Common Core: “Sexuality” Education

Before you say the National Sexuality Education Standards are not part of Common Core, let me direct you to page 6 of the publication:

“The National Sexuality Education Standards were further informed by the work of the CDC’s Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool(HECAT)3; existing state and international education standards that include sexual health content; the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten – 12th Grade; and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics, recently adopted by most states.”

The Department of Health and Human Services, of which the CDC is a part, has long since partnered with the Department of Education in standardizing just about everything they possibly can.  Education opened the back door on this one and let these standards slide right in.

Remember the days when it was “sex ed,” all about the reproductive system, girls’ menstruation, and the sexes were separated for this information?  Those days are long gone.

Note the change in the name, from Sex Education to Sexuality Education. That was not an accident.

The Department of Education gave a major contributor of Common Core, Planned Parenthood, a loud voice in writing the standards, and it shows.  For instance:

Page 12 says:
“By the end of 2nd grade, students should be able to: Use proper names for body parts, including male and female anatomy.” 

Page 14 says:
“By the end of 5th grade, students should be able to: Describe male and female reproductive systems including body parts and their functions. Identify medically-accurate information about female and male reproductive anatomy.  Define sexual orientation as the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same gender or a different gender.”

Page 9 has “Guiding Values and Principles,” and this is what you will read there:

“Instruction by qualified sexuality education teachers is essential for student achievement.”
Excuse me? Standard biological information about the reproductive system is fine, teaching values is not.

“Students need opportunities to engage in COOPERATIVE and ACTIVE learning strategies (I really wanted you to catch those two words), and sufficient time must be allocated for students to PRACTICE skills relating to sexuality education.”
Practice? What the h%&$ does that look like?  My daughter better not be practicing anything until she’s married. Just sayin’…

While these are not all of the curriculum highlights that are offensive to many, I have to end with this doozy:

“Students need multiple opportunities and a variety of assessment strategies to determine their achievement of the sexuality education standards and performance.”

I try not to curse, but WTF?!  What does “a variety of assessment strategies” to “determine their achievement of the sexuality education standards and performance” look like, exactly?

Let’s talk about the material that will be used to present the “sexuality education” to our children.

“It’s Perfectly Normal” is a book written by Robie Harris (a board member of Planned Parenthood), illustrated by Michael Emberly, endorsed by Planned Parenthood, and showing up in lower elementary classrooms across the country.

Let’s talk about what is in it.

“It’s Perfectly Normal” addresses sex, sexuality, masturbation, contraception, homosexuality, oral sex, and abortion. It is so graphic that a prison in Washington rejected it, saying that it was too pornographic in nature.  But it’s ok for our school-aged children, apparently.

The book contains graphic illustrations of adult male and female bodies, and encourages children to explore their sexuality.  It teaches them to masturbate, and describes sexual intercourse that “can involved the penis and vagina, or the mouth and the genitals, or the penis and the anus.”  Let me stop right here and say that this is not a commentary on the rightness or wrongness of homosexuality.  It is a commentary on what is appropriate for the schools to approach and what needs to be strictly left to the parents.

The book does not even mention chastity or abstinence.  Further, it attacks some religious beliefs by saying “And some religions call masturbation a sin. But  masturbating cannot hurt you.”  Many believe that sexual activity should not take place outside of marriage, and this concept is never raised.

I am not making an effort to tell you what you should believe and how you should act.  I am sharing my very strong belief, shared by millions of other parents across the nation, that these issues are private family matters and should not be in the schools at all.  It is our choice to make decisions about our personal family values and to teach our children when and how WE decide, not the government.

For more information about this issue:

About “It’s Perfectly Normal”

Kindergartners and Sexuality Education

Planned Parenthood’s Site for Teens

It’s Perfectly Normal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

American Life League Flyer