Another Fianna Fáil TD has called on his party colleague, Minister Norma Foley, to act on revelations regarding the SPHE course for teachers in DCU, saying that what was being revealed was “abhorrent”, that parents were “aghast” and that what was being proposed for schools could “endanger children”.
Kilkenny TD, John McGuinness, said that it was clear that the DCU course for SPHE teachers – in which attendee, teacher Mary Creedon, said lessons featuring “fisting” and “rimming”, and an animated video of a woman masturbating were included – was “not fit for purpose”.
His comments come as fellow Fianna Fáil TD, Junior Minister Seán Fleming, said in the past week that the DCU course should be removed and that the Minister had told him she was “not happy” with it. Other TDs, including, Independent Carol Nolan have also called for the Minister to act, saying that parents had serious concerns with what was being revealed.
Responding to Gript’s investigations into the ideas espoused by guest speakers at the DCU course, and the statements and writings of high-profile Irish academics seeking to shape RSE/SPHE in Ireland, Carol Nolan said that, “It is now absolutely certain that what I would term extremist voices are exerting a powerful sphere of influence on our children’s school curriculum. This appears to be taking place within a de facto atmosphere of political approval at the Departmental level.”
“Quite frankly, the professional obsession with destroying the so called ‘myth’ of presumed childhood innocence runs contrary to every child safeguarding ethos of any value. What is driving this relentless determination to sexualise children or to prompt them toward the exploration of what, until 5 minutes ago, were adult only themes?
“That is the question we need to pursue through a forensic investigation into the pedagogical assumptions that are operating behind a veneer of an attitude which says, ‘this is how things are now, so get over it.’ Well I for one and the very many parents who contact me will not simply accept this poison as the new normal,” she said.
Gript found that EJ Renold – a guest speaker and workshop lead who a DCU lecturer was “delighted” to welcome to the SPHE course for teachers – had written repeatedly of the need to challenge the “heteronormative” assumptions of “children’s presumed sexual innocence”. Renold also repeatedly describes the interactions of children (aged 5-6) when at play at kiss-chasing or other games as “erotic” or “eroticized” when discussing what she refers to as “gendered/sexual power in young children’s (aged 5–6) negotiation of their own and others’ bodies in playground and classroom spaces”.
In addition, our investigation found that two high-profile academics – one who has been invited to speak on restructuring the RSE curriculum for schools before a Dáil Committee, while the other taught on the now-controversial DCU course – also endorse the idea of challenging the assumption of sexual innocence in children: writing about the “queering of childhood innocence”; the “problematic assumption that children are somehow free of sexual knowledge”; and the “problematic and paternalistic notions of ‘age appropriateness’” in regard to sex education in schools.
In response to that investigation, John McGuiness tweeted: “The Minister must end this now! It’s abhorrent”.
Deputy McGuinness told Gript today that all the material relating to the SPHE course should be withdrawn and that the Minister needed to take action on the issue. He said that parents had come to see him in his constituency and that they had been “aghast” at what was proposed to be included, or was already being included, in the SPHE curriculum and textbooks.
He said that it was the intention of the new SPHE course that it be embedded in subjects across the school curriculum and that this was unacceptable given what had emerged. While no-one wanted children left in the dark, “children must be left to be children first,” he said.
Responding to claims that SPHE teacher Mary Creedon, who made the “whistle-blower” video after attending the DCU course, was misrepresenting what she had been taught, Deputy McGuinness said that he urged commentators to “stop undermining Mary Creedon.”
“She is the messenger, she was explaining what she saw and was taught on the course,” he said. “The Minister is responsible for policy, and the course needs be stopped now: she needs to take control of these NGOs, this is not the direction that parents want to go in.”
“To put fisting and rimming before children in Junior Cert is just wrong on every level,” he added. “Talking to children about fisting and rimming is not normal.”
The Kilkenny TD said that he believed that if explicit lessons were rolled out in schools it could “endanger children”, and add to the confusion they might experience from encountering material online. He also said that parents understood their own children better than academics.
“Parents should be fully consulted” he said, in relation to any redesigning of sex-education, adding that he believed parents want to protect the childhood innocence of their children, and also wanted to ensure their children had a proper moral compass.
He said what had emerged in relation to SPHE was a “bad reflection on government policy and direction ” and was “not acceptable”, reiterating that the DCU course was “not fit for purpose”.
He added that the Department of Education seemed to be in “complete denial” and that it was very evident that what has been taught on the DCU course “was clearly intended for schools.”
“It can’t be denied,” he said – pointing out that an 8-page lesson on masturbation already in schoolbooks for SPHE.
He said that when children came across inappropriate material online or elsewhere, “they come to their parents, and it is my experience that parents deal with it in a constructive and accurate way”.
“Parenting is a particular skill,” the Kilkenny TD said. “Each individual child may need a different approach, parents know that. Parent’s have life intelligence to bring to these conversations in addition to the particular knowledge they have about their own children.”
He added that while “politicians always seek to be politically correct” in their speech and how they are perceived, they needed to speak “honestly and plainly” regarding the SPHE course which was “unacceptable”.
Other TDs have also spoken out on the revelations around the SPHE material – with some referring to the outrage which previously arose regarding the inclusion of ‘Family A’ in an Edco SPHE classbook, in which a GAA-loving, Irish-dancing, Fleadh-going family were portrayed as narrow-minded bigots.
Leader of Aontú, Peadar Tóibín said: “It is clearly not suitable and totally age inappropriate. One of the most disturbing aspects of this entire situation has been the apparent encouragement of pupils not to disclose to their parents what goes on in this curriculum, that to me is simply unconscionable and goes against everything young people are taught,” he said.
“Obviously children and young people need to be taught about sex education, they need to be taught about consent, they need to be taught about safety, but this material coupled with the videos was over-sexualized in the extreme. I’m glad that Deputy Fleming has seen fit to share our concerns in Aontú and come out and condemn it,” he said.
Tipperary Deputy Mattie McGrath said that parents had been “increasingly shocked and horrified” at the revelations around SPHE for schools – and added that Minister Norma Foley needed to answer questions about “how this situation had been allowed to arise.”
“The buck stops with the Minister,” he said, “there’s no escaping that. How did she allow SPHE to be taken over in this way. She needs to apologise and take action.”
The Department of Education has denied that explicit materials were meant for the classroom saying both they and DCU “have confirmed this is categorically not the case”.
“The material studied and viewed by teachers on the DCU course was provided to them as adults and it is clearly understood that no inappropriate graphic or explicit material would ever be used in a classroom setting,” the Department said in a statement.
TEACHERS SAY IT WAS FOR CLASSROOM
However, multiple teachers who have spoken to Gript said that at no point was it said to teachers that the material was not for the classroom – adding that it was evident, and at times explicitly stated – that it was for use in schools.
The teachers Gript has spoken to say it is “simply absurd to expect anyone to believe that the multiple interactive exercises that teachers were asked to undertake in the course were not examples of classroom exercises” – and say that they raised issues around the appropriateness of the material for school classes during the course.
One teacher pointed to an art exercise where teachers were told to make 3-dimensional penises and vaginas from art materials typically used in school such as play doh and pipe cleaners and balloons.
“Does Norma Foley think that I was making vaginas, breasts and penis with play doh, balloons and pipe cleaners so I would learn about anatomy, or is it a more realistic prospect that it was shown as an example of what we could do with students?” the teacher asked.