Reading a lot of these posts has me concerned to say the least. If you think teaching students how to identify emotions, express emotions (in a healthy way), respect each other despite differences, think for themselves, or to have empathy for other people is a left-wing or a political agenda, take a minute a possibly reevaluate why you think they are political ideologies rather than basic social skills.

Teaching a student that some people are disadvantaged or that we should treat people who are "different" the same, is just a fundamental skill. Can they be taught at home? Absolutely! Are SEL skills always taught in every home? No. It is an area the school and guardians collaborate on because it is so vital to a person's ability to function in the world. 

If a student cannot identify what they are feeling or express it in a way that doesn't disrupt or cause harm, that is our first priority as educators. They will not be able to effectively learn, read, write, color, play, or focus if they are upset. 

 I hear parent/guardian concerns and have some of my own. It appears that VDOE is moving forward with SEL as a standard. So I have a few questions for you regardless of your stance.

How does this plan make you feel?

What parts in particular made you feel that way?

What would you change if you could?

Since it doesn't seem like you can change anything for the time being, what are your next steps get those changes started?

If you are upset (mad, sad, frustrated, heavy breathing, it's constantly on your mind, etc.), what's something you can do to calm yourself down or take your mind off of it? Because I don't want you to stay in a riled up state.

Whether you automatically went through these phases/questions for yourself before reading my post or you answered each question with my guidance above, you just implemented social-emotional skills. This is what we teach students (at their developmental level). Thanks for reading!