Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts released a statement Thursday afternoon calling on the Education Department to abandon its plan to change standards for sex and health education in public schools. According to Ricketts, the proposal would teach young children age-inappropriate content as early as kindergarten. Ricketts also said he would inject political ideas into the curriculum standards. The proposal released this week would teach children about gender identity and gender expression, among other things. The Nebraska Department of Education released its first draft of the state’s health education standards on Wednesday. eight categories of health that students should learn in each grade. Categories, or “content feeds,” include consumer and environmental health promotion, fundamentals of personal health, nutrition and physical activity promotion, substance abuse prevention, disease prevention, injury prevention and safety, social, emotional and mental health, and human growth and development. The standards were written by a combination of educators, subject matter experts and health professionals. As part of the human growth and development content stream, the standards state that first graders should be able to define gender and gender identity. Grade 3 students should be able to “demonstrate ways of promoting the dignity and respect of people of all genders, gender expressions and gender identities, including other students, their families and members of the community. school community ”. students should be able to differentiate sexual orientation and gender identity and distinguish between birth assigned sex and gender identity and “explain how they may or may not differ”. topics included in the draft health education standards To read the draft health education standards, click here. To submit comments on the standards, click here to visit an online survey. Formal comments can be submitted by email to nde.standardsinput@nebraska.gov. Read Ricketts’ full statement below: “I call on the Nebraska Department of Education to remove the proposed sex education topics that are included in their health standards projects.” The department’s new standards would not only teach young children age-inappropriate content as early as kindergarten, but also inject unscientific political ideas into the curriculum standards. Sex education standards represent a significant shift in the approach to health education, and many of the new themes are sensitive topics that should be addressed by parents at home, not schools. and without the contribution of the main traditional organizations. I urge parents in Nebraska to speak up now and share their reaction with the department, so that it can become part of the official board record. ”
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts released a statement Thursday afternoon calling on the Education Department to drop plans to change sex and health education standards in public schools.
According to Ricketts, the proposal would teach young children content inappropriate for their age starting in kindergarten.
Ricketts also said he would inject political ideas into the program’s standards.
The proposal released this week would teach children about gender identity and gender expression, among other things.
The Nebraska Department of Education released its first draft of the state’s health education standards on Wednesday.
The standards describe eight categories of health that students should learn each year.
Categories, or “content feeds,” include consumer and environmental health promotion, fundamentals of personal health, nutrition and physical activity promotion, substance abuse prevention, disease prevention, injury prevention and safety, social, emotional and mental health, and human growth and development.
The standards were written by a combination of educators, subject matter experts and health professionals.
As part of the human growth and development content stream, the standards state that first graders should be able to define gender and gender identity. Grade 3 students should be able to “demonstrate ways of promoting the dignity and respect of people of all genders, gender expressions and gender identities, including other students, their families and members of the community. school community ”.
In fourth grade, the standards state that students should be able to differentiate sexual orientation and gender identity and distinguish the difference between sex assigned at birth and gender identity and “explain how they may or may not differ ”.
For more information, click here.
WATCH: Mental health and gender identity among topics included in the health education standards project
To read the draft health education standards, click here.
To submit comments on the standards, click here to visit an online survey. Formal comments can be submitted by email to nde.standardsinput@nebraska.gov.
Read Ricketts’ full statement below:
“I call on the Nebraska Department of Education to drop the proposed sex education topics that are included in their draft health standards. The department’s new standards would not only teach young children content inappropriate for their age starting in kindergarten, but would also inject unscientific political ideas into the curriculum standards. Sexuality education standards represent a significant shift in the approach to health education, and many of the new themes are sensitive topics that should be addressed by parents at home, not schools. “
“The draft standards were developed with the help of political activists and without input from major traditional organizations. I urge parents in Nebraska to speak up now and share their reaction with the department, so that it can become part of the official board record. “
