More than 15,000 people have signed a petition which demands the “immediate cessation” of the Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum pending a review, after significant controversy arose around the content of schoolbooks and regarding materials used on a DCU course for SPHE teachers.
A viral video featuring a SPHE teacher, Mary Creedon, who says she was horrified at what was included in the DCU course – with material featuring “rimming” and “fisting” and an animated video of a woman demonstrating masturbation – has been viewed almost 700,000 times across social media, and prompted the petition.
The petition says that “following revelations from a former SPHE teacher and coordinator” there should be an immediate cessation of the Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum, because of what is described as “the inclusion of age-inappropriate, graphic sexual content, the normalisation of pornography, and the promotion of unscientific gender ideology. ”
“We also call for a full investigation into the year-long SPHE teacher training course at DCU, and a review of all materials used to teach SPHE in schools,” it added.
Other key concerns listed in support of the petition were what it described as the promotion of sex as purely for pleasure, detached from committed relationships in the SPHE course; the inappropriate influence of activist groups and NGOs on curriculum content, teacher training, and teaching materials; and lack of transparency and parental consultation, leaving parents uninformed about their children’s education.
The Natural Woman’s Council, who interviewed Ms Creedon and are hosting the petiton, said that the use of classroom “contracts” preventing children from discussing lessons with parents, and a “cross-curricular approach to SPHE and RSE that detracts from core subjects and restricts parents’ ability to opt their children out of uncomfortable lessons”, were also significant issues.
Spokeswoman Jana Lunden said that the new Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum should be suspended pending a review and called for the DCU SPHE teacher training course to be halted “until a full investigation is conducted”.
She said that activist NGOs should be prevented “from influencing schools, curricula, and teacher training” and that “a balanced representation of opinions on curriculum committees” should be ensured.
The petition also called for the “teaching of transgender ideologies and similar concepts lacking a factual basis” to be removed from schools.
“We believe that the responsibility for educating children, especially on sensitive topics, lies primarily with parents and families. Schools should support this role without imposing ideologies or agendas on impressionable students. It is crucial that children are protected from harmful or age-inappropriate content, and that transparency exists between parents and schools,” it continued.
“We ask for immediate action to address our concerns and work with parents and teachers to develop a curriculum that respects the rights, values, and beliefs of parents and children, while maintaining a focus on academic excellence and holistic development,” it concluded.
Ms Lunden said that her organisation wanted to express “our respect and gratitude for the courageous teachers who have come forward to expose the inappropriate content from the DCU course”.
“We urge teachers across the country to speak up without fear of repercussion. I believe that the majority of teachers do not want to teach this highly sexual and indoctrinating content to children and it’s time for the silent majority to stop being silent,” she said, .
“What has come to light has spurred parents to request to see their child’s school books more and more inappropriate content is being discovered. Due to the ‘whole school’ approach, this content is being spotted in subjects other than SPHE which makes it virtually impossible for parents to opt children out. The ‘whole school’ approach, classroom contracts, books staying at school and mobile phones being locked up removes the transparency between the school and parents. This is clearly a subversion of parental rights under Article 42 of our Constitution and Section 9d of the Education Act of 1998,” she added.
She said it was her belief that “the textbooks being used in the classroom today have content that is in breach of the Children First Act 2015. For this reason, We need to suspend the RSE content of the SPHE Curriculums being used in classrooms, both in online resources and textbooks, pending a full review and risk assessment, and accountability for the sex educators who drafted this material.”
“There appears to be no sign off process for the textbooks which is a significant failure on the Department of Education,” she also said.
“The redesign of Junior Cycle SPHE curriculum was flawed from the start. An investigation into the NCCA’s exclusion of parents’ views from the consultation process must be undertaken. While thousands of parents submitted comments rejecting the highly sexualised approach to the new SPHE Curriculum, their views were completely ignored in the final draft of the new SPHE Curriculum,” Ms Lunden said.
“Meanwhile liberal NGO’s and LGBTQ groups were heavily consulted and engaged with by the NCCA directly during the consultation process. Our FOIA request, to get the names of those selected for the NCCA, shows that there was no Psychology/Child Protection representative on the NCCA Curriculum Development Group.” she said.
“The committee included Dr Aoife Neary, who suggested “the recent developments in RSE in Wales and the recommendations made by the expert panel outlined in Renold and McGeeney’s (2017) report should serve as an exemplary signpost for changes to RSE in Ireland” during an opening statement she made in the Dáil in 2018,” Ms Lunden added.
“Perhaps if the NCCA had not dismissed parents’ views, we would not be having to clean up this catastrophic mess,” she said.