School district’s new 4th- and 5th- grade sex ed curriculum uses phrases ‘boys and people with a penis,’ ‘girls and people with a vulva,’ ‘assigned sex at birth’

A Nevada public school district recently voted to approve a controversial new sexual education curriculum for fourth- and fifth-grade students that uses the phrases “boys and people with a penis,” “girls and people with a vulva,” and “assigned sex at birth.”

The Washoe County School District Board in Reno, Nevada, approved the new curriculum on Tuesday in a 5-2 vote. The Sexuality Health and Responsibility Education program will be taught to fourth-grade through senior-year students.

Fox News Digital reported that fourth graders will learn about their bodies, friendships, and puberty. Fifth graders will be taught about “liking and loving,” puberty, pregnancy, communication, boundaries, consent, sexual assault, and anatomy, the outlet stated.

The new lesson plans use the terms “body with a penis” and “body with a vulva” to refer to males and females. Additionally, the fifth-grade curriculum uses the phrases “assigned sex at birth (male)” and “assigned sex at birth (female).”

During public comment, parents pushed back on the curriculum’s use of gender-neutral phrases and proposed changes to the “Understanding Our Bodies” draft lesson. Community members called the controversial lessons “misleading” and “silly.”

“My brief review of elements of this curriculum, as a mature adult, made me gasp,” one public comment read. “Potions (sic) of this curriculum are infantile, ignore biology and would sexualize these school age children (4th‐5th graders).”

School board trustee Jeffrey Church, a critic of the new curriculum, argued it would “alienate and marginalize half or more of the community,” noting that it “ignore[d] constitutional religious beliefs.”

“The proposal goes well beyond that by including LGBTQ+ material and changing male and female or boys and girls,” Church stated. “Remove misleading references to false national standards. Follow or change the regulations but don’t violate it.”

In a comment to Fox News Digital, Washoe County School District Board of Trustees President Ben Smith said, “The Washoe County School District recognizes that there is a wide range of valid and varying perspectives on the topic of sex education. Nevada protects and prioritizes parental choice, as does the school district. As a result, WCSD families make the final choice about the sex education curriculum their children learn and families are given the opportunity to ‘opt in’ to the lessons.”

In April, TheBlaze reported that Washoe County School District began implementing a “safe space” program to help children facing increased stress over “racial tensions,” the “Capitol riot,” and “unsettling times.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!