A Boston public school raised the ire, and the eyebrows, of parents when it asked middle schoolers to take a risk behavioral survey that included questions on oral sex and transgenderism.
A copy of the survey acquired by The Washington Free Beacon shows it asked several questions about the pre-teens' sexual history, including their sexual orientation, if they've had sex and how many partners they've had.
"Have you ever participated in oral sex?" one question asked. "Oral sex is when a person puts their mouth on another person's genitals or private area."
After explaining that a transgender person is "someone who does not feel the same inside as the sex they were born with," the survey asked the students, "Are you transgender?"
The Youth Risk Behavioral Survey given to some sixth- and seventh-grade students Wednesday at Eliot K-8 Innovation School is part of a district-wide project by Boston Public Schools, according to the Free Beacon.
In a letter to parents on Thursday, Eliot's principal acknowledged the "many concerns" about the appropriateness of the survey and said the school would share parents' complaints with the school district.
Deirdre Hall, whose sixth-grader took the survey, told the Free Beacon she found out about it when her daughter came home and told her about a "really weird survey" she was given during history class. Hall said she thought the survey questions were "entirely inappropriate."
She also said she was concerned about the explicit line of questioning before the students had been exposed to "a single ounce of sex education" and about whether the information is truly anonymous.
"She said half her class didn't even know what any of this stuff meant," Hall said. "Now they're coming home and asking their parents and their friends, 'What's oral sex?'"
Other survey questions asked about suicide, recreational drug use and whether students had enough food at home.
One mother, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Free Beacon that "parents had no idea these questions would be asked" and said she was "outraged" that the school district would ask pre-teens such explicit questions.
"To go on field trips the district has parents sign permission slips, but for the district to ask our children private explicit sexual questions they are able to do so without consent?" she said. "This makes no sense."
The outrage over the sexually explicit survey comes as parents across the country are pushing back against what they say is inappropriate curriculum content.
In Las Vegas, the Clark County School District and several school officials are being sued over a "pornographic" monologue that a high school student was required to recite in drama class. The monologue was reportedly too vulgar to read aloud at school board meetings. The student's parents are suing for "unlawful grooming and abuse of a minor."
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