Kansas parents are wondering why staff at their kids’ middle school would allow a poster on the walls that teaches how to express “sexual feelings” and includes such graphic advisements as “touching each other’s” private body parts.
The Shawnee, Kan., area television station WDAF reported parents initially thought the poster had been hung by pranksters. But not so, one parent who called the school learned, The Blaze reported.
Mark Ellis said he contacted Hocker Grave Middle School officials and was told that it was part of teaching materials for a health and science class.
He told WDAF: “Why would you put it in front of 13-year-old students?”
The poster headlines with the question: “How do people express their sexual feelings?” And then it includes some answers: “Touching each other’s genitals,” “anal sex” and “vaginal intercourse,” among other blatant statements, The Blaze reported.
“It upsets me,” Mr. Ellis told the local television station. “And again, it goes back to who approved this? You know this had to pass through enough hands that someone should have said, ’Wait a minute, these are 13-year-old kids. We do not need to be this in-depth with this sexual education type of program.”
School officials, however, say the poster is instructional and proper, but they also admit that taken out of context, it could prove shocking.
“The poster that you reference is actually part of our middle school health and science materials, and so it is a part of our district-approved curriculum,” district spokeswoman Leigh Anne Neal said to the local television station. “However the item is meant to be part of a lesson, and so certainly as a standalone poster without the context of a teacher-led discussion, I could see that there might be some cause for concern.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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