I wrote yesterday about the morally abominable decision by the school board of District 211 in Illinois to allow gender-confused boys into the girls locker room and bathroom.

I linked to a striking video showing the disparate reactions of a biological boy who identifies as transgender and a biological girl after the board’s decision was announced. The boy, Nova Maday, gloats over his victory while showing no regard or concern for the girls whose privacy has just been obliterated. The girl, Julia Burca, tearfully worries that she will now have to get naked every day around boys as she gets changed for swim practice.

As I argued in my piece, only the most deranged sorts of people could possibly watch that footage and feel sympathy for the boy over the girl. All sane and decent people understand that girls deserve privacy and protection when they are getting changed and using the bathroom. Am I implying that everyone on the opposite side from me on this issue lacks sanity and decency? Yes, I certainly am. I will go even further and say that what they support is abject evil, and they are without excuse. There is no good argument for allowing boys into the girls locker room. There is no compelling reason for such a policy. All of the good arguments and compelling reasons belong to the side that seeks to protect young girls from this kind of abuse.

As my piece on this case has gotten a big reaction and been widely circulated, I’ve heard from a number of students at the school. They tell me that the environment has been tense and awkward, and many of the girls are now fearful about their lack of privacy and security. These messages raise an important question: Why the hell are the students even attending class at all? Nearly 500 people showed up at the school board meeting last week, many of them in opposition to the board’s decision. There’s obviously a lot of outrage among the parents of the children at the school. So, again, why are those parents still sending their kids? Why are parents who are (rightly) concerned about their daughters’ safety still choosing to send their daughters into that environment?

This is what I find so endlessly frustrating. The parents in these situations have an immense amount of power. They could put an end to the madness immediately — literally overnight — if they simply got together and agreed to withhold their children from class until the policy is reversed. This would force the school’s hand. They can’t operate without children to teach. They would need to come back to the table and make concessions. This is exactly the strategy that teachers use when they want some kind of institutional change to be made, and generally the tactic works for them. Why don’t parents do the same? If you’re angry and worried that the school is putting your child in jeopardy, the only reasonable, not to mention effective, response is to keep your child home. If every parent who felt the same way did the same, changes would be made in a hurry.

The same applies when boys intrude into girls sports teams. Rather than participating in the farce of a “girls” track meet where boys take home all the medals, why not pull your daughters out, collectively, and refuse to participate until those boys are sent back where they belong? Again, if every parent did this, the school would have no choice but to surrender. Or at least there’s a pretty good chance they surrender. Whereas there is no chance if you obediently go along with the program.

Would it be inconvenient to keep your kid home from school? Yes, sure, you probably have a job to worry about. Are there maybe some risks involved? Yes, I guess the school could send the cops after you if they wanted to play hardball. But if we aren’t willing to take on a little risk and inconvenience for the sake of protecting our children from this lunacy, then what’s the point? Why complain? Why object? Just shut up and do as your told. If you don’t like that plan, then stand up for yourself and your family. Fight back. Do something. Do something, for God’s sake.