A preschool teacher in California is facing backlash for expressing his beliefs that the concept of “childhood innocence” is a myth and advocating for the introduction of topics like ‘queerness’ to young children.
William “Willy” Villalpando, a teacher at Trapp Preschool in the Rialto Unified School District, has been called into question for a string of posts he made on his now-deleted social media accounts. The posts, reported by Fox News, include Villalpando criticizing the concept of “childhood innocence,” calling it “a phenomenon that doesn’t exist.”
“There is a common mythology that children live in this world of pure innocence, and that by introducing or exposing them to the real-world adults are somehow shattering this illusion for them. Therefore, there is a banning of topics and issues that children should not be exposed to, as if they are not experiencing them already,” Villalpando said.
Describing himself as an “expert” in helping children develop their gender identity, Villalpando’s comments extended to discussions of gender-related education. Responding to a query about the appropriateness of teaching children about sex and gender, he firmly rejected the notion that children can be too young for these topics. Villalpando claimed that infants as young as 10 months old start making gender associations and that by age 3, children can express their gender identity.
“Infants begin making gendered association by the time they are 10 MONTHS OLD! By the time they are 3 most children can label what gender they believe they identify with and by 4 they can tell you what that gender means for what they can or cannot do.”
California Preschool Teacher William Villalpando via his now-deleted website
In recent days, the debate over the extent of topics covered in classrooms has escalated in California school districts. The Temecula Valley Unified School District recently faced controversy for rejecting a state-sponsored curriculum featuring gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Similarly, the Murrieta Valley Unified School District enacted a policy requiring teachers and administrators to inform parents when a student identifies as transgender.
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
