Student speech on RSE and Navigating The Journey
Parents concerned with the the Sexuality & Gender curriculum in NZ schools are not being heard. Now, children are finding their voices. Will the Govt listen to them?
Gracie and her parents have been dealing with inappropriate sexualised teaching in two different schools over the last couple of years. Gracie’s dad initially thought the situation was isolated and so moved her to a different school. Low and behold, it was happening at her new school too. Gracie’s dad did more digging and found a network of parents who were experiencing the same shocking realisations… that this is not happening by accident, and schools are not addressing parent concerns.
Brave Gracie is not afraid to speak up about the woke ideology she is exposed to at school. She recently voiced her point-of-view and research findings in this classroom speech.
Gracie’s speech - age 12
"In my opinion I think that the RSE programme that is happening in schools should not be in the school curriculum. It is an unnecessary topic that schools should not be teaching young ages.
It is not helping children and is making them confused. RSE stands for Relationship and Sexuality Education.
Children shouldn’t be mentally or physically harmed/pushed by other people to have physical changes and pushed on drugs that stop their biological reproductive system. Children should be able to express themselves without being pushed.
I was 9 years old when my teacher told me the colour of sperm in high detail and described what sperm looks like. I was 9 years old being told how a baby is made in a physical way.
Do you think they should teach this at a young age? This is not what schools should be teaching, they need to teach girls and boys about their reproductive system in separate classrooms.
According to the Education Counts website, a document called ‘Understanding Students Wellbeing’ in the educational setting has some collected data from students around New Zealand. 294,453 students have responded to the survey questions.
One of the questions has students response by identifying as part of the rainbow community (years 11-13 only responded to this question). 74.6% answered ‘no’ - meaning they are heterosexual. 2.81% answered that they did not understand the question, 6.43% did not wish to answer, and 13.95% answered ‘yes’ to being involved in the rainbow community. If I was asked this question, my answer would be ‘Why is this question asked to students before puberty?’
Another question was: What gender do you identify as?
51.42% identify as female
40.36% identify as male
1.72% identify as gender diverse
1.66% identify as non-binary
4.37% did not respond
In conclusion, this shows how few students around New Zealand are gender diverse and non-binary, so why should it be taught in schools?
Navigating The Journey should not be in schools and the department of education should change it. Some students get traumatised from Navigating The Journey lessons. And that is why I think that the RSE programme shouldn’t be taught in schools. If you would like to share your story, the LKBK team would be honoured to share in on your behalf. Brave begets brave.
Thank you Gracie, for using your voice to speak common sense to your class mates and teachers. We applaud you, and encourage more of our youth to find their brave voices and share their views. We know it takes so much courage!
Thank you, from the Let Kids Be Kids team