2007’s version of RSE is no better
The legacy news media are on the warpath. They’re angry. That’s because opposition from both parents, teachers and principals has resulted in the 2020 RSE (Relationships & Sexuality Education) curriculum being revised. But is the earlier version any better? Definitely not.
As you’ll remember, in the coalition agreement between National and NZ First after the election at the end of 2023, it said
Refocus the curriculum on academic achievement and not ideology, including the removal and replacement of the gender, sexuality, and relationship-based education guidelines.
But that all had the media, academics and the teacher unions in a panic. Fancy expecting schools to focus on “reading riting and rithmetic” and not be allowed to indoctrinate our kids with the ideology that they have 112 genders to choose from and 200+ sexualities.
Just under a year ago, the new Minister of Education Erica Stanford was on Q&A with Jack Tame and was asked about this issue
* huge feedback from both parents and principals (!) says that the Relationships and Sexuality Education Guidelines are problematic
* it’s age inappropriate
* it encourages the material to be spread through other subjects so that parents can’t remove their children if they object
Of course there are many other issues with it, including the biologically flawed gender ideology and the extreme sexuality messaging.
Then we were told that it was gone. Finito. No more.
But we don’t think all schools have paused the programme
But the media and the activists are mad. And they’re on the warpath. Let’s watch drag queen promoters TVNZ and their coverage and note who they rush to for comment. Is it Family First? Don’t be silly. It’s Family Planning (now deceptively named “Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa” – possibly because we’d all but destroyed the credibility and the name of Family Planning as an organisation) – and remember they wrote most of the extreme stuff along with InsideOut so they have a vested financial and ideological interest in all of this…
Yep – they never had the guts to ask the question – what is it about the current 2020 guidelines / programme that has got so many parents and educators upset? And they’ll never ask the question either – because they really don’t want to know.
Ironically, if they asked me on to a television programme to discuss the issue and I actually disclosed what some of the material was, they would be subject to a BSA complaint because of the offensive of the material.
But it’s not only TVNZ that are upset – and remember, they’re really annoyed because its NZ First, which is Winston Peters, and Winston has declared a war on woke.
And that really upsets them – which actually tells you everything.
Here’s Stuff manifesting about it…
Winston Peters’ war on woke heads to the classroom as he’s compared to Donald Trump
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has claimed victory as sex education guidelines have been removed from the Ministry of Education’s website. Peters was claiming victory on Thursday, after the Ministry of Education pulled the guidelines about teaching for relationships and sexuality.
During the 2023 election campaign Peters claimed there was “gender ideology” being taught to children. National then agreed to remove and replace the guidelines in its coalition agreement with NZ First.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Peters’ focus on diversity and relationships in education showed the NZ First leader was imitating Donald Trump. He said the Government was putting children in danger by removing the guidelines.
Ah yes – if you can’t call someone a Nazi, the next best option is to use the words “Donald” and “Trump”. Good one, Chris. Bet you were really gutted when Phil Goff got sacked last week eh. Probably wishes he was the one saying it.
Sexual health experts echoed Hipkins’ concerns that these changes, which they saw as political posturing, would have a real impact on young people. They said taking away guidelines, without replacing them, meant teachers were relying on out-of-date information from the early 2000s.
Well, we’re gonna come back to that statement from our media reporter.
And who did they run to for comment. None other than our good friends at Family Planning.
And rabid left wing site The Spinoff were also on the campaign trail
Schools ‘in limbo’ after removal of relationship and sexuality guidelines
The Ministry of Education has removed relationship and sexuality teaching guidelines, with no replacement in sight – a move that has been labelled a “huge step backwards” that “sends a harmful message” to queer teaching staff and students in Aotearoa.
Ooops. Did they just say the quiet part out loud? You told us the curriculum was all about consent, digital technologies and relationships, – but it’s primarily actually about “queer teaching staff and students”.
Yeah we knew that.
The Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) guidelines were introduced in 2020 by then associate education minister Tracey Martin of New Zealand First, when her party was in a coalition with Labour. Building upon the hauora model (looking holistically at the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual), the guidelines responded to emerging gaps in the curriculum around consent, digital technologies and relationships, as well as to changing family structures, shifting social norms in relation to gender and sexuality, and the increased use of digital communications and devices….
While some teachers were aware the RSE guidelines were to be removed this term, the lack of even a draft replacement has caused concern. School leaders were notified of the removal of the guidelines in an email sent by secretary for education Ellen McGregor-Reid on March 3, which advised that RSE teaching should now align with the 2007 version of the curriculum. The email said there would be “further updates and support” as the refresh progressed, as well as the opportunity to provide feedback later this year.
So, the announcement was March 3rd, but the media started their united campaign on this just last week – over a week later. And you know it’s a campaign because a number of media outlets suddenly started talking about it.
You may be asking – why all the media interest all of a sudden?
Ha! NZ First were trolling the media.
They’d already made the announcement last December
But they thought they’d wind up the media and activists again this week with this announcement
RSE REMOVAL – The guidelines should be gone from classrooms before end of this term; the resource has now been removed from the Ministry of Education’s website. Another step in the right direction.
Now the Spinoff article spoke to a teacher who they wouldn’t name but who obviously was gutted by the removal of the curriculum, and then the Spin ran to three groups to comment.
Family First I hear you ask? Don’t be silly!
1 University of Canterbury lecturer Tracy Clelland, who helped write the extreme 2020 RSE resources
2 Our good friends at Family Planning – now operating covertly under the contradictory term “Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa”
3 Then to the radicals at InsideOut who say
“At this time where rainbow rights are under attack globally, it’s more important than ever for rainbow young people to see themselves reflected in the curriculum… they are neglecting to do anything to support rainbow young people.”
Yep – that’s what these guidelines are all about.
4 Then to the radical Shaun Robinson of the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand who reiterates
“Removing the guidelines sends a harmful message to rainbow staff and tauira that they don’t deserve to be safe at school or work.”
Yep, that’s a really balanced group of people to comment eh. 4 on one side. None on the other to represent parents and family.
Excellent journalism.
Now remember – the minister of education said that we would be reverting back to the 2007 guidelines.
But back in 2013 we asked US psychiatrist Dr Miriam Grossman to review the sex education resources in NZ at that time – based on the 2007 curriculum that the Minister of Education is now pointing schools to – and the review found that the resources are seriously flawed, and that critical life and death information is distorted or ignored.
The Report “R18: Sexuality Education in New Zealand – A Critical Review” is by US psychiatrist Dr Miriam Grossman. The report was sent to all school principals and all Board of Trustee Chairpersons of Intermediate and Secondary schools in NZ.
Now you may know the name Dr Miriam Grossman. She spoke at our Forum on the Family back in 2012, but more recently she was one of the voices of reason and common sense on the DailyWire’s documentary “What is a woman?”.
The other important thing is that she is going to speaking at our conference this year on her new book “Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist’s Guide Out of the Madness”. I’ll be interviewing her live from New York.
Dr Grossman said that many of the sex education resources fail to tell the full facts and compromise the concerns and wishes of parents, and the safety of young people
She says that the ‘comprehensive sexuality education’ foisted on young people is more about sexual license rather than sexual health.
Have a watch – and note – this is from nine years ago.
Risky behaviours are normalised and even celebrated.
Children and adolescents are introduced to sexual activities their parents would prefer they not even know about, let alone practice.
Students are informed that at any age, sexual freedom is a ‘right’.
Sex is seen as risky only when it’s ‘unprotected’.
The efficacy of condoms is overstated
Worst of all, critical life and death information is distorted or ignored.
Students are left misinformed, and with a false sense of security.
Parents should be concerned by both this report and by what their children may be being exposed to.
Look, we’re not naïve here – some youth are sexually active, they’re a minority – and the rates are thankfully decreasing – but they’re not being told the truth. The message seems to be that as long as you use a condom, you can pretty well do what you like in terms of promiscuity, experimentation, and fringe behaviours – with little or no information on the physical or emotional ramifications or prevention of disease.
As a parent myself, I know we all dread ‘the sex talk’ with our kids. We break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.
But we need to be the primary sex educators of our own children. Parents know their children the best and can determine the best timing and most appropriate way to tackle these sensitive topics based on their maturity and the values of your family. Studies show that what happens at home is the greatest determinant of the outcomes for a young person.
You can read this report on our website familyfirst.nz under RESEARCH
The Government shouldn’t be going back to 2007. They should be starting from scratch – with parents being given a whole lot more say on what their children are being told and indoctrinated with.
Your children deserve to know the facts of life – with the emphasis on the words “facts”.
