US States to Limit Discussion of Sexuality in Classrooms

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US States to Limit Discussion of Sexuality in Classrooms

Students in the southern U.S. state of Florida returned to school last week under a new law that some social activists¹ have criticized.

The law is called the Parental² Rights in Education Act. The law says it supports the "right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children."

But critics call it the "Don't Say Gay Law." They worry about the bill's effects on gay students and their families. The law limits discussion of sexual and gender³ orientation⁴ subjects in classrooms with young children.

Under the law, students in kindergarten through grade three may not be taught about sexual or gender orientation. The law also bars public schools in the state from teaching about sexual or gender orientation that is not "age appropriate or developmentally appropriate..." The law also permits parents to bring legal action against school systems if they disagree with what they teach.

"We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in March, when he signed the law. He called teaching sexual subjects to very young students a way to "sexualize" young children.

The group Parents Defending Education is based in Virginia. It says on its website that subjects like sex education and critical race theory are "not only at war with basic American values, but also with childhood."

Critics of the Florida law say it is unclear and difficult to understand. The Florida Department of Education says the part of the law that limits discussion to age appropriate or developmentally appropriate materials will go into effect when guidance is released from the state.

Will Larkins is a high school student in Florida. The New York Times published an opinion piece he wrote about the new law. He said it will make teachers less likely "to talk at all with students about gender identity and sexuality..." He added: "For many of my friends in dangerous situations because of their sexuality or gender identity, school has been a space where they could be themselves."

President Joe Biden's administration called the law "discrimination, plain and simple" in a July statement. The statement added that it "encourages bullying⁶ and threatens students' mental health, physical safety, and well-being⁷."

The Biden administration also expressed concern about "dangerous nationwide" activities of Republican lawmakers. It said they are "targeting LGBTQI+ students, educators, and individuals..."

On its website, NPR said that more than 12 states have introduced legislation similar to Florida's bill. A law passed in Alabama that also bans discussion of gender and sexual identity before fifth grade.

Eva Goldfarb is a sex educator and professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey⁸. She told VOA that the bills are an "all-out assault on sex education." She said sex educators have been wrongfully accused of sexualizing young children, and that instruction is already age-appropriate.

"The purpose of sex education is to protect young people from being sexually exploited and having bad sexual health outcomes," she said.

Goldfarb added that it is important to have early, age-appropriate discussions of subjects like sex and gender identity. She said they will be prepared to discuss those topics in more detail when they are in high school.

"The reason you need to start sex education in elementary school is...for the same reason you start teaching math in elementary school," she said. "No one would say, let's first start teaching algebra¹⁰ in eighth grade without first teaching addition and subtraction¹¹ and multiplication¹²."

Christine Soyong Harley is the director of Washington D.C.-based SEICUS, a sex education organization that supports teaching gender and sexual orientation. She said that when students do not receive teaching on these subjects in school, they often turn to the internet or social media services like TikTok for more information.

She said some information online can be informative¹³, but it is often misleading or incorrect. Soyong Harley also said internet searches for sex and gender topics often expose kids to pornography.

She said 73 other bills have been introduced that protect "parents' rights" and limit discussion of "divisive concepts." That could mean anything from sexuality, to discussions of racism¹⁴ or American history.

"These are bills that attempt to weaponize parents' religious beliefs or personally held opinions to coerce¹⁵ schools" to accept teachings that fall outside of normal ideas, Soyong Harley said.

Words in This Story

gay –adj. sexually attracted to someone of the same sex

(sexual or gender) orientation — n. how someone thinks about their sex or sexuality

indoctrination — n. to teach someone to fully⁹ accept certain ideas, beliefs or opinions

encourage — v. to make something more likely to happen

bully⁵ — v. to frighten or threaten someone

LGBTQI+ — n (abrev.) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, queer, intersex, plus

exploit — v. to use someone in an unfair or harmful way

pornography — n. media that show people in a sexual way or carrying out sex acts

coerce — v. to force someone to do something

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

5 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

6 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 algebra   

n.代数学

参考例句：

• He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
• The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

11 subtraction   

n.减法，减去

参考例句：

• We do addition and subtraction in arithmetic.在算术里,我们作加减运算。
• They made a subtraction of 50 dollars from my salary.他们从我的薪水里扣除了五十美元。

12 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。

13 informative   

adj.提供资料的，增进知识的

参考例句：

• The adverts are not very informative.这些广告并没有包含太多有用信息。
• This intriguing book is both thoughtful and informative.这本引人入胜的书既有思想性又富知识性。

14 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

15 coerce   

v.强迫，压制

参考例句：

• You can't coerce her into obedience.你不能强制她服从。
• Do you think there is any way that we can coerce them otherwise?你认为我们有什么办法强迫他们不那样吗？