See What’s In The Controversial Sex Ed Curriculum Approved By A Wisconsin School Board
See what students in the Wauwatosa school district grades K-12 will learn in the new approved sex ed curriculum.
Sexual education curriculums have been implemented as a part of learning in schools for decades. But in growing fashion, more and more parents and politicians opposed to some of the material and lessons being taught are calling for changes. The most recent school system to catch national attention for approving a new controversial sex ed curriculum is the Wauwatosa school district. School board members just voted in a new syllabus. Here’s what it entails.
The new curriculum will teach children sex education from Kindergarten through high school in the Wisconsin district. According to Fox6Now, The Wauwatosa school district board members voted to approve the measure on August 22 in a 6-1 vote. Some of the most contended portions referenced what was being taught to the youngest students in the district.
Beginning in Kindergarten, students in the Wauwatosa school district will be expected to learn the proper names of body parts such as a penis, vulva, and anus. Additionally, they will be taught about unsafe touches and abuse. Starting in second grade, students will learn about gender stereotypes.
Within given lesson plans, students learn about common American cultural concepts that suggest that only girls should play with things such as dolls, for example. Moving into third grade, the students study more elaborate gender roles, such as being transgender. Third graders in the Wauwatosa school district will learn that some girls feel like a boy, and some boys might feel like a girl. The lesson plan instructs students to understand that no matter how they feel, they are “perfectly normal.” Additionally, third graders will begin to discuss sexual consent, and body image.
Jumping to sixth grade, the Wauwatosa school district will begin defining various types of sexual activity such as vaginal, oral and anal sex, and masturbation. They also begin terming the wide perspective of sexual identities like heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer, asexual, pansexual, and so on. Also, they start discussing safe sex practices that prevent the spread of diseases, and abstinence. The high school curriculum further dives into these topics, but also includes methods of contraception, and teaches students warning signs of abusive relationships.
Before the syllabus was voted on, a packed board room heard debates from parents in the community and even those who traveled outside of the area to voice their stiff disapproval of the Wauwatosa school district’s proposal. Some were concerned that the lesson plans for elementary kids were too confusing, and that they would not be old enough to comprehend. One parent, Olivia Batzner, spoke out saying, “My biggest concern is I just think that bringing these issues up at such young ages, kids aren’t fully equipped to understand everything that’s being brought up. And it’s really important to reach children where they are at in terms of the appropriate stages of development.”
Some were opposed to the addition of topics of transsexuality. But even amid backlash, some showed up to support the Wauwatosa school district proposal. A student in attendance said, “Not knowing that I could be anything but cisgender and straight forced me into a box and put me into so much pain, and I don’t want that for anyone else. That’s why it’s important for the Wauwatosa School District to have inclusive sexual education in human growth and development.”
In the state of Wisconsin, public schools aren’t required under law to teach sexual education. However, if a district like the Wauwatosa school district chooses to implement one, they are obliged to teach that abstinence is a preferred choice. What’s more, parents opposing sex education have the option to opt their children out of these lessons. Now official, the curriculum will be implemented right away, starting during this 2022-2023 school year.
