The Daily Signal - #526: 2 California Moms Sound Alarm About Lewd Sex Ed Coming to Schools

Episode Date: August 14, 2019

In California, thanks to the passage of a new law, there is now what’s called “comprehensive sex ed” -- and it’s extremely unpleasant stuff. Today, we’ll speak to two parents from Rocklin, California who are leading parent opposition in their community to what they consider obscene and pornographic curriculum. They’ll explain the concerning details about content that could soon reach more classrooms across America. We also cover these stories:•The Dow Jones plunged over 700 points Wednesday after the bond market sent a recession warning.•The Labor Department is proposing a rule to safeguard religious freedoms of companies contracting with the federal government. •Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler discusses ongoing case of the assault against journalist Andy Ngo. The Daily Signal podcast is available on Ricochet, iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play, or Stitcher. All of our podcasts can be found at DailySignal.com/podcasts. If you like what you hear, please leave a review. You can also leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at [e-mail]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Thursday, August 15th. I'm Kate Trinkoff. And I'm Daniel Davis. Sex education isn't what it used to be. In fact, in California, thanks to the passage of a recent law, kids now have to undergo what's called comprehensive sex ed. And it's extremely unpleasant stuff. Today I'll speak to two parents from Rockland, California, who are leading parent opposition in their community to what they consider obscene and even pornographic curriculum. They'll explain some of the concerning details about content that could soon reach more and more classrooms across America. And if you're enjoying this podcast, please be sure to leave a review or a five-star rating on iTunes and please subscribe. Now onto our top news. Jennifer arose, who claims she was a victim of sexual assault by Jeffrey Epstein when she was a teenager, announced Wednesday a lawsuit against Epstein's estate as well as others, not all named, in his circle.

And an op-ed in the New York Times arose writes, I want my story to hold Epstein to account and also his recruiters, the workers on his payroll who knew what he was doing, and the prominent people around him who helped conceal and perpetuate his sex trafficking scheme. Their hideous actions victimized me and so many young girls like me, end quote. Meanwhile, the Times also reports, quote, The two staff members who were guarding the jail unit were Jeffrey Epstein, apparently killed himself, fell asleep, failed to check on him for about three hours,

and falsified records to cover up their mistake, according to several law enforcement and prison officials with knowledge of the matter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged over 700 points on Wednesday after the bond market sent a recession warning. In an unusual occurrence, the yield on the 10-year treasury note fell below the yield on the two-year treasury note, which is an unusual occurrence. Economists say that it's a reliable sign. of a coming recession.

Historically, a recession comes an average 22 months after such an inversion takes place. The Labor Department wants to be clear that companies contracting with the federal government do still have religious freedom and is proposing a new rule to affirm that. Quote, the proposed rule would clarify that religious organizations may make employment decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious tenants and beliefs without fear of sanctioned by the federal government. The proposal also reaffirms employers' obligations not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or other protected bases, and does not exempt or excuse a contractor from complying with any other requirements, states of press release from the department.

Acting Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella said in a statement, today's proposed rule helps to ensure the civil rights of religious employers are protected. it. Well, flights have now resumed at Hong Kong's major airport after protests shut down the airport for two days, causing hundreds of flight cancellations. On Wednesday, some of the protesters even apologized for the inconvenience posed by the protest. One group wrote in an email quoted by the Associated Press, quote, it is not our intention to cause delays to your travels, and we do not want to cause inconvenience to you. We ask for your understanding and forgiveness as young people in Hong Kong continue to fight for freedom and democracy, end quote.

The airport protest was the latest in a string of protest stretching back to June when Hong Kong residents took to the streets by the million to express opposition to the extradition bill in the city government. That bill, which has now been put on hold, would have allowed arrested people in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China for trial at the request of Beijing. Portland mayor Ted Wheeler told Fox News in an interview Wednesday that he did, did think there would ultimately be arrests made in the case of Andy Noe, a journalist who was attacked by Antifa and injured recently. No arrest, though, when it comes to Andy No. We know that they are still in the process of trying

to make an arrest in that case. But what message does that send if there was not follow-through there, Mayor, on what happened to that conservative journalist? Well, with all due respect, I disagree. We don't tolerate any act of violence, not that act of violence or any other. and the police are investigating and they are following up on leads here is the tweet from andy know i was beaten on the head and robbed on twenty nine june and tifa then continued to hurl milk shakes at my bleeding face i was hospitalized at the brain hemorrhage there still hasn't been a single arrest by port and police

uh... i guess on that point there are cameras everywhere that capture that incident sir indeed there are the police bureau is asked for that video footage as recently as a few days ago they put that call fall out again. They have photographs of some of the individuals that they believe were the perpetrators. And I know that the intelligence unit continues to follow up on those leads. And I'm confident that there will be arrests in that particular case. You are. Okay.

Up next, I'll talk to a couple of Rockland, California parents dealing with a controversial sex ed curriculum. Parents be advised. Some of the content in this interview may not be appropriate for children. If you're tired of high taxes, fewer health care choices, and bigger and bigger government, it's time to partner with the most impactful conservative organization in America. We're the Heritage Foundation, and we're committed to solving the issues America faces. Together, we'll fight back against the rising tide of homegrown socialism, and we'll fight for conservative solutions that are making families more free and more prosperous.

But we can't do it without you. Please join us at heritage.org. Well, I'm joined now over the phone by two parents from Rockland, California, where local public schools are set to implement a new and frankly shocking sex ed curriculum for kids. The parents are Rachel and Courtney, and they're affiliated with the group called Informed Parents of Rockland. Thank you both for calling in today. Yeah, no problem. So how did you both become aware of this new sex ed curriculum and what motivated you to take action? Well, we met a couple of years ago when our children, we actually met at a school board meeting where our children were attending a school that facilitated a lesson in kindergarten on transgenderism.

And since then, we've just been paying attention to the changes in education in the state and just have been researching and trying to inform other parents about what's being. taught. Yeah, and for me, last year it became personal because my son was in seventh grade. And in our district, they do sex ed in seventh grade and ninth grade. And so I had heard that they had changed the sex ed curriculum the year before. So I, of course, wanted to know what that was about and went to the parent information night that they held at the school. And even though they're about 500 seventh grade students at the school, there were only about 20 parents in the room. And that was kind of shocking to me because I knew that it was new. And, you know, sex ed curriculum used to be two or three videos that they show the kids

and parents who'd come and preview the videos and know exactly what our kids will be taught. But now with the new curriculum, it's 13 lessons. So for 13 whole 45-minute period, they're teaching our kids comprehensive sex ed. That's almost 10 hours of information. And, you know, of course, there's no way for parents to know everything that's going to be taught in a one-hour parent information. meeting. So, you know, very little of the material is presented to the parents.

And, of course, they don't tell you the worst of it. So that night, even though I knew better, I was kind of thinking to myself, oh, this actually isn't as bad as I thought. But then they give the parents a chance to look through this binder. It's like a three-inch binder of these 13 lessons. And parents are coming over saying, hey, did you see that there's, you know, anal sex and oral sex in here? And did you see this activity where they ask the kids to imagine they're a different gender? and we're just kind of pouring through this information trying to get what we can. And, you know, we asked if we could get a copy of it to review at home because it's so much.

And they told us no, but that we were welcome to come back to the office and look through it any time. You know, and since then we actually have bought the books, Courtney and I, and a few of us have been reading over the curriculum and researching other curricula that are being used across the state. and parents don't realize that it's not just that a three-inch binder of 13 lessons. Teachers also have access to slides that parents don't see when they go into the office to view the curriculum. In order to view the slides, you actually have to have a code. So most parents aren't seeing that material, and that's where we found some of the most objectionable things. And parents also don't understand that there's a list of resources that our kids are given.

And if you follow those links, you know, you go down. this rabbit hole that leads to some pretty shocking things. Yeah, you mentioned a few of those things. I guess I just want to ask, you know, this is something that we've seen in several school districts across the country. You know, a couple months ago, we had a lady who was fighting a similar battle in Arlington, Virginia public schools and, you know, really concerning material. You mentioned there only being 20 parents at the initial conference.

even among those who showed up, were they concerned? Did they express, you know, objections? And if so, how are those responded to? Yeah, definitely. At the meeting, you know, the parents who were there were concerned, most of them. But like I said, there's only 20 parents in that room. So, you know, I took it upon myself to text pretty much everyone that I knew and let them know, hey, guys, did you realize, you know, what's in here?

And I went and, you know, took some screenshots and sent them around. And, of course, parents, when they find out, they are shocked, of course, but there's just so many parents that don't know. And that's why, you know, for me and Courtney in our group, that's one of our main objectives is just to educate parents. Because, you know, of course, parents should know. No matter how they feel about this, they need to know what's happening in their kids' classrooms.

So what would you say are some of the most concerning parts of the curriculum to you? That's a really tough question. You know, we find more and more every day, believe it or not. There's a sex ed toolkit that's available to teachers to use and present to their students where they have a whole page on sex toys. They teach the kids about the different materials that their sex toys might be made of. They tell the kids to be sure to clean them before passing it off to a partner or moving from one hole to another.

They also have a little box at the bottom with a picture, and it says, if you don't have money to buy sex toys, cucumbers, carrots, and bananas make great dildos. I mean, it's totally obscene. There's also a lot of interactive lessons, which is really concerning. There's one lesson for seventh grade where every kid in the class is given a card, and their card either has a body opening card or a body free. fluid card. So some of the kids will have a card that says vagina or anus or mouth. And then other kids will have anal fluid, blood, saliva, semen, et cetera. So if the kids have a body opening card,

they have to go around the room and find a friend who has a body fluid card and make a match and tell the class whether that match could transmit HIV. And keep in mind, this is boys and girls together, seventh graders who are 12. So one thing, that's one thing that's first. really concerning is that many of the lessons, particularly in the curriculum that's being used in my district, the kids are encouraged at the end of each lesson to turn to their neighbor and discuss. And there are a lot of group projects. So keep in mind, we're talking about seventh graders here. And we all know that there's a wide range of maturity levels among seventh graders. You know, you have the sweet little girls that have never seen a PG-13 movie

and the cuss words hurt their ears, you know, and then you've got kids on the completely other end the spectrum that are watching all sorts of mature content and telling dirty jokes and vaping in the bathroom and who knows whatever else. So, you know, you could have these two extremes sitting next to each other during sex ed and the teacher says, turn to your partner and discuss what we just talked about. And that really concerns me because the teacher can't possibly monitor every conversation that's going on in the room. And, you know, let's be honest, they're going to be inappropriate conversations.

and I just think that's really scary for, you know, the cute old sweet girls, you know, on the one end of the spectrum. And we know because we've talked to kids who have been in these classes that there are kids who will think of the most inappropriate things to say or questions to ask just to, you know, they think it's funny or, you know, for them it's basically a free pass for kids to say whatever thing they want and get away with it. And then, of course, in the health framework, which was just passed, it gets even worse. So this is a framework. So it's not yet curriculum, but it will be showing up in our kids' classrooms in a few years. But they have suggested supplemental books for the kids to read. There's a book that's meant for fifth graders that is suggested and it teaches them about the G-spot that lists 20 different plain words for their private parts. There's a girl book that lists the girl parts and a boy book that lists the boy parts.

Another book that's meant for fifth graders has a section on mutual masturbation and oral sex, and it teaches them how to do those things in detail. And this is for fifth grade. Those kids are 10 and 11. You know, there's so much more. There's so much more. And it's incredibly concerning. I mean, do you know how this got even passed?

I mean, who passed? This was a school board decision? Yeah. So the curriculum is based largely on a law that was passed by the Assembly. It was implemented in 2016. The State Assembly? Yes, the State Assembly, yeah. And it's called the California Healthy Youth Act.

And at the time, there weren't that many parents that spoke out against the adoption. There were several family rights groups who testified, but really just a handful of groups. And unfortunately, due to the political climate in California, it passed without much backlash. That's specifically related to comprehensive sexuality education. The health framework, which has gained a lot of interest, is being finalized right now. And over the last nine to 12 months, there were a small group of vocal parents from Southern California that really helped to bring awareness to a much larger audience. Social media helps a lot with that, actually.

It led to hundreds of parents rallying at the state capital and speaking out at the Department of Education when they had public comment hearings. They spoke in opposition to the framework. And we did have some success in hopefully removing some of the really obscene resource books that we found. unfortunately those resource books while they're saying that they're being removed they're still accessible through various links listed in the existing curriculum i receive text messages every week that are intended were intended to be sent to my seventh grade son he would have received them from he would have received that information from his teacher and how to access this information uh it sends kids links to things about um to all manner of things like YouTube videos about sexual activity,

they actually show up on my phone. I try to open them. My phone has content restrictions, and it actually shows them as restricted. So I can't even access them, but the schools are giving our kids this direct information. And also there's a lot of emphasis on how kids can find their nearest clinic. There's even an activity in the curriculum where kids write the directions to their

nearest clinic from the bed. Abortion clinic. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Have you talked to your kids about this upcoming curriculum and are they able to even opt out? Yeah. So we think it's really important that parents talk to their kids about their bodies and living a healthy lifestyle and how to protect themselves from disease. We get, a lot of people think that because we object to some of this graphic stuff that we don't want to talk at all about, about, you know, having healthy sexual lifestyles for our kids. We just think that we should decide as parents what's appropriate for our children, and we want parents to know what's in the curriculum, so they can decide that for themselves.

And if the curriculum isn't what they want, yes, they can opt out. The state of California requires schools to notify parents. that they may opt out of the curriculum, that they have to do that in writing. Parents have to proactively send written notification that they don't want their kids to take it, which is why parents now think that it's what we did 20 years ago and it's, you know, puberty and basic things, not graphic descriptions of oral sex. So that's why we think it's important that we want parents to know exactly what's in the curriculum so that they choose to opt their children out.

they can find alternative resources that might be a better fit for their family. You mentioned kindergartners being taught about transgenderism earlier, and I want to ask about that because it's something that is a growing issue, kids feeling pressured to think of themselves as a different gender or being confused and maybe even pushed toward gender transition, at least in certain parts of the country. Is that something that you're concerned about, kids in the class being confused and pushed towards something

that could lead to irreparable changes to their body? Yes, absolutely. So what's on our flyer is referring to the health framework that was just passed that Courtney talked about. And so this is not actually in the curriculum right now. It'll be showing up in our kids' classrooms over the next couple of years. But as you said, there are already several cases where teachers have pushed their own ideology onto kids and this transgender ideology. You may be aware of the parents in Oregon who are suing their school districts.

because a teacher was holding their kid back from recess to show on transgender videos and books. And, you know, now their child is very confused and in therapy. You know, we've actually seen some of that here locally, too. Yeah, we know of several cases locally where kids were exposed to a child in their classroom changing their gender and now seeing that they are no longer the boy that they knew all year, that they are now a girl or vice versa. These kids are asking their parents at night when they're sitting in bed, five-year-old children, asking their parents, Mommy, can my sister become my brother?

We know of kids who are afraid to touch their siblings' clothing because they're afraid that they would change their gender, a boy who was afraid to put a sister's clothes away because he thought if he touched his sister's clothes, he would become a girl. kids are asking if their blood will change from a girl's blood to a boy blood. Another kind of concerning thing is we're hearing kids ask if they're gay or lesbian because they love their friends and they like to hug their little, you know, a little girl likes to hug her little girlfriend on the playground and they're asking their parents, does that make me gay?

So it's just opening up a lot of, of, questions in our minds that they are really just too young to have to deal with. And when you speak to the school administrators or members of the school board and you express your concerns or objections, what kind of response have you gotten? Well, some school administrators and even some curriculum specialists that I have spoken to when I've gone in to the district to look at the curriculum, they aren't even fully aware of the entire content of their curricula. For example, this text message that I receive on a weekly basis, the teachers, the majority of teachers, I think, who are sending that information out, they don't know what the kids are actually receiving.

Like, they don't have the time to follow through on all of the resources. And school administrators and curriculum specialists, they don't even know exactly what's being taught. some of them know enough to know that they don't they wish it wasn't taught at all and some of them think that it's really valuable and want it to be taught at younger and younger grades. You're finding that regardless of their personal positions, but most will just say that they're required to operate and they just remind parents that they can opt out of it. The problem is that the way the law is written, parents are not allowed to opt out of gender identity, sexual orientation, and relationships.

That that portion can be taught outside of comprehensive sexuality, and schools are not required to offer an opt-out or even notification. So this is why kindergarten teachers are reading books and holding kids back about this, you know, maybe you should be changing your gender without a legal kind of safeguards or parents. The last question for you both. A lot of other parents in other districts might be facing similar kinds of things coming down the pike for their kids. What can they do to get out ahead of this trend and try to stop this curriculum from coming

to their schools before it's accepted? Yeah, that's a great question. And I hope that parents in every state are paying attention to what is happening in California because, as you know, what happens in California still goes the rest of the country. And so, you know, we as parents need to be involved at every level at our schools, with our school boards, and at the legislature. We should use every tool available to us to exercise our parental rights, which, like we talked about already, includes opting out of comprehensive sex ed if we don't want our children to participate in it. Also, sitting out of school if our schools won't respect our values. And, of course, voting out candidates at all levels to support policies and bills that are in direct opposition to our deeply held convictions.

and that threaten the health and safety of our children and our parental rights. It's really important that parents get involved and start waking up because, you know, we've come to understand that we can no longer trust, you know, the Department of Education, at least in California. We don't feel like they have our children's best interest at heart, so we need to wake up and get to work. Well, Rachel and Courtney, I really appreciate you both sharing about this. It's sobering, but something that I think parents across country would be very interesting.

in. So thank you so much for sharing. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. And that's going to do it for us today. Thanks for listening to The Daily Signal podcast brought to you from the Robert H. Bruce Radio Studio at the Heritage Foundation. Please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, or SoundCloud. And please leave us a review or rating on iTunes to give us feedback. We'll see you again tomorrow. The Daily Signal podcast is executive produced by Kate Trinko and Daniel Davis. Sound design by Lauren Evans and Thalia Rampersad. For more information, visit D. DailySignal.com.