OPINION
Founded and was the head of Mt Hobson Middle School in Auckland for 18 years. MH Academy is now an in person private school for Year 11 – 13. There is now a nationwide online provision called Mt Hobson Academy Connected for Years 1 – 13.
Despite promises from the new government to quickly review/replace these bizarre documents it appears that this remains the current official document in NZ that school Boards of Trustees must implement.
“Relationship and Sexuality” education in Years 1 – 8
This features statements such as:
In English, akonga can:
• critically explore how the diversity of families, schools, and communities is represented in texts
• explore and critique the representation of gender roles and relationships in texts
• co-construct ground rules for engaging in critical discussions about text content
• create oral, visual, or written texts about the roles and relationships within their wh?nau or family
• engage in dialogue and debate in the context of provocative online posts linked to relationships, gender, and sexuality
In science, akonga can:
• consider how biological sex has been constructed and measured over time and what this means in relation to people who have variations in sex characteristics
• consider variations in puberty, including the role of hormone blockers
This is for children between 5 and 12 years old (Year 1 – 8). There is no way they are going to be allowed to be kids. They get the worries of the adult world thrust down upon them and, for the record, I have always felt that sex and sexuality education belongs in the home.
What happens in NZ is that when a topic like this comes up a range of self-interested ideologues put their hands up and the Ministry calls them “experts” and gives them carte blanche. Families/parents and/or representatives of those pillars of society are most certainly not welcome to express their views.
The most insidious part of these documents was to spread the content through every learning area so that the ability for parents to withdraw their children was significantly negated.
Here is just one example of how the NZ documents are a disaster:
“Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones
Puberty blockers (gonadotrophin-releasing hormone analogues) are not available to children and young people for gender incongruence or gender dysphoria because there is not enough evidence of safety and clinical effectiveness.
From the age of 16, teenagers who’ve been on hormone blockers for at least 12 months may be given cross-sex hormones, also known as gender-affirming hormones.
These hormones cause some irreversible changes, such as:
- breast development (caused by taking oestrogen)
- breaking or deepening of the voice (caused by taking testosterone)
Long-term cross-sex hormone treatment may cause temporary or even permanent infertility.
However, as cross-sex hormones affect people differently, they should not be considered a reliable form of contraception.
There is some uncertainty about the risks of long-term cross-sex hormone treatment.
Children, young people and their families are strongly discouraged from getting puberty blockers or gender affirming hormones from unregulated sources or online providers that are not regulated by UK regulatory bodies.”
(www.nhs.uk/conditions/gender-dysphoria/treatment/)
Parents must be the key agents in all things to do with sex/sexuality in NZ. The State/Ministry has no role to play. It is time for parents to be in touch with the Minister on this.