Letter: Misguided opinion on sex ed curriculum

I am writing in response to the shocking "Our View" written by the Daily Herald editorial board in support of new state sex ed curriculum standards approved by the Dist. 211 Board of Education Nov. 10. The editorial was entitled "Knowledge is power and protection."

First I do agree: knowledge IS power. But true knowledge is based on fact. That is why my church created flyers informing residents about what children were really going to be taught if the new curriculum was approved.

However, sometimes what people call "knowledge" isn't knowledge. Sometimes it's ideology masquerading as knowledge. For instance, editors wrote, "Gender identity and sexuality are innate. More simply put, you're born that way." That is a statement of ideology - not fact.

The new curriculum will teach students that there are many genders. This is scientifically and historically false. There are rather many ways of expressing ourselves as males and females. The recent exponential increase in gender confusion among young people suggests that gender confusion is largely learned, not that kids are "born that way." Schools aren't supporting trans kids, they're helping to create them.

Furthermore, knowledge isn't always protection. Sometimes knowledge is corruption. The Daily Herald wrote, "Another aspect of the state's curriculum that has caused an outcry is defining vaginal, oral and anal sex to sixth- through eighth-graders. But that curriculum, too, is designed to be age-appropriate."

Incredibly, the editors at the DH think it's age-appropriate to have classroom discussions about oral and anal sex with 11-year olds. This appalling statement says more about the moral decline at the Daily Herald than it does about anything else.

Finally, it is the job of a properly functioning school board to ensure that schools reflect the values and beliefs of the majority of residents, not to push warped ideology on their children.

Teri Paulson

Hoffman Estates