Common sense: out. Sex education classes for five-year-olds: in:
Some people may think a five-year old is too young for sex education.
Administrators with Chicago Public schools do not.
New to the curriculum this year, mandatory sexual and health education for kindergarten classes.
CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker took at look at the lesson the little ones will be learning.
Like every other kindergartener, Angelina Yang is learning reading, writing, arithmetic–and now sexual health education.
“I want to know what kind of education she is receiving before she gets that education,” said Angelia’s mom, Stella. ‘As a parent, I have a right to know.”
CPS insists the curriculum will use language children understand and focus on topics like bullying, correct names for external body parts and the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching.
“As you identify body parts, you talk about should you be touched here or not.,” said Stephanie Whyte, the CPS Chief Health Officer. “And if someone touches you, and it’s uncomfortable, you should tell a trusted adult.”
Why even introduce these concepts to unsuspecting children? If anything, this will only lead to their loss of innocence earlier than necessary, no?
Meanwhile, some might call this (ahem) “teaching tolerance.” Others, well, might call it by its rightful name: indoctrination:
Students will also take a look at the different family structures that exist in today’s society.
“Whether that means there’s two moms at home, everyone’s home life is different, and we introduce the fact that we all have a diverse background, “ said Whyte
That’s a lesson some conservative organizations oppose.
The say CPS is giving in to liberal groups that seek “to normalize homosexuality.”
It’s the kind of lesson that makes some parents hesitant.
“If he has questions, I’m happy to answer them, but I’m not sure it belongs in a classroom setting,” said parent Brooke Lyon.
This program is seemingly well-intentioned. But c’mon. Besides the obvious reasons for why “sex education” of any kind is inappropriate in kindergarten classrooms, I must raise the point of priorities. Is there really no other subject (or subjects) teachers could focus on instead of “sexual and health education”? After all, roughly 80 percent of eight graders in the city are not “grade-level proficient” in either reading or math. Wouldn’t it therefore be wise for teachers to spend additional time with young children, say, teaching them how to read and solve math problems? This new curriculum seems like a colossal waste of time -- especially for a K-12 public school system struggling to adequately prepare kids for life after high school.
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