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Sex Standards Promote Gender Confusion The standards include proposed sex education topics for teachers to implement with students in Kindergarten to 12th grade. Among the topics recommended in the publication for students to learn beginning in Kindergarten and to know by the end of second grade are to:
The most controversial topics in the standards are goals related to the promotion of homosexuality, bisexuality and transgenderism, beginning in the third grade. For example, by the end of fifth grade, the standards advise that students “should be able to define sexual orientation as the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same or different gender.” By the end of eighth grade, according to the publication, students should be able to “differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation,” and to identify how to “access accurate information about” these issues. In addition to these topics, beginning in sixth grade and by the end of grade eight, the standards recommend that students be able to also “explain the range of gender roles.” By the end of 12th grade, the standards recommend that students be able to “distinguish between sexual orientation, sexual behavior, and sexual identity” in addition to the previous topics. Beginning in sixth grade, abstinence is mentioned in the standards as one way to prevent pregnancy and reduce the risk of STDs, along with condoms and other forms of contraception, including emergency contraception. By the end of 8th grade, the standards recommend that students be able to “define sexual abstinence as it relates to pregnancy prevention,” and “demonstrate the use of effective communication skills to support one’s decision to abstain from sexual behaviors.” Abstinence is also mentioned among a range of “various methods of contraception,” along with condoms, which students are expected to be able to describe how to use correctly by the end of grade nine. By the end of 12th grade, according to the standards, students should be able to also “access medically accurate information and resources about emergency contraception,” as well as other forms of contraception. Other topics that the standards recommend for students to know by the end of 8th grade include identifying (by graduation) the “laws related to reproductive and sexual health care services (i.e., contraception, pregnancy options, safe surrender policies, prenatal care),” and comparing and contrasting “laws relating to pregnancy, adoption, abortion and parenting.” The National Sexuality Education Standards were developed and endorsed by five national organizations, including The American Association of Health Education, the National Education Association’s Health Information Network, and the Future of Sex Education (FOSE) Initiative, which is a “partnership between Advocates for Youth, Answer, and SIECUS.” While members of the publication’s advisory committee included representatives from the GLSEN, Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth, and SIECUS, no representatives from abstinence education groups were involved. In a statement, the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) said the new CSE standards “ignore the optimal health message for students, and instead place a priority on a simple risk reduction message.” The NAEA also criticized the standards for “using sex education guidelines as a vehicle for promoting ideological agendas, rather than health and well-being.” “When we set standards, we should communicate the ideal, the best message to achieve optimal health,” stated Valerie Huber, Executive Director of NAEA. “When a set of guidelines fails to provide any meaningful emphasis on optimal health but instead gives priority to ‘condom negotiation’ skills, we have not set standards; we have lowered them and put our children at increased risk. Standards claiming national influence should maintain an objectivity that is devoid of special-interest agendas.”Related resources: Copyright © 2012. North Carolina Family Policy Council. All rights reserved.
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