What is your 5-6 year old learning in health/sex ed?
What is your 5-6 year old learning in health/sex ed?
In NZ the Ministry of Education recommends a suite of resources for school teachers developed by Family Planning, called Navigating The Journey.
Many parents are asking schools for transparency on what is being taught in their child’s classroom. Why?
Because the Ministry of Education Relationship 7 Sexuality (RSE) Guidelines state that these topics must be taught in all public schools, and that parents have the right to opt their child out of any teaching about RSE (Education & Training Act 2020 Section 51) .
Suggested content for 5-6 year olds
Navigating The Journey teacher resource for Years 1-2, includes a link to this video.
A suggested activity in NTJ includes outlines of naked bodies and labels that the child is to attach to the correct part of the body, including (for 5-6 year olds): Nipple, vulva, vagina, penis, scrotum, testicles.
Is your 5-6 year old viewing this in class?
The only way to know is to ask the teacher or principal for the entire content your child will be exposed to in their health/sex education class.
Each teacher is develops their own lessons, and chooses the content they will teach.
Navigating The Journey (NTJ) provides extensive content options, and the Ministry of Education recommends NTJ to schools for their RSE curriculum content. A teacher may use some or all of this content, or none of this content.
At Let Kids Be Kids we highly recommend parents ask their school for full disclosure on the content their child is being taught. Seeing the content, not just a bullet point list of topics, is the only way a parent can be fully informed to then make a decision about opting their child out or not.
Do 5 and 6 years olds benefit from learning about penises and vagina's?
This decision should be made by parents, not teachers. You may be happy for your child to learn this information at school in this way. Or you may not. Remember, it is your choice, when it comes to any teaching in school about relationships, sex and sexuality.
We encourage parents to ask questions of their school leaders and teachers. You have the right to ask. We believe that for this topic, the parent should decide what is age-appropriate for their child. Not the school teacher. And ALL information of this nature must be done with parental knowledge and consent.
Asking for information
It used to be easy to contact your child’s teacher or principal and ask for information. Over the past year, it appears that many schools are less forth-coming with information.
If a casual email or phone call does not give you the response you expect, you may want to send an Official Information Request. Find out what your rights are, what information you can request, and a helpful template - here.
If your school is withholding information
It’s up to you to decide what you do - remember, you are the parent and the final decision is yours, not the schools.
You may decide to allow your child to attend the classes.
You may contact the school board or Ministry of Education for advice.
You may remove your child from the classes, due to not being able to make an informed decision.
You may start or join a conversation with other parents for support - it’s good to know you’re not alone with any concerns you may have.
You may seek legal advice, if you don’t get a satisfactory response from your request or OIA.
You’re welcome to get in touch with Let Kids Be Kids for support.