Parents who are outraged are demanding withdrawal of a sex education website endorsing abortion and giving pre-teens information about sexual pleasure.
Parents who are outraged are demanding withdrawal of a sex education website endorsing abortion and giving pre-teens information about sexual pleasure.
The controversial site, thehormonefactory.com, has been approved as a student resource for Queensland Year 7 classes.Educators say that it is a valuable, fun tool that helps children entering their teens learn about their bodies, but parents are angry over the site's description of abortion as 'a relief' and claims certain hormones make teens 'feel sexy'.
The website, set up by La Trobe University, uses cartoons to tell 10 to 12-year-olds why certain hormones give them 'sexy thoughts' and start making them 'interested in sex'. Students are also told that it can be a relief if a woman has a termination.
Queensland Council of Parents and Citizens Associations president Margaret Black sought a meeting with Education Queensland's head of curriculum.
"We can understand that children will ask questions, however the answers on the website are far too detailed, not tasteful and are too advanced for primary students," the Courier Mail quoted Black, as saying.
Australian Family Association Queensland president Ken Francis warned that the website was potentially dangerous to the 'physical and mental health of our children' and was unsuitable for Year 7 students.
Cherish Life Queensland president Teresa Martin accused the site of not informing students properly about the psychological damage that abortions could cause, and said the topic should not be taught until at least Year 9.
However, Family Planning Queensland educational services director Cecelia Gore backed the website, insisting Year 7 was the 'crucial time' for sex education because research showed students dealt better with sexual encounters if they had been educated beforehand.
Website co-creator Associate Professor Anne Mitchell, of La Trobe University, said today's kids were more sexualised by society and the site gave them straight facts.
Source-ANI
ARU/L