Kindergarten teacher bans boys from playing with LEGOs in name of ‘gender equality'

Eagnews.org reports: Captain Johnston Blakely Elementary teacher Karen Keller is fighting for gender equality … in her kindergarten classroom. Keller is raised eyebrows recently with her classroom policy for LEGOs during “free choice” play time, which limits access to girls only. As she explained to the Bainbridge Island Review, it’s her twisted way of imposing gender equality on her students. “I always tell the boys, ‘You’re going to have a turn’ – and I’m like, ‘Yeah, when hell freezes over’ in my head,” Keller said. “I tell them, ‘You’ll have a turn’ because I don’t want them to feel bad.” Keller’s watched her kindergarten students segregate themselves by gender and interest during free play time since she started at the school in 2008. Boys typically dominate the Legos, while girls mostly prefer to play with dolls or crayons. Keller apparently believes it’s her job to change that dynamic, because research shows playing with LEGOs helps students with spatial and math skills, areas men tend to excel at over women. Keller believes that’s the case because of society’s gender stereotypes, the same reason she thinks girls tend to avoid the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. “The stuff LEGO is marketing for girls is just so limiting,” she said, citing play sets with themes centered on baking, cooking, homemaking and decorating. “I just feel like we are still so far behind in promoting gender equality.” So she cooked up a plan to set things straight by banning boys from playing with the LEGOs during free time, so girls have unencumbered access to the blocks. Initially, Keller attempted to entice her girl students to build with pink and purple LEGOs, “but it wasn’t enough,” she said...