Outraged Parents Say Graphic Sex Ed Class Broke Virginia Law
A department head at West Albemarle County High School is on administrative leave after allowing sexually charged videos to be shown during a Family Life class.
Frank Lawson, head of the physical education department, approved the videos provided by the local Sexual Assault Resource Agency.
The video, which stars Laci Green an outspoken Youtube personality who teaches sex education for Planned Parenthood and has a show on MTV, reportedly explores male and female sexual activity in graphic detail and encourages viewers to try them for themselves.
A graduate of Berkley, Green, is a self-described sex educator hosting an online show called Sex Plus; however she is not affiliated with SARA.
Liberty Counsel, which represents the children, says the Sex Positivity course was given without the knowledge or consent of parents.
The videos played for the ninth grade class are reported to contain graphic content, foul wording for genitals as well as advertisements for pornography and sex toys.
School officials say the material was not reviewed properly.
CBN News obtained a response to concerned parents by School Board Chair Kate Acuff who wrote that she too was disturbed by the videos calling them "highly offensive, entirely inappropriate for a student (or any) audience."
Acuff told another parent she understood that trust was broken "I also agree with your assessment that the serious judgment errors that led to the inappropriate showing of a YouTube video to 28 students at Western Albemarle High School have diminished the trust that is so important to our ability to serve and support students."
Acuff went on to explain that the teacher in charge of the class was told this was an approved curriculum but upon seeing the video for the first time during class she was concerned and brought it to the attention of the school principal.
Despite the attempts of the school board to alay the concerns of parents some are calling for more action to be taken.
In the words of the Liberty Counsel: “The videos’ instructions on various activities could constitute 'grooming' under the law.”
In a press release Liberty Counsel states: “The videos violate Virginia laws protecting minors which prohibit “display of child pornography or grooming videos or materials to a child” and makes it a felony for any person to take indecent liberties with children; and provides that any “person 18 years of age or over, who, with lascivious intent, knowingly and intentionally commits any of the following acts with any child under the law.”
When asked what school officials should have done to prevent this situation Liberty Counsel told CBN News there are four action items: “The school district must (1) sever ties with the sexual assault resource agency (SARA); (2) comply with Virginia law that requires abstinence-based sex ed, prohibits obscene sexual content, provides that parents must be notified at the beginning of the school year that they can opt out their children from sex ed, and mandates that all material must be posted and open for parental review; (3) comply with federal law that forbids surveys about sex and religion; and (4) review all materials to ensure compliance with state and federal law.”
The board reporteldy has severed ties with the Sexual Assault Resource Agency.
CBN News reached out to SARA for a statement but did not receive responses at the time of this posting.