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Idaho Government Agency Uses Sex Education Curriculum From Org That Advocates For ‘Porn Literacy’

(Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)

Chrissy Clark Contributor
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Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) offers sex education programming from an organization that advocates for “porn literacy,” according to documents uncovered by the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

IDHW offers an optional sex education program for schools statewide created by the organization “ETR,” a health equity group. The program crafted for 14 to 18-year-olds is titled, “Reducing the Risk” and reportedly focuses on preventing sexually transmitted diseases, according to the ETR website. ETR’s “Reducing the Risk” is set to be fully implemented in schools for the fall semester, according to a 2018-2022 Strategic Plan from the Center District Health Department.

The creators of “Reducing the Risk,” also offer programming and educator training that advocates for the normalization of the consumption of pornography. Idaho Freedom Foundation uncovered that ETR advocates for teaching elementary students about “porn literacy” and seeks to teach kids about “kink and power, pleasure, sexual identity, sexual acts, and sexual exploration in relation to pornography.”

The programming, which was initially available via a public Google Drive, said that pornography should be a “required topic” for students. In a since-deleted video training session conducted by Sarah Diamond, an associate director of prevention and education at the University of San Diego, educators were encouraged to defend ideas such as “pornography can be a good way to learn about sex,” according to the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

ETR resources also call on kids to watch the video “Porn: Fact or Fiction.” In the video, a cartoon girl can be heard saying suggestive phrases such as, “Wow! That’s so big. I never knew it could be so huge!” (RELATED: Wisconsin Education Department Promotes ‘Gender Expansive’ Resources For Three-Year-Olds)

A spokesman for the IDHW denied the allegations that the government agency promotes “porn literacy.” The spokesman told the Daily Caller that “Reducing the Risk” is the only ETR programming available to schools.

“DHW provides evidence-based, optional sex education curriculum, called Reducing the Risk, for Idaho schools. Reducing the Risk does not discuss porn literacy, and it is not a subject taught in the curriculum DHW provides,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman noted that schools that offer Reducing the Risk “do so with parental consent.”

Lauren Ranalli, a spokeswoman for ETR, told the Daily Caller that the online discussion about pornography was not directly related to the Reducing the Risk curriculum. Ranalli said that the online discussion was focused on how “pornography come[s] up in sex education and how trusted adults can answer young peoples’ questions about pornography.”

“While ETR’s sexual health curricula does not cover pornography in the content, we recognize that sexually explicit media is ubiquitous,” Ranalli said. “Youth regularly ask for support on navigating what they see online, and media literacy skills can provide a helpful context to navigate it.”

This article was updated to include comment from ETR.