HANDS OFF: AN OPEN LETTER TO SCHOOL BOARDS
How I long for the days in which educators simply educated.
In my youth, Mrs. Four Dice (my Science teacher) would NEVER have discussed “Wellness and Sexual Health” with us.
She knew, as did the other teachers and administrators, that such topics were FAR outside the scope of her authority.
Teachers were teachers and parents were parents.
Today, however, educators seek to subsume the role of parent.
Educators, for their own self-serving reasons, encroach upon the legally protected and time-honored parent-child relationship.
Programs involving “Wellness & Sexual Health” veer PRECARIOUSLY into my lane as a parent.
When it comes to discussions of sex, sexuality, gender, “gender-identity,” and abstinence my wife and I are eminently qualified to do so.
Respectfully, there’s NO educator at any level with the qualifications needed to engage my child in any form of discussion related to sex.
Simply put….WE GOT THIS!
Apparently, Educators assume that these life-defining talks aren’t happening at home.
It seems that Educators operate under the erroneous assumption that children are going to have sex.
Simply mentioning the word “child” and “sex” in the same sentence makes me cringe.
Irrespective of the curriculum, videos, or program documents, that Educators decide to use, they LACK the legal STANDING to engage a child in discussions about sex.
“…teaching kids about contraceptives, encourages them to use contraceptives,”
said Dr. Joe McIlhaney, Medical Institute for Sexual Health
From my point of view these programs are a slippery off ramp to sex-related conversations that a non-parental or non-custodial individual should never initiate with someone else’s child.
The cover letter from a “Secondary Science Facilitator” says that the “Student Health Advisory Council” aka “SHAC” gets to decide “appropriate grade levels” and “methods.”
I wholeheartedly disagree.
SHAC does NOT get decide when or how my children learn about the “birds and bees”.
That decision is MINE and MINE alone.
I cringe at the notion of a predator masquerading as an educator discussing “Wellness & Sexual Health” with the children in his or her classroom.
In my opinion, these programs serve only to groom children and bait predators.
HERE’S THE SOLUTION.
If you believe, or the data shows, that children are NOT getting the “Wellness and Sexual Health” training YOU think they should have, then the PROBLEM IS THE PARENT (or Guardian) NOT THE CHILD.
Put the “Wellness and Sexual Health” program and resources to optimal use.
Educate, train, and equip PARENTS or guardians with the tools necessary to have these life-defining conversations with the children in their care, custody, and control.
Empower parents with effective ways to address questions about “Wellness & Sexual Health.”
With this approach,
1) Educators actually educate,
2) We build better parents,
3) Stronger bonds between parent and child, and
4) Healthy children stay healthy.
Otherwise, HANDS OFF THE CHILDREN!
REFERENCES:
1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abstinence-only-programs-on-rise/
2. https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/former-grand-prairie-teacher-arrested-indecency-child/
5. https://www.gpisd.org/cms/lib/TX01001872/Centricity/Domain/11822/SCOPE%20AND%20SEQUENCE.pdf
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