Education

Parent Kicked Out Of Sex Ed Class Because Planned Parenthood Doesn’t Want Them To Know What They’re Teaching

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Grace Carr Reporter
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A parent was kicked out of a high school sex education class after a Planned Parenthood representative decided that allowing a parent to be privy to the class goings-on would not be acceptable.

A teacher at Ferndale High School in Washington State sent a letter home to all the parents in November, informing them that his health class would be beginning sex ed class and that several of the lessons would be taught by Whatcom Teen Council members. The letter did not note, however, that Whatcom Teen Council is an arm of Planned Parenthood.

The group describes itself as a “peer education program that equips young people to be effective sexual health educators and social justice advocates in their community,” according to its website. It also makes its mission to actively work to build a group that is anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic.

The letter described the council as “a peer education group that consists of highly trained local teens who go into classrooms and teach high school peers with support from their supervisor,” according to a description sent Wednesday to The Daily Caller News Foundation. 

After receiving the letter, parent Jill Sawicki sought to look into what the council would actually be teaching, and asked the teacher if she could sit in one of the sexual education classes. The teacher agreed.

While the student council covered topics like birth control, sexual orientation, and gender identity, Sawicki said they knew almost nothing about the subjects. Sawicki recounted that the students simply read off script cards, and when members of the class asked them questions, they could not answer competently.  

The Whatcom council members also provided faulty information, including listing Natural Family Planning as having a low effectiveness rate, failing to classify which types of contraception protects against STDs and not explaining the risks of using hormonal contraception, according to Sawicki. 

After her experience, Sawicki met with a Planned Parenthood representative to discuss the course. After disagreeing about statistics and teaching methods, the representative successfully lobbied the teacher to get Sawicki kicked out of the classroom. Sawicki was barred from sitting in on subsequent sex education classes, according to Planned Parenthood employee Jill Sprouse.

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“It should surprise no one that Planned Parenthood wants to be alone with young students, advocating for sexual practices that come with risk and for products that they sell,” Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins said.

Engaging parents in their children’s school life is a promising protective factor, according to research from the Center for Disease Control.

“Research shows that parent engagement in schools is closely linked to better student behavior, higher academic achievement, and enhanced social skills,” its research posits.

“Parent engagement also makes it more likely that children and adolescents will avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as sexual risk behaviors and tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use,” the CDC’s website adds.

Planned Parenthood did not reply to TheDCNF’s request for comment.  

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