Fake News
According to this article, Sunny Oaks Elementary School forced its students to crossdress for LGBT week. This seems to be an accusation about a school begging (more like forcing) students to do a certain thing. The rhetorical device being used is Pathos. The school is trying to do a good thing by honoring those who are a part of the LGBT community. They are also using rhetorical devices by forcing the students to do as they say and agree with them. The story was published on May 20, 2016, and occurred in Sunny Oaks Elementary School. This article is focusing on explaining what happened when Sunny Oaks Elementary decided to demand that students crossdress. At first, when I came across this article I thought that this was pushy.
In the past, students were forbidden to crossdress. Boys would even get bullied for wearing tight clothing, let alone girl clothing. Girls would get attacked for wearing baggy clothing. The 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows that 60% of LGBT students got bullied. Also, 10% more homosexual students did not attend school due to feeling unsafe. There is a sad history when it comes to LGBT students and students cross-dressing. The fact that a school is forcing students to do something that was forbidden back in the days is not something to accuse and take lightly. This is a serious accusation.
After tons of research, snopes.com found that there is no school named Sunny Oaks Elementary School and this article was a hoax. The school is said to be located in California and there is no record of a school named Sunny Oaks anywhere. The photo of the school that they lied to and claimed to be Sunny Oaks, led to a link that showed more fake news.
The Internet and social media can be great resources for certain things. However, they will not be completely credible and reliable resources for everything. Social media may not provide you with expert opinions and cannot always be trusted. Luckily, a little bit of research and books can help with that.
Works Cited:
- Lacapria, Kim. Sunny Oaks Elementary Forces Kids to Cross Dress for LGBT Week, 20 May 2016. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sunny-oaks-elementary-forces-kids-to-cross-dress-for-lgbt-week/
- LGBTQ+ Youth. 24 Sep. 2017. https://www.stopbullying.gov/bullying/lgbtq