This story goes in my “Administrators Gone Wild” file.

It seems a Nebraska school district is instructing its teachers not to use the terms “boys and girls,” “ladies and gentlemen,” “you guys” – you get the idea. Why? Because they don’t include gender non-confirming terminology and therefore cause confusion for those few children who don’t identify with any specific gender. Simply put, it’s just not inclusive of all.

To make sure we include everyone and no one feels slighted, they have decided the proper inclusive terminology for young kids is to call them “purple penguins.” Because that isn’t confusing at all?

Now we have to change everything because a few kids in the class are being told by their parents that they don’t have to “choose” a gender (like you choose a pair of shoes?) until they’re comfortable doing so. Instead of teaching a child what gender they were born into, they make sure the child lives in a sort of “Gender Twilight Zone” until they can decide what direction to go in.

Don’t believe me? Look up the movement to stop hospitals and doctors from “pronouncing gender” on a baby when “it” is born. Yes, the crazy train is close at hand.

This is probably that same group of people who said we can’t keep score at Little League games because it makes the losers feel bad. We shouldn’t give letter grades because it makes the kids feel bad. Don’t mark a paper in red pen; it makes the kids feel bad. Really? Stop all of the nonsense and just say: Let’s not challenge our children because if everything goes the way of the progressive left, they won’t have to excel at anything and the government will take care of them.

The only definite in these people’s lives is that sane, rational thought needs to go.

Administrators believe that calling them purple penguins allows the children to be free thinkers. They say we should stop asking the kids to line up as boys and girls and instead ask them to line up by who likes skateboards or bikes, dogs or cats, summer or winter. Before guiding the kids, consider the question: Will this create a gender spectrum?

People, the inmates are running the asylum. Although I have great respect for the “shrinks” of the world, they are not all on the same page on this issue. For them, it’s not an exact science. Some doctors tell you kids need definites in their lives, solid boundaries. They need to know who and what they are. Others say no, they need to be able to explore their inner selves and look at the world in different ways. OK, sure, now which one is right?

They chose penguins as an inclusive, gender non-specific option. Well, penguins are a gender-specific, traditional family-oriented species. According to LiveScience.com, most penguins are monogamous, at a minimum, for the duration of the mating season, and in many cases for most of their lives (married forever). Researchers have found that penguins re-paired with the same partner 82 percent of the time, and certain species of penguins re-paired 90 percent of the time. Better than human divorce rates.

Each gender has its designated roles, according to LiveScience.com. The male (gender specific) usually starts the mating ritual and will pick out a nice nesting site before he approaches a female. (Wow. All of those choices without including her?) After mating, the female emperor penguin will lay a single egg. The female (gender specific) of this species will place the egg on the male’s feet to keep warm in his fat folds while she goes out and hunts for several weeks.

So with this exclusive, gender-specific, family-valued system, how did the loons on the left choose purple penguins to be the “inclusive, non-gender-specific” alternative to “boys and girls?” Coin toss? Everyone loves penguins?

The only confusing thing about penguins is that they are birds that can’t fly. Their designated gender roles are clearly mapped out.

And then there’s the question: Isn’t this non-inclusive of the kids who want to be called “boys and girls” or “ladies and gentlemen?” Why do they have to be “neutralized?”

If you really want inclusivity, then do it honestly. Boys, girls, and gender non-specific. Wouldn’t that be honest?

Don’t tell me how they will feel bad about being singled out because they already are, just simply by being different. It’s no different than boys being different from girls. They just are. Just like the kids with red hair and freckles are different. Just like the shortest kid in the room is different from the tallest kid in the room. It’s OK to be different.

It’s a good thing to learn how to deal with differences. What a great way to teach our kids about diversity instead of lumping them all together in a “neutral” category and making it seem like everyone is the same in every way. Being different is not bad. But those on the progressive left make it seem bad when they try to force everyone into their small way of thinking.

If you want to really be inclusive, then address the kids who want to be identified in a gender-specific way and allow kids who want to be identified as “other” to be called such.

Do your own homework on this instead of just calling me out like I made up all of this. Read about the schools that are not allowing certain words to be used in the classroom because they make certain kids feel bad. Words like “dinosaur,” “peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” “birthday parties,” and too many more to list here.

People, pay attention to what’s happening in your schools and what your kids are learning. Stay involved and speak up when needed. One voice can make a difference.

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also an elected member of the Hart School Board. His commentary publishes Mondays.