I understand the Florida "don't say gay" law now...

[dneal]

I saw screenshots of Maryland Public School's Comprehensive Health Education Framework, and some of the things seemed a little odd. This is what we're teaching in schools?

I'm not a prude, and don't see anything wrong with "sex ed" (contraception, STI's, etc...) and reproductive biology in Jr. High and High School; but some of this seems a bit much for public schools to be taking on. Some of it seems like indoctrination, and now I understand why so many children are having questions about their own gender.

Are these topics appropriate for elementary students (Pre-K onward)?

Pre-K "Gender identity and expression
K - Medicine Use
2 - Alcohol, nicotine, vaping
3 - How to use medicines correctly
3 - Harmful effects of alcohol
4 - Sexual orientation and/or romantic involvement
5 - Suicide prevention
6 - Depression
6 - Addiction
6 - Sex assigned at birth
7 - (Middle school or Jr. High depending on the district, but seriously?) Identify solo, vaginal, anal and oral sex

The link is HERE, and I'll post some screenshots of pages. The "Family Life and Human Sexuality" section begins on pg 21.

[dneal]

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[Empty_of_Clouds]

I suspect that there is a strong correlation between this and the fact that your country is now mostly known for being litigious.

[Medievalist]

Not all people are straight
Male
White
Cis-Gendered

Not all families are white, or hetero, or have two parents.

So if you're 5 and all the books you see at school, all the pictures in books, show white families with a male and a female, but you're mom is a single parent
or your dad is a single parent
Or you have two dads and no mom
or you're Asian, or a PoC or Native American — you're going to feel like Your Family Is Wrong, or Not a real family

Or

If you feel like you're in the wrong body or that because you have a "male" body but you like "female" activities — or you feel like really, you're a boy but in a girl's body — if you feel like you're broken —

What about those kids? Don't they deserve to know that they can make choices about how to be?

[Lloyd]

Not all people are straight
Male
White
Cis-Gendered

Not all families are white, or hetero, or have two parents.

So if you're 5 and all the books you see at school, all the pictures in books, show white families with a male and a female, but you're mom is a single parent
or your dad is a single parent
Or you have two dads and no mom
or you're Asian, or a PoC or Native American — you're going to feel like Your Family Is Wrong, or Not a real family

Or

If you feel like you're in the wrong body or that because you have a "male" body but you like "female" activities — or you feel like really, you're a boy but in a girl's body — if you feel like you're broken —

What about those kids? Don't they deserve to know that they can make choices about how to be?

Equally bad is when only a few fall into the "do not discuss" group, and the rest of the class ostracizes them. That can lead to wounds that never heal.

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[Empty_of_Clouds]

Equally bad is when only a few fall into the "do not discuss" group, and the rest of the class ostracizes them. That can lead to wounds that never heal.

When I mentioned the hidden curriculum a few posts back it occurred to me that not every reader would be aware of what this referred to, so here is a short description, cribbed for your pleasure.

The term “hidden curriculum” refers to an amorphous collection of “implicit academic, social, and cultural messages,” “unwritten rules and unspoken expectations,” and “unofficial norms, behaviours and values” of the dominant-culture context in which all teaching and learning is situated.

Of note is the 'dominant-culture context' part, given that this relates - in the context of the current discussion - to the general binary perception of gender. At the School level, in Western cultures, this suggests that children will indeed learn that binary gender is normal and that anything other is not normal and to be oppressed. Those who are 'wounded' by not being seen as 'normal' often do carry that forward into adult life because the school space is ultimately a reflection of the wider social space.

[Chuck Naill]

I never had anyone tell me to like girls. I suspect that others are the same

[Medievalist]

I never had anyone tell me to like girls. I suspect that others are the same

I never did either but even now, as an out Lesbian in a stable relationship, I still get people trying to convince me that I'm "wasting" my life, or asking me why I don't "try" a guy, or trying to fix me up with a guy even though they know I'm in a monogamous Lesbian relationship.

Here's something to think about, if you're straight.

The Heterosexual Questionnaire.

It was devised as a teaching exercise for College students.

[Lloyd]

I never had anyone tell me to like girls. I suspect that others are the same

I never did either but even now, as an out Lesbian in a stable relationship, I still get people trying to convince me that I'm "wasting" my life, or asking me why I don't "try" a guy, or trying to fix me up with a guy even though they know I'm in a monogamous Lesbian relationship.

Here's something to think about, if you're straight.

The Heterosexual Questionnaire.

It was devised as a teaching exercise for College students.

OMG! The Heterosexual Questionnaire is phenomenal!

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[TSherbs]

I never had anyone tell me to like girls....

Yes you did.

In our culture we are awash in the tyranny of a binary, heterosexual paradigm. We are so saturated with it that we often say, "No one tells me to be straight" when actually that is the farthest thing from the truth. We are told this in our families, in our churches, synogogues, and mosques, in our schools, in our books, in our peer conversations, in our music, in our relative networks, in our books, plays, theater and advertizing through all of media. We are told this with our toys and games. We are inundated with the message that heterosexuality is the preferred paradigm. I am in my sixties, and through my first twenty years I was told that this was in fact the only paradigm: that anything else was deviancy and sin, both to be wary of and ashamed of. And I grew up in a fairly liberal household of the times.

But yes, most of us actually have a sexual orientation regardless of all this messaging, which I think was your point. My point is that heterosexuality has its axis reinforced in nearly every way. All the other identities and practices, many equally rooted in childhood and not caused by messaging, have to exist in opposition to this tyranny of the hetero paradigm. There are no identities, no behaviors, no inclinations, no confusions, no explorations that are new today to the human species that did not exist in the history of human societies and culture. Gender identity and sexual practices have ranged all over the place and have been fluid and difficult to package and label and contain, especially for those who react to difference with fear.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Social construction and the hidden curriculum. Hopefully addressing the first will impact the second.

[dneal]

I don't have a problem with the issues themselves. One can be or do whatever they want (after the age of consent and/or majority).

My biggest issue is that there aren't additional hours in the day, however, so something within the traditional education scheme would be getting shorted. Might explain why I discovered my son never learned the days of the months, for example.

Some of the topics just seem weird. Teaching 3rd graders how to use medicines correctly? Seems a little early, and not necessarily the responsibility of the school system.

Lastly are the controversial topics, where opinions can vary across a spectrum. I don't think it's the school's responsibility to address many of them, particularly at the ages they are introduced. A less controversial issue for an example would be a 1st grade class on "Santa doesn't exist". Some people may not practice that tradition, some may want their children to know it's a myth, and some may want to keep it for nostalgia or whatever reason. Those are parental decisions, in my mind. Yeah, it's not a perfect analogy and kids usually find out from their peers anyway; but let's not disregard the principle to pick at the example. Offer a better one if you prefer.

Point being I can see enough parents pressuring their politicians to "ban" certain topics for certain ages; which is what my understanding of the Florida law is. "No introduction or discussion of these topics before age x...".

[Medievalist]

I don't have a problem with the issues themselves. One can be or do whatever they want (after the age of consent and/or majority).

My biggest issue is that there aren't additional hours in the day, however, so something within the traditional education scheme would be getting shorted. Might explain why I discovered my son never learned the days of the months, for example.

Some of the topics just seem weird. Teaching 3rd graders how to use medicines correctly? Seems a little early, and not necessarily the responsibility of the school system..

It's basically the same thing you probably got: Don't take candy from strangers. Don't take someone else's medication. The document is written for and from the persepctive of educators, not parents.

[dneal]

I don't have a problem with the issues themselves. One can be or do whatever they want (after the age of consent and/or majority).

My biggest issue is that there aren't additional hours in the day, however, so something within the traditional education scheme would be getting shorted. Might explain why I discovered my son never learned the days of the months, for example.

Some of the topics just seem weird. Teaching 3rd graders how to use medicines correctly? Seems a little early, and not necessarily the responsibility of the school system..

It's basically the same thing you probably got: Don't take candy from strangers. Don't take someone else's medication. The document is written for and from the persepctive of educators, not parents.

I didn’t get any of that in school. I agree about the perspective of the document. What is not being taught now, in order to fit these new topics in the curriculum, is what concerns me. Civics appears to be a victim.

[Lloyd]

I don't have a problem with the issues themselves. One can be or do whatever they want (after the age of consent and/or majority).

My biggest issue is that there aren't additional hours in the day, however, so something within the traditional education scheme would be getting shorted. Might explain why I discovered my son never learned the days of the months, for example.

Some of the topics just seem weird. Teaching 3rd graders how to use medicines correctly? Seems a little early, and not necessarily the responsibility of the school system..

It's basically the same thing you probably got: Don't take candy from strangers. Don't take someone else's medication. The document is written for and from the persepctive of educators, not parents.

I didn’t get any of that in school. I agree about the perspective of the document. What is not being taught now, in order to fit these new topics in the curriculum, is what concerns me. Civics appears to be a victim.

Hour about what's being taught poorly and dispassionately?

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[Lloyd]

Regarding the discussions of "promiscuous" behaviors, many parents view the world, or wish the world still was, the same as in their youth. However, the internet has changed all that. Kids can, and will, see intense things that can have a profound and lasting negative impact on them if they're not prepared. Unfortunately, parents and lawmakers don't always view the world of kids from its current and near future state.

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[TSherbs]

Regarding the discussions of "promiscuous" behaviors, ...

I'm curious, what are you quoting here?

[dneal]

Equally bad is when only a few fall into the "do not discuss" group, and the rest of the class ostracizes them. That can lead to wounds that never heal.

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Have you performed an extensive survey to verify this hypothesis, or did this come from your beliefs?

Regarding the discussions of "promiscuous" behaviors, many parents view the world, or wish the world still was, the same as in their youth. However, the internet has changed all that. Kids can, and will, see intense things that can have a profound and lasting negative impact on them if they're not prepared. Unfortunately, parents and lawmakers don't always view the world of kids from its current and near future state.

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Have you performed an extensive survey to verify this hypothesis, or did this come from your beliefs?

[Lloyd]

Have you performed an extensive survey to verify this hypothesis, or did this come from your beliefs?

Regarding the discussions of "promiscuous" behaviors, many parents view the world, or wish the world still was, the same as in their youth. However, the internet has changed all that. Kids can, and will, see intense things that can have a profound and lasting negative impact on them if they're not prepared. Unfortunately, parents and lawmakers don't always view the world of kids from its current and near future state.

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Have you performed an extensive survey to verify this hypothesis, or did this come from your beliefs?

I didn't need to.... it's been done. It's been shown to be one of the causes of adolescent suicide. Often it is why there are closet LBGQT+.
See the Mayo Clinic's list of frequent triggers. It may be second to last on the list but that doesn't mean it's insignificant.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-l...e/art-20044308

dneal, either you truly weren't aware of this (that would be sad considering your level of awareness), you agree with DeSantis (oy...&#128580, or you thought this subject wasn't serious enough that you couldn't act snarky.
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[Lloyd]

Look at grades 7-8 in the last table

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