Breaking barriers is the new platitude the National Association of Social Work (NASW) is marketing. Sounds nice, like all platitudes, but is it? Maybe, sometimes. Most people would agree that racial segregation isn’t good. In addition, most people agree that women should have the right to vote. Most agree that people shouldn’t be persecuted because of the color of their skin. However, isn’t there a point when breaking barriers goes too far?
I was recently attacked online by a social worker who doesn’t agree with my view that there should be safeguards on transgender medicine, including for children. She said my views are violating ethics and she said she would be reporting me to the board. Her main criticism was that I was creating a barrier, rather than breaking barriers.
I was confused, thinking about how children need barriers. Do we just let them jump off a cliff? Don’t most people use seatbelts? Don’t kids have bedtimes and restrictions on sugary foods? That’s when I realized she was parroting the phrase “break barriers/combat barriers/removing barriers from the NASW marketing in every comment she made towards me:
When I read her comments, I thought of all of the barriers society has for children, for good reasons. They can not go to R rated movies, they can not get a tattoo, they can not join the military, they can’t drink alcohol or do recreational drugs legally.
The Babylon Bee did a recent comedy skit to demonstrate this point with hilarity:
It’s ludicrous to believe that breaking barriers, especially for children is therapeutic and leading people to “happiness and authenticity, to knowing peace and harmony amongst a society”, as this social worker states in her angry comments. She even went as far to say that I’m committing “hate crimes”. So allowing kids to get whatever they want, even dangerous and irreversible procedures that lead to sexual dysfunction, sterilization, chronic pain, early menopause, and becoming life long patients will lead to peace and harmony? Having concerns about this is hate? Hmmm.
Before she put her profile to private, I saw that she is a foster mom to trans youth and she is embedded in the transgender ideology. She also doesn’t seem to have very good critical thinking skills.
If she is who she claims, then this woman has a Master’s Degree and is considered an “expert” in the field of mental health. She may seem radical, but these ideas are being taught in all of the mainstream institutions. Simultaneously, people who have my point of view are silent because they are getting reported by their peers.
What’s the moral of the story? People who speak in platitudes lack critical thinking and understanding. “Experts” who speak in platitudes are charlatans. Question the experts, and if they respond with a platitude, RUN!
You can learn more about how to navigate the mental health system without indoctrination in my Parents' Guide to Mental Health.
Pamela Garfield-Jaeger is a licensed clinical social worker in California. She completed her MSW in 1999 from New York University. She has a variety of experience in schools, group homes, hospitals and community-based organizations. Since getting fired for not getting the C*VID vaccine, she has dedicated herself to educate parents and embolden other mental health professionals to challenge the ideological capture of her profession.
For more detailed information on how to empower yourself as a parent and navigate the mental health field, see the Parents' Guide to Mental Health.
Thank you for your courage. As a licensed therapist I find myself afraid to reveal my true feelings around the trans for children.
Thankful for your voice. The time is now to speak.