OPPOSE NEBRASKA Department of Education draft
Health Standards
Monday, 3-15-21
BACKGROUND:
On March 10, 2021, the Nebraska Department of Education released their proposed draft Health Education Standards for parents to review and provide feedback. There were eight sections in the proposed standards including good topics like Disease Prevention and Injury Prevention/Safety. However, controversial topics like Human Growth Development and Social Emotional/Mental Health topics were also included.
Currently, there are state statute requirements implemented by the Nebraska Accreditation Office for the subjects of Math, English, Science, and Social Studies. If “Health Standards” were to be adopted, they likely would have the same weight of requirements as the other four subjects. Local control of the standards and curricula taught on controversial subjects like sex ed would be replaced with one state-wide standard. Current community standards vary greatly between metro Omaha or Lincoln versus Greater Nebraska communities like Alliance, Auburn, Chadron, Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney, Lexington, McCook, Minden, Nebraska City, Norfolk, North Platte, O’Neill, South Sioux City, Superior, and Valentine. A one-size fits all standard in sex education will cause problems in ALL areas of Nebraska. Parents do NOT WANT a state-wide Health Standard!
Analysis of the contents in the controversial sections raises over a dozen ‘red flags’ of major concern – enough for our recommendation that the controversial sections of Human Growth Development and Social Emotional Mental Health need to be removed from the standards. The proposed content is an assault to the value systems and life principles of the majority of parents across the state of Nebraska.
YOUR ACTIONS:
1. Select one or two of the Talking Points and use them as the foundation of your letter of opposition to the proposed standards. Add in one or two short paragraphs of your own experience or observation. Letters that are ½ page to 2/3 page in length have proven over time to be the most effective compared to longer letters.
2. Call or email Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt. Tell him that most parents are alarmed at the progressive content of these two areas of the standards and are opposed to them so they must be removed. These standard were developed by so-called experts whose values ARE NOT in alignment with the vast majority of parents in Nebraska. 402-471-5020 matt.blomstedt@nebraska.gov
3. Email several of the State School Board members. Tell each of them that most parents are alarmed at the progressive content in the areas of Human Growth Development and Social Emotional Mental Health. These standards do not align with nor support the value systems of the majority of Nebraska parents. You are opposed to them, so they must be removed.
(Click on the first red button for the map showing the boundaries of the 8 state school districts.)
(Click on the second red button for the names and contact information of all 8 Nebraska State School Board members).
4. Call or email Governor Pete Ricketts and thank him for his quick opposition to the new health standards. 402-471-2244 pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov
TALKING POINTS TO OPPOSE THE DRAFT HEALTH STANDARDS
1. Nebraska parents have been raising their children to become good, productive, healthy, law-abiding, and civic-minded adults for many generations based on local school board control -- including sex ed curricula. The content of the March 2021 draft Health Standards is an assault on parents who DO NOT want any state standards in sex education telling their local schools what to teach in this sensitive area.
2. Parents are the primary educators of their children. Teachers and school systems must be supporting the parents and the values that the parents are teaching their children. Schools should not be teaching controversial topics which undermine or assault the values being taught in the home. These draft standards do not align with the values being taught by most families in Nebraska. Therefore, these standards must NOT be used by our public-school systems across our state.
3. Most Nebraskans know that the sex of each child starts at conception and is inscribed in every cell of the human body by our Creator. “Sex assigned at birth” is a misnomer and inaccurate term. “Sex since conception” is the correct and accurate term.
4. The draft standards include sections on sexual orientation and gender identity which are fluid terms which can change rapidly and frequently. These proposed standards will teach very impressionable children as young as 6 years old that gender is not biologically determined but can instead by chosen by each children. The truth is that there are only two sexes – male and female – which are determined by the XX or XY chromosomes at conception.
5. These draft standards do not promote abstinence; instead, they present abstinence as one of many “contraceptives.” These type of standards have led to explicit condom instruction in states like WA, OR, CA and MA.
6. Kindergarten students do not need to know the names of their genitalia. Teachers who are essentially strangers have no business discussing, describing, and naming a child’s genitalia. Wouldn’t this be considered grooming if a stranger in a park started talking to the 5-year-old girl about her vagina? Or talking to the 5-year-old boy about his penis? This is the duty, right, and responsibility of the parents or guardians, not teachers.
7. Consent always sounds like such a good thing to teach. But how is it defined? When standards don’t uphold an expectation of abstinence, consent often can be interpreted as consenting to ‘safer’ sexual behaviors. The age of consent in Nebraska is 16 years of age, which basically gives a 16-year-old person the opportunity to consent to sexual activity with someone who is 19 years or older. How can teaching of consent to elementary and middle-school students even be legal in Nebraska?
8. In these draft standards, students are asked to locate or identify resources for sexual health, puberty, etc. Planned Parenthood usually enters the discussion, along with other “family planning” clinics. Planned Parenthood in many states is distributing contraceptives to students in clinics inside public schools without first acquiring any parent’s permission. Planned Parenthood is also one of the largest providers of abortion which is the murder of innocent pre-born babies.
9. In Nebraska, we understand that tornado storms can cause huge damage to buildings and potentially kills humans. However, tornado storms take hours to build and we can see them approaching. These draft health standards are equivalent to a tornado in the damage that they can inflict on our children. They are approaching and we must take action NOW to protect our children.
10. 8th grade HE864c appears to be an intro to critical race theory. Parents who don't accept that theory as real, and see it as harmful, will need to be able to opt their children out of those lessons if they are to be taught. In high school HE.HS.2.17 is the teaching of Critical Race Theory. The tenants of this world view are:
A. Every human interaction is determined by race.
B. People are racist in varying degrees depending on their skin tone
C. There are no individuals, only "socially constructed groups"
D. Science, reason, and evidence are "white", whereas "African-
American" people have "Cultural Trauma" defined as "a collective
memory of slavery grounding a people's sense of itself.”
America was founded on the idea of every individual having the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. CRT is the antithesis to these ideals. These CRT ideas are damaging to teens, teaching them to be victims mired in hopelessness, rather than strong and self-reliant. In that way, it directly contrasts with the remainder of the health curriculum, which focuses on self-reliance and self-education regarding one's health. Nebraska parents do not want their kids to endure this double standard.
11. There are dozens of specific ‘red flags of concern’ in the proposed health standards. (Click on the third red button for a printable copy of the ‘red flags’.
Thank you for taking action to protect the health and innocence of Nebraska children and grandchildren!
Have a BLEST evening, Mark Bonkiewicz, NFFV Board Member
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Contact State Board of Education representatives:
Nebraska State Board of Education members by district:
1-Patricia Koch Johns-Vice President (Lincoln)
2-Lisa Fricke (Sarpy County)
3-Patti Gubbels (Northeast NE)
4-Jacquelyn Morrison (Douglas County)
5-Patricia Timm (Southeast NE)
6-Maureen Nickels-President (Central)
7-Robin Stevens (Western NE)
8-Deborah Neary (Omaha)
