BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN – HONOLULU — State Rep. Bob McDermott, who enrolled his eight children in Hawaii’s public schools, doesn’t want his 11-year-old son exposed to a controversial taxpayer-funded sex education program.
That program is taught in 12 public schools across the state, and the Hawaii Department of Education is planning to expand the curriculum to others.
That’s spurred McDermott to renew his fight to get the program revised or pulled altogether. He’s releasing a 21-page report Monday entitled “The Pono Choices Curriculum: Sexualizing the Innocent” detailing his concerns. He also plans to make a plea to the Hawaii Board of Education at its Tuesday meeting, and hold a legislative briefing Wednesday evening for parents.
The 10-hour program, called Pono Choices (pono is a Hawaiian word that translates to “the right way”), is designed for youth aged 11 to 13. It has been taught to 1,700 Hawaii middle school children through an $800,000 pilot program.
McDermott said the program is “medically inaccurate” and not biology based, and that it teaches children about topics such as anal sex, sex with multiple partners and how to put on a condom — using a cucumber or wooden replica of a penis.
“The program normalizes a homosexual lifestyle and anal sex, while failing to warn students of the extreme dangers of anal sex; it references multiple sex partners, while failing to inform students about the health benefits of monogamy; it fails to warn students about the ineffectiveness of condoms against HPV, herpes, and anal sex; and fails to educate students on the stages of human reproduction,” McDermott said, providing Hawaii Reporter with an early copy of his report.
“Any talk of anal sex — which the curriculum does frequently — is instinctively repulsive for pre-pubescent children. Additionally, calling the anus a genital — as Pono Choices does — is just plain medically wrong,” McDermott said.
Among his other arguments: the curriculum’s definition of oral sex isn’t consistent with the definition commonly found in medical literature, data on condom use and effectiveness is inaccurate with regard to HPV, herpes, and HIV and the curriculum ignores the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s warning regarding the risks of condom use when engaging in anal sex.
The DOE maintains the program is medically accurate, and points out parents can opt their children out of the program.
Parents are invited to a Pono Choices Parent Night through a letter that’s sent home with their child informing them their child will study teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection prevention as part of health education, the DOE in a statement in mid-December. They also learn how to use a condom as part of the program.
“For any curriculum or lesson that addresses reproductive health, parents have the option of requesting that their child not receive the instruction,” the DOE statement said.
However, McDermott said what parents are told — and students are taught — are very different.
“The parental opt-out forms are woefully inadequate. They lack clarity and transparency by concealing some controversial aspects of the material,” McDermott said.
In November, McDermott requested a copy of the curriculum, which was developed by the University of Hawaii. The DOE and university denied his request for several weeks.
McDermott said DOE spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz told him in an email that the course material wouldn’t be made public, but offered to have the lead researcher “address any questions.”
That researcher, Kelly Robert, told McDermott in a follow-up email: “We are not releasing the curriculum or associated materials to anyone who has not gone through the Pono Choices training.”
Once he obtained a copy and reviewed it with his staff attorney and others, McDermott felt the curriculum fails to inform children of the exponentially increased risks of male on male anal sex.
“Such omission renders the entire document questionable at best and agenda-driven social engineering at worst,” McDermott said.
The program is also contrary to state law and policies regarding abstinence-based sexual education, McDermott said.
“The curriculum treats sexual activity before the age of 14 as a viable choice, despite the state sexual assault law, which puts the age of consent at 16,” McDermott said.
The DOE maintained in a statement that abstinence is taught, but McDermott said “it is not the central message of the curriculum,” which he said gives a mixed message.
The DOE pulled the program in late November 2013 to review it after parents and some legislators complained, but reinstated the program after two weeks and announced its expansion to other schools.
Others share McDermott’s concerns. Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom, R-Hawaii Kai-Diamond Head, agrees that parts of the curriculum aren’t appropriate for middle school students.
Hawaii Republican Assembly, a local conservative organization, issued a statement Monday calling Pono Choices, “Porno Choices” and encouraged parents to attend both the BOE meeting Tuesday and the legislative briefing Wednesday.
“It’s time to fight back,” said organization spokesman Tito Montes.
Reach Malia Zimmerman at Malia@hawaiireporter.com
Pono Choices should be renamed Porno non-choices
This disgusting DOE program that "normalizes" homosexual lifestyle and anal sex comes from the top. Remember that in 2009, Obama appointed a militant homosexual activist as his "Safe Schools" Czar.
Pamela Geller reported the following: "President Obama has appointed Kevin Jennings, founder of GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) — which sponsored the conference that produced the notorious "Fistgate" scandal (in which young teens were guided on how to perform dangerous homosexual perversions including "fisting") — to head up "Safe Schools" efforts at the Department of Education."
Obama has made other disturbing personnel decisions, including hiring former Penn State University President Graham Spanier. Washington Post's Emily Heil wrote about it in an article titled 'Graham Spanier's gig as a federal worker is a mystery':
[Quoting] Spanier might have been ousted from his post at the helm of Penn State over the sex-abuse scandal that engulfed the university, but it seems he's found a backup employer: the American taxpayer. … His lawyer confirms to the Loop that Spanier is working on a part-time consulting basis for a "top-secret" agency on national security issues. But the gig is so hush-hush, he couldn't even tell his attorneys the name of the agency. In April — months after his ouster as president but before the release of the internal report — he told the Patriot-News of central Pennsylvania that he was working on a "special project for the U.S. government relating [to] national security." [End quote]
For the record, District Judge William Wenner concluded that prosecutors had enough evidence of a "conspiracy of silence" [sound familiar?] for Spanier and his two cohorts to stand trial for their role in covering up the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Charges include perjury, obstruction, endangering the welfare of children, failure to report child abuse, conspiracy to hide child abuse, hiding evidence from investigators, and lying to the grand jury. In other words, Graham Spanier, this "expert at cover-ups," fits in perfectly with the Obama administration!
Just as disturbing, in 2012, the Associated Press reported that someone in "Washington" [Read: Barack Obama] exerted pressure and ordered federal agents to "hold off" on arresting a Bob Menendez intern who was both an illegal immigrant AND a registered sex offender until after November's election — which of course, with Obama's help, Menendez went on to win. It's worth noting at this point that Menendez and Obama are fathers with daughters. BTW, this is the same Menendez who the FBI was investigating for having sex with underage girls. It would seem that both of their moral compasses point straight to Hell.
Interesting that Google Inc. founders have been outspoken supporters of gay rights since 2008, when the company got involved in the campaign to defeat a gay marriage ban on the California ballot. The company also recognizes gay pride season each year by customizing search boxes to turn rainbow-colored when terms like “gay” and “gay pride” are entered.
“Google has made a clear and unequivocal statement that Russia’s anti-LGBT discrimination is indefensible,” said Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, whose Washington-based group has been lobbying American corporations, especially those sponsoring the Games in Sochi, to condemn the law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in July.
More at; https://khon2.com/2014/02/07/google-makes-statemen…
Why don't they just skip the small stuff..and just get the kids into watching Hard Core Porno………(this is why it Doesn't take a Village to Raise our kids
This lawmaker is right. We should pretend that none of those abhorrent acts he speaks of actually exist. …
education program
Who: Representative Bob McDermott
What: Public briefing of the Pono Choice curriculum
When: Wednesday (2/5/14) in the state capitol auditorium from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.
Home Economics has been replaced with Homo Erotics for 11 year old kids.. Liberals are sick mentally ill perverts.
Just got back from the BOE hearing. Standing room only. The testimony is thoughtful, respectful and 100% to dump Pono Choices.
Fantastic! Thanks for going!!!
Glad to hear it. Good luck. Zero protest in NYC 25 years ago when Whoopie Goldberg did TV spots for kids, showing how to put condoms on bananas. God only knows what they're teaching on the mainland now.
Glad HR keeps tabs on this propoganda. KHON2 FINALLY reporting about this, but leaving out Bob's frustration of DOE rejecting his info request. KHON reporst DOE stating; "Present homosexual behavior in the situational scenarios as a healthy, equivalent behavior to male/female relationships,"
A little more info can be found at; https://www.khon2.com/news/lawmaker-complains-abou….
I think Pono Choices is good for my kids. I want them to be informed about Anal sex at age 8.
Then YOU inform them
the pubic edumacation system needs a total enema and the teachers union a) exposed to what they REALLY do as opposed to what they claim they do , and b) eliminate this perverse and demented " union" as the obscene gang of child molesters they are along with the teachers whom went along with these garbage pandering fakes .
DOE stands for the Department of Energy. The Department of Education is referred to as "ED" or "the ED."
Both are also referred to as worthless.
In Washington state parents need to view the HIV curriculum at a convenient time for school officials before you are allowed to opt out. I told the school my child will not take the curriculum and I will not view the curriculum.
Parents need to say, we will not send our children to school the days they want to present these curriculum.
The rectum is significantly different from the vagina with regard to suitability for penetration by a penis. The anus is a delicate mechanism of small muscles that comprise an "exit-only" passage. With repeated trauma, friction and stretching, the sphincter loses its tone and its ability to maintain a tight seal. Consequently, anal intercourse leads to leakage of fecal material that can easily become chronic.
Here's the thing about school board members and superintendents. they generally keep a pretty low profile in their communities, what with the corruption and selling out of their town folk and all, they have to. So…if you whack out one of them, you really won't traumatize the school children at all, but you can get your point across to those others left in their wake who must continue the business of that school district. jus sayin….
If this guy has 8 kids maybe he should take the sex ed class!
Or better yet, teach it!
Who are you to tell the guy how many kids he should have as long as they are being properly fed, housed and clothed?
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