Middle School Anti-Bullying Lesson Includes Lesbian Role Play

[Kholdstare]

Young girls at a New York middle school were instructed to ask one another for a lesbian kiss and boys were given guidance on how to tell if women are sluts during an anti-bullying presentation on gender identity and sexual orientation, angry parents allege.
The special health class was held last week at Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook, NY. The students were separated by gender – with students from Bard College leading the workshops.
Parents are especially furious after their young daughters were told that it was perfectly normal for 14-year-old girls to have sex and there was nothing their parents could do to intervene.
The boys and girls were also given a sexual vocabulary primer – that included words like “pansexual” and “genderqueer.”
“I am furious,” said Mandy Coon, whose daughter was in the class. “I am her parent. Where does anyone get the right to tell her that it’s okay for her to have sex?”
Coon told Fox News that her daughter was upset by the classroom lecture and was confused about why she had to ask another girl for a kiss.
“She told me, ‘Mom, we all get teased and picked on enough – now I’m going to be called a lesbian because I had to ask another girl if I could kiss her,’” Coon said.
She said the school told her that the purpose of the lesson was to “teach girls boundaries and how to say no.”
“They also picked two girls to stand in front of the class and pretend they were lesbians on a date,” Coons said.
Paul Finch, the superintendent of the Red Hook Central School District, told the Poughkeepsie Journal that the workshop focused on “improving culture, relationships, communication and self-perceptions.”
He told the newspaper those were issues the school was obligated to teach under the state’s Dignity for All Students Act.
The state law requires schools to create a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment and bullying, the newspaper reported.
Parents said they were not notified about the class or the subject matter.
“The school is overstepping its bounds in not notifying parents first and giving us the choice,” parent Tara Burns told Fox News. “I thought it was very inappropriate. That kind of instruction is best left up to the parents.”
Parents of male students were also upset after the college-aged lecturer discussed items like condom usage and whether girls are sluts.
“I was absolutely furious – really furious,” said the parent of a 13-year-old who asked not to be identified. “They were teaching the boys how to decipher if a girl is a slut.”
The parent said the boys were told you could make that determination by how girls dress or how many boys they date.
“We don’t judge people like that in our family,” she said. “We don’t call women names because of what they wear or who they date.”
The parent told Fox News that boys were also instructed to always have a condom in their wallet.
“These are just kids,” she said. “I’m dumbfounded that they found this class was appropriate.”
Coon wondered why the school district allowed college students to lead the workshops without teacher involvement.
“Those student were not licensed, they are not trained professionals,” she said.
Todd is the author of Dispatches From Bitter America – endorsed by Sarah Palin, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity. Click here to get your copy!

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/middle-school-anti-bullying-lesson-includes-lesbian-role-play.html

 

[256bits]

The actual Date Safe Project website:
http://www.datesafeproject.org/ciky-k12/

to get an idea of what the Fox reporter is describing.

 

[micromass]

I'm not really seeing the problem.

I think the only problem here is that fox is (probably) not giving an accurate report of what happened.

 

[WannabeNewton]

If this is true, then it's plain ridiculous. The school should only be concerned with teaching academics and extracurricular actives as well as enforcing anti-bullying policies. Things like sex, sexual orientation, and mother of god pansexualism should be things left to the parents of the children. Making a girl unwillingly ask another girl for a kiss, even if just to prove a point, is just plain wrong. If I were in that same situation I would be extremely uncomfortable, especially in front of friends / peers.

 

[jim hardy]

IMHO That's over the top.

I had a schoolteacher aunt who, in the sixties, had days where students with blue eyes or brown eyes or different hair colors were made to sit in the back of the class and go last to lunch, etc.

She got the "you're less than" and "bullying" points across to the kids without referring to sex or aberrant behavior.

 

[Ben Niehoff]

I have to assume this report is one-sided, distorted, and sensationalized. Like all news.

There is a lot of context missing. For example, the statement that "It's normal for 14 year-olds to have sex" was probably during a lesson about not bullying people just because they've had sex. Perhaps it was stated the wrong way, though...I don't think we, as a society, want 14-year-olds to be having sex (even though we know that they do).

That specific example is the only one I really have a problem with. I think young people absolutely need to be exposed to the existence of LGBT people, and taught to treat them like human beings and not targets of bullying and shaming. In bigger cities, you are exposed to this naturally, because there are a lot of different people in such places. But in Middle America that sort of thing is hushed and hidden out of sight.

My first thought on seeing the thread titles was "And what's wrong with lesbian role-play?" People need to understand one another. However, I am a little skeptical of the effectiveness of anti-bullying education in the first place...it seems that "Teacher said we shouldn't bully" is actually a motivator for certain types of people to get meaner.

 

[Danger]

I certainly saw nothing wrong with the video, and I'll never believe anything that Fox News presents. We all know what lying rabid homophobic bible-thumpers they are. Not only will they not present any opposing facts, but they actively make up facts to support their own agenda.
This is a non-issue.

 

[ImATrackMan]

Todd is the author of Dispatches From Bitter America – endorsed by Sarah Palin, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity. Click here to get your copy!

I love that this is the last thing in the article. A rather enthusiastic link to purchase a book by the author. Great juxtaposition, Fox.

 

[OmCheeto]

...and mother of god pansexualism should be things left to the parents of the children. ...

What's next?

Dummy's guide on how to teach your children to have safe sex with frying pans.

My apologies for not looking at any of the links, but when I saw this was a Fox News inspired thread, I decided not to read past the first sentence in the OP's quote.

Thanks for the laughs everyone!

 

[ImATrackMan]

Dummy's guide on how to teach your children to have safe sex with frying pans

Wait, was this an actual article title?

 

[FlexGunship]

If this is true, then it's plain ridiculous. The school should only be concerned with teaching academics and extracurricular actives as well as enforcing anti-bullying policies. Things like sex, sexual orientation, and mother of god pansexualism should be things left to the parents of the children. Making a girl unwillingly ask another girl for a kiss, even if just to prove a point, is just plain wrong. If I were in that same situation I would be extremely uncomfortable, especially in front of friends / peers.

Ditto.

 

[OmCheeto]

Wait, was this an actual article title?

Um... no.

The actual Date Safe Project website:
http://www.datesafeproject.org/ciky-k12/

to get an idea of what the Fox reporter is describing.

Given the difference in responses, we should take a pole on whether people read the fox article, or watched the video.

I think the video is great.

SCCREEEEEEECCHH!

What the hell?

The Misrepresentation of the "Forced Lesbian Kiss" News Story from Red Hook, NY
While the Peer Educators who recently taught an “Asking First” scene to middle school students in Red Hook, NY were not affiliated with nor licensed by The DATE SAFE Project, we want to fully discuss what has happened with this news story.

Bootleggers!

What actually happened? When the males and females were separated, the peer educators talked to the female students about always having the right to say, “No” to intimacy. You deserve to always have a choice and be asked first (hopefully a point every parent agrees with). At that point, the peer educators did a quick role-play with the classroom addressing “Asking for a Kiss.” Never did the educators refer to that moment as a “lesbian kiss.” The phrase “Lesbian Kiss” was language used by either the reporter and/or the family who reported this as a story to Fox News – NOT as part of the classroom discussion.

The article is a bit long, but kind of makes Fox look like what many of us already perceive them to be... [insert your own favorite expletive]

 

[Ryan_m_b]

This looks like media sensationalism. On the subject of sex-ed and bullying I think it's very important that sexuality is taught in all its diversity rather than just from a heterosexual viewpoint. Firstly because it normalises what is traditionally considered not normal and secondly because it will raise awareness in children that is sorely lacking in many adults today.

 

[Danger]

The article is a bit long, but kind of makes Fox look like what many of us already perceive them to be... [insert your own favorite expletive]

That would be a great contest! Find applicable expletives for Fox! There must be dozens.
Oh, wait... Forum guidelines won't allow it. Too bad, because I have over half a dozen that all fit together in a compact string.

 

[OmCheeto]

That would be a great contest! Find applicable expletives for Fox! There must be dozens.
Oh, wait... Forum guidelines won't allow it. Too bad, because I have over half a dozen that all fit together in a compact string.

This is why I also belong to Facebook. There, you can swear like ******* drunken sailor. Although my sister doesn't like it when I do that. So this past New Years Eve, after thinking about George Carlin, and how I never knew when he was angry, as he always cussed like a ******* drunken sailer, resoluted*, not to swear. It lasted about 3 weeks, at which point I carpet F-bombed a 20 year acquaintance. "Women *****, because, they can't ****, nor ****, in public, and would explode if not given that exit. Men swear, because, farting and burping, are god given rights, and we simply don't know how to properly *****. Ergo, we must swear."

Wait! What the hell does this have to do with 13 year old Lesbians?

I do believe, that we have gone off topic.

(hic!)

-------------------------
* **** you! Stinkin' grammar Nazi!

 

[Danger]

Your badge is well-worn, my son.

 

[StevieTNZ]

Had sex education done in my Science class when I was 14. We were taught about condoms, etc. Didn't hear any issues raised.

Remember, most Republicans policies are religion-based, and that having sex outside of marriage - or being a homosexual - is out of the equation.

And it was Sarah Palin who said it was God who told her to run for Vice-President. What did God's voice sound like, Mrs Palin? Don't know why Fox get her to contribute to various conversations. But hey, probably pre-written and rehearsed.

 

[Danger]

Don't know why Fox get her to contribute to various conversations.

Oh, come on now... it's obvious. She's that useless chunk of wood carved to represent a woman that is nailed to the prow of their ship-of-state.
I still find it hilarious that her oh-so-pious unwed teen daughter had a baby and is now preaching abstinence.

 

[OmCheeto]

Oh, come on now... it's obvious. She's that useless chunk of wood carved to represent a woman that is nailed to the prow of their ship-of-state.

I will have to PM you a picture of the woman nailed to the prow of my friend's boat. She's quite the lady. And of course, totally useless. Except for screaming purposes of course; "Om! Don't scratch her *****^*!"

...

ummm... winching the boat up on the trailer, that is...

People love to complain.

I still find it hilarious that her oh-so-pious unwed teen daughter had a baby and is now preaching abstinence.

Now, now... Live and learn.

-----------------------
* Anglicized plural of the German word for boy.

 

[jim hardy]

She's wearing her A with dignity, i'd say.

 

[Danger]

She's wearing her A with dignity, i'd say.

True, but that doesn't stand for the same thing now as it did in Hester's time.

 

[azdavesoul]

I thought this discussion was about an anti-bullying lesson with unusual elements but instead we have a display of bullying. What else should it be called when personal attacks are substituted for rational dialog.

 

[StevieTNZ]

I gathered what you brand as 'personal attacks' are merely a variety of opinions on Sarah.

 

[Cthugha]

What else should it be called when personal attacks are substituted for rational dialog.

Fox News, maybe?

 

[Danger]

Fox News, maybe?

NAILED IT!

 

[azdavesoul]

attacks are substituted for rational dialog.

Thank you for making my point.

 

[ImATrackMan]

You thanked yourself there, mate...

 

[WannabeNewton]

Thank you for making my point.

I'm welcome.

 

[Danger]

Good. Now take yourself out to dinner and buy yourself a drink. It's the least that you could do for you.

 

[azdavesoul]

As an Aspie I have always had challenges communicating and am extremely familiar with being on the receiving end of snide or disparaging remarks. While the authors of those seem to feel that these remarks are amusing, I felt attacked. This is the source of my veiwpoint on this topic.
Let me try to restate in an easy to understand format using multi-quote so that it can be understood by everyone.

We all know what lying rabid homophobic bible-thumpers they are. Not only will they not present any opposing facts, but they actively make up facts to support their own agenda.

Oh, come on now... it's obvious. She's that useless chunk of wood carved to represent a woman that is nailed to the prow of their ship-of-state.
I still find it hilarious that her oh-so-pious unwed teen daughter had a baby and is now preaching abstinence.

I thought this discussion was about an anti-bullying lesson with unusual elements but instead we have a display of bullying. What else should it be called when personal attacks are substituted for rational dialog.

Seriously, if these are just a variety of opinions, are they an acceptable level of discourse if the subjects were not someone who had a different political affiliation?

merely a variety of opinions on Sarah.

I thought that anyone reading the comments would understand the context of my concern but that may have been expecting too much.