In response to critics who say American schools are "grooming" students to change their genders, a fourth grade teacher in New Jersey is setting the record straight.
Teacher Nairobi Colon has banned gender pronouns in the classroom, where students refer to Colon as "Teacher Robi."
Colon also conducted a series of interviews with students on gender pronouns -- and found the kids are much more progressive than adults give them credit for.
Colon, an art teacher with KIPP Whittier Charter School in Camden, posted a series of questions and answers on TikTok, where they have more than 600,000 followers.
In response to accusations that the teacher is grooming students, Colon asks a 4th grader, "Do I have power over you?" The student responds, "No. You could tell me something, but I don't have to necessarily need to do it."
In another post, Colon -- who uses they/them pronouns -- asks a student, "Why do you choose to respect my pronouns?" The student replies, "Because I think every person should have equality. It doesn't matter about their gender."
Colon told KYW Newsradio that the school has been supportive of their decisions.
"I came out as nonbinary to … myself, I would say, three years ago. To my students, I came out during the pandemic," Colon said. "'I want you all to call me Teacher Robi instead of Ms. Robi, are you OK with that?' And they were like, 'Yeah, what are we learning today?'"
Colon said they strive to be a role model for living authentically.
"People make this assumption … being nonbinary means this, it is bad. And when people see me and see the content that I create, especially on social media, they can look to me to get these answers that they're looking for, and see their own identities and see that they can be their true self and express their true self, when they see people who are doing that exact thing," Colon told KYW-AM.
"Being nonbinary really opens the door to having an open classroom and having a safe space because of the fact that I'm able to be myself. And kids look at me, and they're like, ‘Teacher Robi is being themselves. I can be myself too,'" Colon added.
Despite the negative attention, Colon has no plans to waver from staying true to themselves.
"It keeps me going knowing that at least 25% of our youth identify with a combination of pronouns that are outside of she [or] he," Colon told KYW. "Youth need people like me. I needed somebody like me when I was growing up, and I did not have that. And that is one of the main things that keeps me going."
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