(KVEO) — The new school year is around the corner, and with that comes some proposals for changes in the curriculum, including, the standards for sex education.
Anatomy, reproduction, and pregnancy can be as simple in the early grades as discussing how a caterpillar develops into a butterfly is what the Texas Education Board believes about sex education and introducing it to students as young as five years old.
Recently, the Texas Education Board Commissioner made recommendations in his health care review that include lessons about healthy relationships and reproduction starting in kindergarten. In those recommendations found on the Texas Education Agency’s website, the Commissioner states that reproductive and sexual health are an an essential part of a person’s well-being, and while parents and families are the primary educators for their children’s reproductive health behaviors, schools can also play an important role.
While the recommendations come across as progressive, Texas, staying true to its roots, states that abstinence from sexual activity must be presented as the preferred choice of behavior in relationships of unmarried people of school age.
The state board of education is planning a final vote on the new health standards in September 2020. If passed, they would go into effect in 2022.
To review the recommendations visit
https://tea.texas.gov/Academics/Curriculum_Standards/TEKS_Texas_Essential_Knowledge_and_Skills_(TEKS)_Review/Health_Education_TEKS_Review/
