Technolandy

Day 7 (of 2026/27) sigh – still takes on #inclusion mindsets #IStandWithEsquimalt

Thank you to the staff of Esquimalt Secondary.

Thank you to the staff of SD61.

Cuz hate still happens…

And apparently a fun little back-to-school video can still become a target when a Rainbow Flag happens to be visible on a classroom wall.

Sigh.

Schools are environments where we should be able to go:

“Yes, and…”

Yes, you are welcome here.

And so are they.

And them.

And everyone else who walks through our doors.

Inclusive representation isn’t taking something away from somebody else.

You are welcome even if you don’t agree with everyone else in the building.

You are welcome even if you don’t understand everyone else in the building.

You are even welcome if you hold beliefs about groups of people that I profoundly disagree with.

But you don’t get to turn those beliefs into exclusion, harassment or hatred in our learning community.

Because everyone else is welcome too.

Please provide them the same courtesy.

It does highlight the challenging nature of schools using social media accounts, though.

I partly wonder how many eyes under the age of 16 — still glaring at you, Bill C-34 — were attracted to the original video…

…and how many more were attracted once the outrage machine got going.

And that’s part of the strange reality when schools put themselves out there.

I mean, I mindfully put out messages that I know are going to attract inappropriate replies and messages.

Sometimes that’s the cost of saying publicly what you believe.

But there’s also a privilege in being able to take some of those hits.

Because as an ally, I’m comfortable having insults and bigotry pointed in my direction if it means they’re pointed a little less toward the students and adults in my learning community who actually live with that hatred.

Better me than them.

#IStandWithEsquimalt