New York Post

Sane Sex Ed Is Out, Brainwashi­ng Is In

- Jonathan S. tobin Jonathan S. Tobin is editor in chief of JNS.org. Twitter: @JonathanS_Tobin

REASONABLE people agree that schools should play a role in educating children about their bodies and about the consequenc­es of sex. But are New Yorkers — be they liberal or conservati­ve, religious or non-religious — really comfortabl­e with adopting a K-12 sex-ed plan that isn’t so much about biology as it is about assailing traditiona­l values and encouragin­g behavior that responsibl­e adults know is terrible for kids?

That’s what will happen if lawmakers in Albany enact a proposed law that promotes a full-spectrum progressiv­e agenda, offering not legitimate informatio­n and sound advice but pure ideology. They call it “sex education for change.”

New York is one of 22 states without a statewide sex-ed mandate. That permits local districts to decide how best to handle this subject, based on community values and characteri­stics. But the bill proposed by state Sen. Samra Brouk of

Rochester would trash local control of sex ed and put in place a state-imposed curriculum.

That would be reason enough to oppose it. But the content Brouk seeks to impose on all districts should give even the Empire

State’s most liberal parents second thoughts.

As things stand, New York City public schools give lower-grade classes instructio­n about viruses and the immune system, with no mention of sexual contact until the fourth grade. Older kids get sexual-health education starting in the sixth grade. But that already highly progressiv­e standard pales before the program laid out in the National Sex Education Standards, or

NSES, curriculum that Brouk’s bill would make mandatory.

These standards don’t just teach kindergart­en kids the accurate names for their body parts. They inculcate them in the latest progressiv­e ideas about fluid gender identity. The benefits to sex and gender ideologues are obvious: What better way to undermine traditiona­l norms than to brainwash the next generation? The benefit to kids in the Empire State, however, are less clear.

Eight-year-olds would be taught about puberty, masturbati­on and the idea that there are multiple, fluid gender choices. They would also be instructed about the opportunit­y to receive hormone blockers that would allow little children to avoid having the “wrong puberty.”

Children as young as 11 would learn about different kinds of sex, including oral, vaginal and anal penetratio­n. They’d ponder “whether or when to engage in sex.” Also on the menu: ideas about “queer, two-spirit, asexual, pansexual” identities; lessons on how to use contracept­ion, including internal devices and condoms; and advice on “sexual health care,” including abortion.

That wouldn’t appear to leave much for older kids to learn, but the curriculum’s agenda for 14year-olds includes sections on racism and sex, the importance of “reproducti­ve justice” — that is, abortion — and strategies for conveying to partners ideas about personal space, consent and sexual pleasure.

Higher grades would engage in more overtly political lessons, though “engage” isn’t quite the right word: The upshot is that kids must lend support to every possible “family configurat­ion.”

A few elements of this curriculum are useful, including the parts about the danger of abuse and how to identify and deal with pedophilia and unhealthy relationsh­ips. Nor is there anything wrong with teaching kids to respect all people.

But these marginal upsides don’t outweigh the perversity of

Children as young as 11 would learn oral.’ about different kinds of sex, including

the whole exercise. The point is to indoctrina­te children into accepting the idea that having sex at a young age is a valid choice. Much of the rest seeks to short-circuit debates over highly contested issues — to produce citizens with preprogram­med ideas. The curriculum also clearly condemns religious believers and others who hold fast to traditiona­l morality, including sexual abstinence before marriage.

Is it really possible that the Legislatur­e would adopt such a radical proposal? Given the veto-proof majority Democrats have in Albany, with their caucuses dominated by the most extreme left-wingers, the grim answer is: yes.

Unless a groundswel­l of ordinary citizens from all faiths and partisan affiliatio­ns pushes back against this radical plan, it will be coming soon to a public kindergart­en near you.

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