Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: The guidance document "Model Policies Concerning Instructional Materials with Sexually Explicit Content" was developed in conjunction with stakeholders in order to comply with SB656 (2022).
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7/31/22  6:09 pm
Commenter: Gary Seale

Strongly Oppose SB656 - Imposition of Radical Conservative agenda on schools
 

I am in favor of parents having access to curriculum content. This bill, however, is a thinly veiled attack against people of the LGBTQ community and is only responding to a select and radically conservative group of parents. I have not seen evidence that teachers are showing pornography at any grade level, and if they are, that is an individual teacher problem to be addressed by the school. So you are offering a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. That said, I prefer my child learn about sex and relationships from a reliable source rather than browsing the internet or social media, Most children and parents are not comfortable talking to each other about sex. I am in favor of a teacher with an approved curriculum fulfilling this desperately needed role. To do that, you need to be somewhat explicit, but sex is not "dirty" or "lewd" if presented in the correct fashion and at an appropriate age level. And why is a person's gender preference sexually explicit at all? More concerning to me is curriculum that explicitly glorifies guns and violence, or explicitly omits the true history of systemic racism in our country. So as a parent, I insist that you add those topics to the language of this bill. Also please ban any books glorifying war, violence, or guns, white supremacy or historical figures that were white supremacists. If you listen to some of the parents, then you need to listen to all of us. What is your response if some parents don't want their kids to learn math? I guess science and climate change might soon be on the list. Please come to your senses and stop this bill. 

 

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