A San Francisco public school reportedly hosted a workshop on “adult supremacy” — a new woke trend labeling teachers and adults “oppressors” that’s quietly gaining traction in California.
The confab, held at John O’Connell High School during an “Ethnic Studies Everywhere” weekend seminar in April, was titled “Youth as Knowledge Producers: Challenging Adult Supremacy Through Ethnic Studies,” according to an attendee who spoke with The Post.
“Due to systemic power dynamics inherently the relationship between students and educators is an oppressive one. Oppressor (educator) & oppressed (student),” a presentation slide explained.
The workshop was led by Jennifer Sanchez, a third-year ethnic studies educator in the Central Valley, and convened by Teachers 4 Social Justice, a nonprofit that aims to create “empowering learning environments, more equitable access to resources and power, and realizing a just and caring culture,” according to its website.
So-called adult supremacy “constructs adults as developed, mature, intelligent, and experienced, based solely on their age and ensures that adults control the resources and make the decisions in society,” the presentation further explained.
Success “within the Western context” is “demanding, overwhelming, and dehumanizing,” the presentation claimed.
Friends of Lowell Foundation, which advocates for academic merit at San Francisco schools, compiled the “adult supremacy” slides.
Another slide obtained by The Post cited the work of academic Jackson Matos, who is cited as connecting “adultism” to cultural imperialism, marginalization, exploitation, powerlessness and violence.
“We have knowledge and life experience, and it is our job as parents and teachers to impart information on the next generation, on our kids,” one flabbergasted San Francisco parent, who asked not to be named, told The Post.
“Given that a large percentage of students in the district do not meet grade level standards in ELA and math, our focus as a school district is clearly way off track,” the parent said.
The organization has taken legal action surrounding the school district’s controversial “ethnic studies” curriculum, which was made a one-year requirement for high school freshman this year.
The San Francisco teachers’ group isn’t the only organization blaming “adultism” for society’s failures.
Adam Fletcher is a consultant who counts California school boards and agencies among his clients. He’s made “adultism” a centerpiece of equity training aimed at teachers.
“Adultism, as an idea, is bias towards adults,” Fletcher said in an online seminar held by TEACH Los Angeles, an educators’ network funded through grants from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, per its YouTube page.
Likewise, the Oakland Youth Commission announced last year a training for city employees about adultism, which is blamed for taking power away from kids, according to slides published online.
The Santa Clara Behavioral Health Services Department sponsored an “anti-oppression training series” that explores how “ageism and adultism” fuel discrimination.
“Participants consider how the myth of independence, rooted in settler colonial capitalism, contributes to the marginalization of youth & elders by diminishing agency, excluding perspectives, & reinforcing stereotypes in behavioral health practice.
San Francisco Unified School District didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The district may be in hot water over its ethnic studies program, with Superintendent Maria Su due to appear at a June 10 congressional hearing about parents’ rights and “inappropriate content” in schools.
