Pennsylvania state Senator Ryan Aument (R) on March 31, 2022, announced his intent to file legislation aiming to require schools to identify sexually explicit content in student curriculum and notify parents when such content is featured in classroom instruction.
Aument issued a statement claiming that parents in his district have contacted him over the last several months to express concerns about sexually explicit content in school curriculum and a lack of response to the issue from school administrators. The bill would aim to give parents the opportunity to review curriculum and classroom materials that feature sexually explicit content and to opt their children out of such coursework in favor of alternative, non-sexually explicit instruction.
“Parents should know what their children are being exposed to in school, period,” Aument told Pennsylvania’s WHTM News. “And beyond that, they should have the opportunity to opt their child out of exposure to certain explicit curriculum and be provided with alternative options by the school.”
Democratic state Senator Lindsey Williams told WHTM News that she is “interested to see what the language is and how narrowly tailored it is,” adding that there “are things that one person finds objectionable that are another person’s reflection of their lived experience.”
Additional reading: