Controversy over new sex education bill

Idaho’s sex education law has not been updated since 1970. Now, the head of the education committee, Rep. Julie VanOrden, is hoping to update it, but some parents are not liking her changes.

The new sex education bill says it “promotes a strong school-home connection to support the implementation of sex education curriculum that respects community values and encourages family communication.”

One mother finds some of that wording troubling.

“Now, it’s no longer the values of the home and the family that the school is supporting, now it’s the job of the family to support the school curriculum that reflects community values,” Julianne Young, who is against the bill, said. “That’s a pretty significant shift in the way that view the role of parents and families in regard to what gets taught to their children.”

Rep. VanOrden, the author of the bill, says, it is still the families right to teach their children about sex education.

“I am not taking away anybody’s right to teach sex education to their children,” she said. “I don’t feel like it’s a secondary that the schools should be the primary, that I believe families are the primary and I believe that that’s what I’m saying in the new bill that I’m writing.”

Another part of the new bill is including community groups in the planning, development, evaluations and revision of sex education.

“So, I specifically say, that they are to be families, community groups, whether that’s churches or the boys and girls club,” Rep. VanOrden said. “I don’t know exactly what is in each community, but they shall, and I did not put may in there, I said that school district shall involve them in these decisions.”

Young, however, does not feel it should be that way.

“Honestly, would love to see the whole community groups part taken out because children don’t belong to community groups,” Young said. “It’s parents that have a legal right to what happens with their children and it should be parents that have a say in what happens with the sex education curriculum, not community groups.”

One other concern is that the state has an opt out versus an opt in system. So, the student will automatically receive the education unless their parent files a request to excuse them. VanOrden says this is to help students who may not have parents present in their lives to give them the education.

The education committee will discuss this bill tomorrow. They could also vote to send it to the house.