Caving to parental pressure, administrators in Helena, Montana have wiped clean any mention of “anal penetration” for their sex ed program for fifth-graders, and made sure second-graders are never taught calling somebody a “faggot” is unacceptable.
A revised Helena schools sex education plan was bashed Tuesday by opponents as teaching too much too soon, but lauded by supporters as necessary instruction. School officials have been reeling from a torrent of criticism since releasing a sex education program this summer that included controversial plans to teach children in the first grade that people of the same gender can love each other, and to teach fifth-graders that sexual intercourse includes “vaginal, oral, or anal penetration.”
But those provisions were axed in revisions released earlier this month, as were plans to teach second-graders it is hurtful to make fun of gay people by calling them names. Instead, the proposal stresses current policy against bullying of all kinds — such as harassment for sexual orientation and many other reasons. The new plan also makes sure that starting in fifth grade educators are clear that abstinence from sex is a “healthy choice” and “the only 100 percent effective way” to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Other sections on general sex education remained the same.
In its stead, the new sex ed program calls for instructors to place an unripe banana on each student’s desk, shrug their shoulders, and walk away.
Andy
I feel sorry for the kids of these parents. This is the equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ear and screaming.
victim of circumstance
before i read this story, i felt that i could look back at lgbt over the past 40 years and call it progress. but, this is posibly the most dicerening thing i have ever heard. the truth is, if america still wants to “hide” homosexuality from it’s children and pretend it doesn’t exist, we have made NO progress. we have come NOWHERE. and, untill we can all get on the same page and tell our children every thing they NEED to know about life as human beings, we will NOT make any progress. i’m not saying that fifth graders need to know how two men or two women have sex, but it is our responsibilty to teach them that it is ok if johny and billy like to hold hands. it’s ok that suzy dresses like a boy. it’s OK to be who you are. and it is not ok to steifle who someone else is. it’s stories like this that destroy my hope for the future.
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What is WRONG with these parents, anyway?!?!?!?! If I had kids in school, I’d demand they learned this stuff, unless their parents would prefer their kids remain ignorant and possibly expose them to danger down the road in so doing!
damon459
Sadly Helena the state capital BTW is a very conservative town even by Montana standards. It’s home to a very large Catholic University system, and as some who lived there for 6 months I can say it’s home to some of the most backwards people in all of Montana. Progress will happen though it will be slower do to the large Catholic population and their nutty beliefs about sex and abstinence.
caffesilvia
WTF? The fifth grade is TOO EARLY for explicit sex ed. Can’t we le children have childhoods for at least a little while? I don’t even see the utility of such early sex ed – any kid who’s getting laid in GRADE SCHOOL is going to turn out badly no matter how much ‘education’ you give him.
Sex ed programs administered at a proper age, however, should definitely cover buttsecs.