Idaho forces children to watch pornography in school

The state of Idaho is implementing a sex education program for children that includes a "porn literacy and sexual exploration instruction in relation to pornography," the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF), a nonprofit organization, disclosed.

The program consists of an "LGBTQ inclusive" learning plan that focuses on "gender identity and sexual orientation." In addition, the consumption of pornography by children is a "mandatory subject " in their teaching method: "The introduction of graphic sexual content in elementary schools creates open minds and prepares students for sexual activity," the plan's promoters pointed out.

"The Department of Health promotes what the law prohibits."

The Idaho Freedom Foundation denounces that the Department of Health takes federal funds destined for other activities and with that money they purchase the plans they deem appropriate to implement in schools. In this case the program, called Risk Reduction and supported by Planned Parenthood, was created by an agency called Education, Training and Research (ETR).

Idaho law requires that sex education taught in public schools "reinforces traditional family arrangements." However, the IFF notes that "the health department promotes what Idaho law prohibits." The ETR curriculum is extended to Idaho schools through its health districts.

Curriculum

In a video The training manual for the program recommends that teachers "make mention of a same-sex relationship, add intersex to anatomy lessons, use gender-neutral language in role-playing sexual encounters, and that high school students should learn how pornography depicting racism can be harmful to a viewer."

Program activities include having children watch the cartoon video Pornography: Fact or fiction in which characters participate in sexually explicit scenes.

Other sex education programs implemented by the state include links to advice on abortion or sexual relations for adolescents, among others:

- The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Power to Decide, which shows them where to get an abortion.

-Love is Respect, a program that introduces children to issues such as polyamory and gender transitions.

- Sex, etc: an organization that shows students articles about how transgender men can also get pregnant, surveys about masturbation, and cartoon videos of pornography and abortion.

"Pornographic literacy."

This is not the first time that a complaint has come to public light for "pornographic literacy". In May 2021, parents of high school students at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in Manhattan, New York, expressed their annoyance about a sexuality workshop given -without authorization- to their children.

The workshop called, Pornography Literacy: An Intersectional Approach to Fashion Pornography, featured images and explanations of explicit pornography, to which the youth reacted with discomfort, the class was credited as being a discussion regarding birth control according to the curriculum .

Also in New York, some of the city's most elite private schools used vacation reading assignments that are filled with text about young children changing their gender, being transvestites, attending LGBTQ pride parades, secretly having abortions, and questioning their sexuality.

In Los Angeles, in early August, a similar case arose, when the School District shared a video on its Instagram feed starring a transgender activist explaining how personal pronouns should be used, the material was intended to be didactic and targeted for children.