School board proposal: teach first graders about gay sex
Wed. July 14, 2010 11:51 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
Helena, Mont. -
Parents in Helena, Montana are fighting with the school board and each other over how sex and homosexuality should be handled in the new health curriculum.
The curriculum is focused on teaching children cold hard facts, from making certain that kindergartners know proper anatomical names, to teaching first graders that two men can have sex with each other, to telling fifth graders about all the ways people have sex.
On Tuesday night, so many people packed a school board on the issue that the spillover crowd was shunted to another room, and a hundred other people waited outside.
The Helena Independent-Record reports that supporters and opponents were given equal time, and 64 people spoke their mind.
Many were parents and health educators who thanked the board for supporting an innovative curriculum in the face of strong opposition.
Some gay men talked about how they were harassed in school, and how they hoped the anti-bullying lessons would protect kids in the future.
"This is about reality and truth so our kids don't grow up in La-La Land, and have sufficient knowledge to make informed decisions," parent Mary Ann Dunwell said.
Two middle school girls recommended that kids be taught abstinence. Helena currently has no sex ed in middle school.
Other parents felt there was something sinister in the fact that Planned Parenthood helped create the curriculum.
"Why are we allowing Planned Parenthood to help with this when they stand to profit from these people who will be their future clients?" Angela Helland-Hansen said.
The curriculum is focused on teaching children cold hard facts, from making certain that kindergartners know proper anatomical names, to teaching first graders that two men can have sex with each other, to telling fifth graders about all the ways people have sex.
On Tuesday night, so many people packed a school board on the issue that the spillover crowd was shunted to another room, and a hundred other people waited outside.
The Helena Independent-Record reports that supporters and opponents were given equal time, and 64 people spoke their mind.
Many were parents and health educators who thanked the board for supporting an innovative curriculum in the face of strong opposition.
Some gay men talked about how they were harassed in school, and how they hoped the anti-bullying lessons would protect kids in the future.
"This is about reality and truth so our kids don't grow up in La-La Land, and have sufficient knowledge to make informed decisions," parent Mary Ann Dunwell said.
Two middle school girls recommended that kids be taught abstinence. Helena currently has no sex ed in middle school.
Other parents felt there was something sinister in the fact that Planned Parenthood helped create the curriculum.
"Why are we allowing Planned Parenthood to help with this when they stand to profit from these people who will be their future clients?" Angela Helland-Hansen said.