to intervene because Kamilah was not explicitly asking for help.

He explained that the lack of action following his daughter’s death put her friends at risk. Several have overdosed multiple times since Kamilah’s death. He is also frustrated by the lack of funding for treatment, pointing out that one friend had to wait more than a month to secure a rehab bed after seeking help.

“Even after [Kamilah] died, [drug dealers] were still messaging her cellphone,” said Sword, in response to a question from Laila Goodridge, the Conservative MP who invited Sword to attend the meeting. “My friend had access to her Snapchat account, and they were still asking if she’d need any dillies.”

Other witnesses also emphasized the negative impact recent drug policies have had on youth.

Dr. Patricia Conrod, a clinical psychologist from Université de Montréal, highlighted the need for evidence-based prevention programs. She noted that safer supply initiatives have increased youth access to potent opioids, and stressed the importance of providing services such as therapy and counselling alongside harm reduction.

Conrod also pointed to social media as a youth drug-use enabler.

“Using social media impacts your cognitive development and makes a young person more disinhibited and impulsive, and it contributes to ADHD symptoms,” she said. “We know that all three of those behavioural profiles and symptoms place a person at much higher risk for early onset substance misuse.”

Dr. Patricia Conrod fields questions virtually during the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health meeting ‘Opioid Epidemic and Toxic Drug Crisis in Canada’ on Sept. 24. (Screenshot/House of Commons)

Dr. Martyn Judson, an addiction specialist from London, Ont., criticized safe supply clinics for inadequate oversight, leading to opioid diversion. “The perpetuation of a supply of opioids is … perpetuating the addiction. It’s not doing anything to change the lifestyle of the individual.”

He condemned excessive doses and lack of witnessed dosing as “unconscionable” and “tantamount to negligence.”

After the session, Sword expressed his frustration about the lack of questions from Liberal and NDP committee members.

“I have no problems with the experts talking, but ask me some questions, and I probably could give you a better answer than the experts on how that really affects parents and their kids,” he said.

“I hope this opens up their eyes to realize that there needs to be accountability for their decisions,” said Sword.

“They can’t just be like, ‘Oh, we’re going to do this and it doesn’t affect us’ because there’s no face. Now they can put my daughter’s face to their decisions.”


This article was produced through the Breaking Needles Fellowship Program, which provided a grant to Canadian Affairs, a digital media outlet, to fund journalism exploring addiction and crime in Canada. Articles produced through the Fellowship are co-published by Break The Needle and Canadian Affairs.

Subscribe to Break The Needle. Our content is always free – but if you want to help us commission more high-quality journalism, consider getting a voluntary paid subscription.

Continue Reading

Trending

X