Student Activists Hope for Change in Parkway Health Curriculum

The mission of the Parkway School District is to ensure that students are “capable, curious and confident learners who are well-equipped to understand and respond to the challenges of an ever-changing world.” With the Board of Education scheduled to vote on March 9, there are a few students who are hoping that the board will decide to modify the health curriculum in order to make it more inclusive of LGBTQIA+ identities, more sensitive to gender roles and stereotyping, and more explicit about consent.

“I think that right now the health curriculum is being taught from a certain perspective that isn’t applicable to everyone, and I think that it’s important to know that even if you don’t fit a certain norm, that you understand how to take care of yourself and how to conduct yourself,” said junior Lexi Smith.

Students in favor of the board’s decision to update the health curriculum are hopeful that bullying in Parkway Schools will decline if different identities are being taught as a part of the curriculum.

“I think [an updated health curriculum] affects everybody because it makes the people who are not a part of the LGBTQ community more aware and less ignorant,” said freshman Anna Osborn, who spoke at the district wide board meeting on March 17 at Parkway Central Middle School. “I hope there will be less bullying because people will be more aware, rather than ignorant,” said Osborn.

Though there were many students who spoke in favor of the change in the health curriculum, there were also many concerned parents who spoke. Since the current health curriculum is abstinence only based and the new curriculum is not, there are many concerns from parents around the Parkway district about whether or not their children will be able to handle this new type of information.

Despite this, students who are in favor of the change believe that many of the parents arguments are based upon misconceptions, and not actual facts.

“The [proposed] health curriculum involves explaining anal and oral sex to seventh graders. Many parents have a problem with this because they feel it is not age appropriate. However, I believe this is veiled homophobia [because] if you teach one type of sex, then you have to teach about all of them,” said junior Anna Rickard.

According to “Parkway Sexual Health Education: Parent Information”, “the intention of the reference to anal and oral sex is to bring awareness to students that these behaviors ARE types of sexual activity that CAN pose a risk to the transmission of STIs and HIV.”  

“Even though most parents don’t want their kids having sex, it’s not their decision, and students need to know how to protect themselves,” said Smith.

Despite the vocal opposition that students have noticed, students are still hopeful that after speaking in front of the board directly about how the atmosphere in Parkway schools affects them, that they will vote in favor of the new health curriculum.

“I’m hoping that the board will see that students really want  this new curriculum and are the ones most affected by it, and as the ones affected by it, our opinions should matter most,” Smith also said.

Until the board makes a final decision on March 9, these students remain optimistic about their impact on the board’s decision and believe that sharing their experiences will help impact the board’s decision.

by Kyle Wolfe, staff writer and Social Media Mogul