An American high school teacher has come under fire after allegedly blasting a student who labelled himself as “straight”.
The Seattle teacher supposedly told the pupil to use a less “offensive” term.
Ian Golash, the social studies department chair at Chief Sealth International High School, was subject to a complaint after infuriating the 15-year-old boy's mother.
The mother claimed Golash provided students with a “Social Identity Wheel” working.
The incident took place at the Chief Sealth International High School
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It asked 10th graders to reflect on various identities including racial, ethnic, gender and sexual orientation.
Golash also supposedly told the pupil the word “straight” implies non-heterosexual people could be considered “crooked”.
The mother accused the teacher of “pushing his own ideological agendas” rather than inviting open discourse on “controversial topics”.
The unnamed woman said: “In this particular instance, he tried to persuade the language the students used in an attempt to censor them.”
She added: “Mr Golash instructs his students what to think and not how to think.
“This in no way provides identity-safe classrooms that allow students to feel visible and valued.”
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An image of the worksheet used by Golash
The parent previously claimed Golash failed her son on a quiz after the student argued men cannot get pregnant and women cannot have penises.
An email chain expressing her concerns with Golash and Principal Ray Garcia-Morales was sent in September.
She wrote: “It is completely inappropriate to dictate what terms a student can and cannot use to identify themselves with.”
Golash thanked the woman for her feedback but denied singling out her son, adding: “I did not tell anyone what words they should use to identify themselves.”
He continued: “In fact, I stated explicitly that I was not going to tell them how they should identify except to explain the difference between race, ethnicity and nationality.”
Golash revealed he prefers not to use the term “straight” because “language has power” and “it shapes the culture that we live in”.
The mother also wrote: “I'm told that rather than converse about the topic and provide him with information and an actual answer, he was told that he was a ‘product of the patriarchy that teaches young boys not to care’.
Ian Golash is the social studies department chair at Chief Sealth International High School in Seattle
“You missed an opportunity here to teach your student about current events and instead shamed him for being a male.
“To assume that he's being raised in a patriarchal household is a very mistaken one.”
However, Golash claimed his comment was not “directed at one student”.
He instead argued it was connected to discussions the class had in days prior and “the behaviour of several boys in the class”.
Golash continued: “I certainly wasn't making any implications about your household.
“I was referring to a system of power that we all live in.”
The pupil, who was later pulled from Golash’s class, began to “self-censor” due to the teacher’s “intolerant” teaching methods.