Are schools required to teach about relationships and sexuality?
Yes, but HOW schools teach the subject is decided by each school.
Do schools have to follow the Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide?
No. These are guidelines only - schools can choose to teach the topic in their own way. Here is the Minister of Education, Jan Tinetti, in Parliament on 15 August 2023, confirming that schools can develop their own RSE curriculum content.
Do parents have a say in what is taught?
Yes. By law, schools must consult with their community every two years to decide the content of their RSE. More information about what is a meaningful consultation is here. A case study of a successful primary school consultation is here.
Can parents withdraw their children from RSE lessons?
Yes. Put your request for withdrawal in writing. A template letter is here. An example of a successful approach to a principal is here.
Can parents speak at a Board of Trustees meeting?
Yes, with permission. Advice on how to go about that is here.
Should the school have written policies about RSE and gender practices?
Yes. A list of things BOTs should consider and questions to ask them is here.
Are all teachers, principals and BOTs in favour of the MOE guidelines for RSE?
No. There is a general lack of knowledge, amongst teachers as well as parents, about the detail in the RSE curriculum. While some teachers (and parents) do agree with gender identity beliefs, many are alarmed by the ideas being promoted but are fearful of losing their jobs if they speak against the RSE guidelines or question social transitioning at school. Principals and BOTs are sometimes waiting for parents to speak up so that they have evidence that this teaching is not wanted by their community.
You will achieve more if you treat teachers, principals, and BOTs as allies rather than adversaries, and work together to create an RSE curriculum that everyone can support.
Can schools transition my child behind my back?
Unhappily, yes. This has happened to parents in New Zealand. (See our testimonials.) The Ministry of Education endorses the practice of hiding changed pronouns in its guide Supporting LGBTQIA Students.
RGE has received legal advice that it is entirely dependent on the principal's opinion whether or not parents will be informed.
As you cannot be certain that you will be made aware of your child’s social transition at school, it is imperative that you become fully aware of what is being taught there regarding gender identity and which rainbow organisations or clubs the school hosts. Knowing what beliefs are being presented to your child as facts is the first step towards countering this damaging ideology.
Can schools take my child to get a binder or puberty blockers without my permission?
Possibly. (See previous answer above.) RGE has heard of schools discussing binders, puberty blockers, and cross sex hormones with secondary students but we have not had reports of these things being supplied via schools, possibly because they are easy to get elsewhere. Information about how to access these items is readily available from rainbow lobby groups like InsideOUT, Rainbow Youth, or Gender Minorities Aotearoa.
Overview
The Relationship and Sexuality Education Guide (RSE Guide) for teachers, school leaders, and boards of trustees, produced by the New Zealand Ministry of Education and published in September 2020, not only accepts but actively promotes the ideas of gender identity and gender diversity and encourages schools to focus on being a safe place for lgbtqi+ students.
The authors of the guide reveal themselves to be totally captured by gender ideology, and the guide promulgates this ideology at every point. In this regard, it is a highly politicised document that is pushing an agenda with which the majority of the population is unfamiliar and for which there is no evidential basis.
There is no recognition in the guide that there is a strongly critical international movement which completely rejects gender ideology. This movement includes academics, psychotherapists, social workers, scientists, doctors, teachers, parents, people who identify as transgender, and detransitioners.
They all reject
the notion that it is possible to change sex
the idea that gender identity is real
the language that says biological sex is “assigned” at birth
the idea that there is a male brain and a female brain
state schools promoting a belief system as if it is fact
state schools forcing staff and students to acknowledge and affirm people’s self-identification of gender
the deception involved in assisting school age children to socially transition and to keep this secret from their families
the “affirm only” approach which leaves no room to encourage a child to explore their gender expression and any confusion they may feel when their feelings and preferred behaviour do not fit with sex role stereotypes
outdated sex role stereotypes being used to encourage children to believe that they may have been born into the wrong body
giving primacy to a concept (gender) over a reality (biological sex)
children being set on a path of surgical intervention and lifelong dependence on pharmaceuticals before they are legally old enough to understand the consequences
the proposition that ‘social transition’ is harmless and in a child’s best interests
that there is ever a case for suggesting that permanently changing and damaging a healthy body is an acceptable response to any form of mental and emotional distress
that it is ever acceptable to lie to a child and pretend that they are something they are not.
Teaching gender identity across the curriculum
The RSE guide encourages the teaching of gender ideology as fact from Year 1. Five year olds are to be taught to “Understand the relationship between gender, identity and wellbeing” and the concept of ‘gender identity’ and that people can change their sex is reinforced every single year thereafter. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 30)
Level 2: Akonga can show that they: Are able to identify gender stereotypes, understand the difference between sex and gender, and know that there are diverse gender and sexual identities in society. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 31)
Level 3: Akonga can show that they: Understand how communities develop and use inclusive practices to support gender and sexual diversity. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 32)
Level 4: Akonga can show that they: Know about pubertal change (including hormonal changes, menstruation, body development, and the development of gender identities), and about how pubertal change relates to social norms around gender and sexuality; and can make plans to support their own wellbeing and that of others. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 33)
Level 5: Akonga can show that they: Know about a range of cultural approaches to issues of gender and sexuality and how these relate to holistic understandings of wellbeing, eg, in terms of: varying perspectives on contraception and reproduction for different people, such as teens, heterosexual couples, same-sex couples, and single parents or cultural, generational, and personal values related to gender and sexual identities. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-13 Pg 36)
Level 6: Akonga can show that they: Are able to examine how gender and sexual identities can shift in different contexts and over time, and understand how these identities can be affected by relationships, family, media, popular culture, religion, spirituality, and youth cultures. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-13 Pg 37)
Level 7: Akonga can show that they: Understand how sex, gender, and sexuality might change across the lifespan (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-13 Pg 38)
Schools are prompted to adhere to gender beliefs in everyday practices:
Programmes should acknowledge gender and sexual diversity and make sure that a range of identities is visible in resources.
Ākonga should be addressed by their preferred name and pronouns.
Teachers can reflect on and change exclusionary practices such as lining up in girls’ and boys’ lines, requiring students to place bags in girls’ or boys’ categories, or organising class groups according to gender binaries. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 36)
Further, the RSE Guide recommends embedding the concept of gender into all areas of the curriculum:
While RSE concepts and content will be specifically taught in health education and supported in physical education, there are many opportunities for RSE across the New Zealand Curriculum. (Examples are given of how to do this in physical education, English, science, technology, social sciences, the arts, languages, and mathematics and statistics.) (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 28-29)
The Guide does not draw attention to how the right of parents to withdraw their children from sexuality and relationship education classes will be impacted by this ‘embedding’ recommendation, and thus does not suggest how parents’ rights in this regard might be respected. Although the Guide correctly states that schools must consult parents about the content of relationship and sexuality lessons, there is no question that the practice of embedding the topics throughout the curriculum thwarts the ability of parents to opt their children out of specific lessons. [1]
The Guide asserts that
Many ākonga at primary and intermediate schools are thinking about their gender identities, and some are aware of their sexual orientation. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 35)
We would suggest that while awareness of sexual orientation is often (but not always) innate, children are only thinking about their gender identities because that is a concept that school introduces them to in their first year at school and continues to reinforce in all subsequent years.
Teaching belief as fact
The RSE Guide promotes as fact the idea that a person’s feeling of being masculine, feminine, or neither, is more important than their physical sexed body. The phrase “assigned sex at birth” is referred to multiple times and, along with the use of words such as “cisgender” and “gender fluid”, demonstrates how the Guide has completely adopted the language of gender Ideology, and uses words which are offensive to many people world-wide who do not share this ideological belief.
The scientific evidence is very clear that there are two, and only two, distinct biological sexes. Sex is not an assumption and is not “assigned at birth” – it is observed and recorded. Teaching these falsehoods means children are learning to genuinely believe that it is possible to be born in the wrong body and that a person can actually – literally – change their sex.
Schools should be promoting body positive messages, not the idea that non-conformity to gender stereotypes means that a child’s personality or body is wrong. Children should not be led to believe that they need to change their body, bind their breasts, or wear different clothes to match a regressive sex stereotype.
Confusing and contradictory definitions
The glossary for the RSE Guide for both Years 1-8 and Years 9-13 is confusing to say the least: (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 48-50)
Sexual orientation: A person’s sexual identity in relation to the gender or genders to which they are attracted. Sexual orientation and gender identity are two different things. Sexual orientation can be fluid for some people.
Lesbian: A woman who is emotionally and sexually attracted to other women. This is used as both a personal identity and a community identity.
Gay: A person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to the same gender. This is more widely used by men than women and can be both a personal and community identity.
Bisexual: A person who is emotionally and sexually attracted to more than one gender.
According to this guide, sexual orientation is about which gender a person is sexually attracted to. Any adult and many children can see the contradiction in sexual orientation being described as attraction to a gender. We all know that sexual orientation refers to the sex one is attracted to. Gender is an irrelevant concept when talking about sexual orientation.
There is no acknowledgement at all given to the clear and consistent opposition by lesbian and gay organisations to the idea of lesbians and gays being same gender attracted[2]. Nor is there any recognition that for young lesbians and gays the idea that they ought to be attracted to the males and females who identify as the opposite sex is distressing and confusing.
Of course, in the gender identity world, gender is fluid and can change over one’s life as defined below:
Gender: Gender is an individual identity related to a continuum of masculinities and femininities. A person’s gender is not fixed or immutable.
Gender binary (male/female binary): The (incorrect) assumption that there are only two genders (girl/boy or man/woman)
Gender fluid: Describes a person whose gender changes over time and can go back and forth. The frequency of these changes depends on the individual.
Sex assigned at birth: All babies are assigned a sex at birth, usually determined by a visual observation of external genitalia. A person’s gender may or may not align with their sex assigned at birth.
Transgender (trans): This term describes a wide variety of people whose gender is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Transgender people may be binary or non-binary, and some opt for some form of medical intervention (such as hormone therapy or surgery).
The writers of the glossary seem oblivious to the incoherence of saying that gender is not binary while at the same time believing trans people can change from one side of the binary to the other (multiple times) or can be non-binary. If there is no such thing as the gender binary, doesn’t that make everyone non-binary?
Missing from the glossary are the definitions of words which reflect biology such as male and female. It is challenging to imagine how biology and reproduction will be taught in this brave new world!
(Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 48-49) & (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-13 Pg 53-54)
Eroding parents' rights
The RSE guide encourages schools to socially transition children without necessarily seeking parental consent. Socially transitioning a child is not an isolated act without consequence – it is the first step in a very serious, complex and life-changing process about which parents ought to be fully informed.
Gender ideology supporters also specifically encourage gender-questioning children to speak to Rainbow organisations, peers, or an ‘online family’ rather than their parents. In some schools, advice about using binders or starting on hormones is being provided to students by teachers who are not medically qualified.
The RSE guide appears to endorse this approach, not once stating that schools should inform or seek parental permission before using a student’s preferred name or pronouns. Where students need access to ‘support services’ and these cannot be accessed onsite, the guide specifies that students should be supported in seeking access to professionals outside of the school with no mention made of seeking parental consent. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 19; Pg 22)
The question of pronouns
A child changing pronouns is the beginning of social transition. Asking students and teachers to use ‘preferred pronouns’ may appear to be kind and inclusive, but in reality is forcing other people to adhere to a belief system they may not agree with.
Preferred pronouns can cause tension and conflict through the fear, or in the event, of someone making a mistake. They cement the social transition of a child, making it harder for them to later change their mind. Some gender non-conforming children may feel forced to choose different pronouns to avoid scrutiny from bullies.
Preferred pronouns reinforce the incorrect idea that people can change their sex. When the school encourages their use, they are promoting gender ideology as fact rather than belief. It is difficult to see this as anything other than ideological indoctrination.
Safe-guarding issues
The RSE guide recommends, “Ideally, schools will have at least one gender-neutral toilet available for akonga, but trans, non-binary, and intersex akonga should not be required to use this rather than male or female toilets.”
This is an extraordinary double standard and creates a significant safe-guarding issue. Trans, non-binary, and intersex children can choose which toilets and changing rooms they use but girls are forced to accept males (who say they are really girls) in their toilets and changing rooms. Teaching girls that a boy really can become a girl trains them to suppress their instinctual caution and override their embarrassment and natural discomfort with having boys in their single sex spaces. It says that what girls want or feel doesn’t matter, and that they have no right to set their own boundaries.
Absolutely no consideration is given to the comfort or dignity of girls who do not want to share intimate spaces with male-bodied people and who have the right to set such boundaries. This statement clearly prioritises the needs of children who believe they are trans over those who don’t.
Gender questioning children need privacy and dignity just the same as other students. To that end, the school should ensure there are some unisex facilities for these students to utilise, but they should continue to offer single sex facilities as well. Boys and girls alike deserve a single-sex shared space where they can get changed and be comfortable together. Students are entitled to sex-segregated changing rooms, especially when some children, in particular those who are beginning puberty, are experiencing significant bodily changes.
(Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 20- 22)
Outside providers
The Guide is clear that it is not considered best practice to hand over the responsibility for RSE programmes to outside providers and there are a number of questions they suggest should be asked such as “How is this provider funded and what is its purpose for existing? What is its agenda?” And “Schools should evaluate the programmes and services provided by outside agencies alongside their in-school learning programmes”. (Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 1-8 Pg 34 & Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guide: Years 9-12 Pg 40)
Despite these previous cautions, In April 2022 the Ministry of Education issued new resources designed to provide further support for teaching relationships and sexuality education in schools. As part of this update schools are urged to “use resources from trusted organisations like InsideOUT or RainbowYOUTH”.
Many of the third party activist groups that are endorsed by the Ministry have links on their pages that lead children to ever more extreme versions of gender ideology. These rainbow lobby groups universally glamourise the concept of being trans and convince children it is possible and even easy and desirable to change sex.
(Refer Relationships and Sexuality Education Guidelines: Years 7-10 Pg 21)
Conclusion
The RSE guide sets out many values with which most New Zealanders will agree, in terms of inclusiveness, safety and respect, and it deals with issues such as pornography and online abuse that are unfortunately highly relevant in today’s world. However, its heavy focus on gender theory is hazardous for children.
Many schools are now constantly promoting, in every facet of school life, the disorder of body dissociation as an ideal, chosen identity. Gender ideology communicates to children that some identities are more or less fashionable or desirable. Children who adopt a gender identity are constantly praised, put on a pedestal and celebrated; whilst lesbian, gay or heterosexual children are painted as privileged, boring, or undesirable. Placing so much significance on gender identity creates a breeding ground for social contagion and a consequent sharp increase in students developing gender dysphoria.
Affirmation of a trans identity is not kind. On the contrary it confirms to a child that they are the wrong sex and encourages their belief that their body needs to be changed. Medical intervention can only ever effect cosmetic change; the child’s sex remains the same. Other children should not be coerced into expressing a belief in ‘gender identity’ through the threat that not to do so is ‘unkind’ or ‘transphobic’.
Schools should be teaching that no child is born in the wrong body and that children can reject gender stereotypes and be their authentic selves without discrimination, labelling, or medical intervention to ‘fix’ them.
[1] https://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/learning-at-school/sexuality-education/
[2] https://lgballiance.org.uk/about/https://www.lesbians-united.org/about.htmlhttps://lesbianalliance.org.uk/
Legal rights
Parents have the right to opt their children out of specified parts of the health curriculum related to sexuality.
Many parents are surprised to learn that, by law, schools are required to provide a full consultation for parents on sexuality education every two years. This includes providing the curriculum content and adequate opportunity for parents to submit anonymous feedback.
Some parents have advised that when they have requested the teaching materials, schools will only allow them to leaf through hard copy versions in the school office due to copyright issues (for example, Family Planning’s resource “Navigating the Journey"), thus creating a barrier for many busy parents.
Schools are free to deliver the Relationship and Sexuality curriculum in their own ways, after consultation with their communities. Some may restrict the teaching to specific RSE classes, which parents can opt their child out of if they wish. Others may follow the recommendations from the Ministry of Education and ensure that gender theory and ideology is enmeshed throughout as many different areas of study as possible – English, Science, History, PRIDE week lessons, extra curricular rainbow groups and so on – thus restricting your ability as a parent to effectively withdraw your child from these topics.
Individual teachers may develop their own curriculum for the year, using the Ministry of Education guidelines as just that – a minimum guide. So, some teachers, who may be particularly passionate about gender theory, may teach more extreme or activist versions than a teacher who perhaps isn’t as convinced that sex is “on a spectrum”. All teachers, however, will be expected to teach the minimum concepts found in the curriculum (for example, that sex is assigned, not observed, at birth, and that sex is on a spectrum, not binary).
Schools should always seek to inform, involve, and respect parents when deciding what to teach their students. This is particularly important when those topics are of a sensitive or sexual nature. The teaching of gender ideology may directly go against the faith and culture of many students and families within the school community. Child safe-guarding, age appropriateness, and cultural or religious sensitivities are issues to be openly and readily discussed with parents – not avoided or actively hidden from parents.
What duty does a school have to inform parents if their child socially transitions at school?
The RSE guide encourages schools to support a child’s social transition without mentioning the need to consult parents. Social transition – where a child changes their name and wears clothing associated with the opposite sex – is not a benign act but the first extremely controversial step of a treatment pathway for gender dysphoria. When schools endorse social transition without explicit parental consent, they are depriving parents of the opportunity to fulfil their responsibilities under the Care of Children Act 2004 to determine the medical treatment of their child.
We have received legal advice that confirms that, under the Education Act, principals are expected to inform parents of any matters that in the principal’s opinion “are preventing or slowing the student’s progress... (or) harming the student’s relationships with teachers or other students.”
Points to note are:
This expectation is entirely dependent on the principal’s opinion and there is no case law to clarify the extent or limits of the principal’s decision.
Whether the obligation to inform parents of any matter is triggered depends on the circumstances of a particular case. There ought to be no school policy or teaching practice that automatically decides to keep information from a parent. Each case must be considered on its merits and the decision made by the principal.
Although parents have legal duties and responsibilities towards their children, as the children get older, the parents’ guardianship role changes to that of an advisor. The courts have previously found that a child of or over the age of 16 years in most cases is presumed to have sufficient maturity to make his or her own decisions.
Conclusion
In the absence of case law, whether or not you will be informed about your child socially transitioning at school wholly depends on the principal’s ideological view and the age of your child. If the principal is fully supportive of organisations like InsideOUT and follows its advice, you will not be informed. InsideOUT incorrectly asserts that schools are obliged by the Privacy Act not to tell parents and, in addition, from the age of 16 your child is considered old enough to instruct the school not to tell you.
As you cannot be certain that you will be made aware of your child’s social transition at school, it is imperative that you become fully aware of what is being taught there regarding gender identity and which rainbow organisations or clubs the school hosts. Knowing what beliefs are being presented to your child as facts is the first step towards countering this damaging ideology.
Make sure you are fully informed about the biennial consultations on the Health curriculum so that you are able to consider withdrawing your child from RSE classes if you think the content is unsuitable.
Suggested email to your school principal
Subject: Exemption from specific elements of Relationships and Sexuality Education
Kia ora xxx,
I have some concerns about the Ministry of Education’s current suggested RSE content. Please exempt my children from any instruction, in the context of any school subject:
Regarding theories of gender identity.
Regarding preferred gender pronouns.
Promoting the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, gender change surgery, or the idea that human beings can change their biological sex.
Encouraging students to consider stopping the normal menstrual cycle for non-medical reasons (e.g. the Education Outdoors New Zealand programme “Going with the flow”).
Promoting the belief that people other than women can menstruate, become pregnant, or give birth.
Implying that there are more than two sexes in humans or that there is a “continuum” of femaleness and maleness.
Promoting the idea that adherence to gender stereotypes or the expression of personality can determine whether someone is male or female.
Encouraging students to keep information about their well-being and/or identity secret from parents.
Based on materials sourced from the activist groups Minus 18 or InsideOut, or any similar LGBT+ activist or lobby group.
Encouraging participation in Rainbow Clubs or similar groups where teachers or students discuss transgender or non-binary identities.
Please note that you are obliged to meet these requests under the Education and Training Act 2020 (section 51). Please notify me in advance if my children will need to be separated from their class for this reason, so that I can discuss this with them and with you. If there is any ambiguity as to whether planned instruction contains any of the elements listed above, then please discuss this with me in advance.
I would also like the opportunity to understand how our school will be approaching RSE instruction. Please provide me in advance with copies of any RSE materials that will be used in classroom instruction, whether in the context of a dedicated RSE class or in any other curriculum areas. Please also provide me with a copy of all school policies that address gender identity.
Some common parental concerns about the Ministry’s suggested RSE content are described in these two articles:
If you would like to better understand the reasons for my request, you may find these articles helpful.
I very much appreciate your assistance with this important matter. Please contact me if you would like to further discuss this request.
Kind regards,
xxx
(This template was published by Laura Lopez on her substack Arguments with Friends.)
InsideOUT’s school resources ignore the needs of girls.
There are ten written resource documents for schools on InsideOUT’s website that can be downloaded or ordered as physical copies. In addition, there are posters and videos available. These glossy resources have been produced with at least $100,000 of support from the Ministry of Education.
In all the documents, the narrative focuses on schools nurturing and supporting rainbow students in multiple ways, and encourages staff and other students to do so as well. However, there are no instances where rainbow students are guided on how to behave with mutual respect towards others.
Lack of expertise
You would expect InsideOut, as a “trusted organisation”,* to be run by very well qualified and experienced people from a range of professions such as education, medicine, or psychiatry. But instead, a perusal of InsideOut’s website finds that of the 35 people profiled, a large majority have no academic qualifications whatsoever. Only five of the 35 hold bachelor’s degrees and one has a Master of Education. Of note is that none of the 12 school co-ordinators, who go into schools to provide sexuality education ‘training’ to teachers, has any academic qualifications.
Funded by the taxpayer
InsideOut’s widespread influence is not due to a groundswell of grass roots support and private donations. According to the Charities Register, InsideOut’s income for the 2021-22 reporting year was $1.84million, of which over $1 million seems to be a grant from government ministries to provide “goods and services”. The Ministry of Education has confirmed in a letter that it provided the charity with $100,000 in 2020. More than $800,000 of InsideOut’s income was spent on “Volunteer and employee related payments.” No other voice in the debate about sex and gender identity has a fraction of this kind of money to spend.
It is a mystery how InsideOut came to be viewed by the MOE as the go-to experts on relationship and sexuality education. The organisation has been showered with money for at least five years, so that a large number of NZ schools have now been influenced by its doctrine.
Trans identities are paramount
Specifically, schools are told that gender-neutral toilet and changing room facilities should be available, but that “trans, gender diverse, or intersex students will never be made to use a separate facility against their wishes”. So a boy who identifies as a girl should be allowed to use the girls’ facilities if that’s what he wishes, irrespective of how the girls, including lesbians, might feel about having a male-sexed person in intimate spaces with them.
For overnight school trips, InsideOUT offers the same advice ( to allow trans students to choose where they sleep) except when visiting a marare. In that circumstance, the advice is that “Where possible, the school should consult with the marae manager/s or iwi affiliated with the marae before the visit to discuss options for trans and intersex students and reach a solution that upholds the mana of everyone involved”. Presumably, girls are included in this recommendation to uphold everyone’s mana. Is a marae the only place a girl’s mana is upheld?
Girls matter too
Although schools should indeed assist with rainbow students’ full participation in school life, no students’ rights should come at the expense of other students. Women and girls are notoriously bad at speaking out against injustices or abuses, especially where there is a risk of group ostracisation, so that policies that make them uncomfortable or fearful are often never challenged.
InsideOut's school guidelines for transgender students appear to give no consideration as to how they might clash with girls’ safety and wellbeing. Girls matter, too.
Read detailed critiques of these resources here:
Ending Rainbow-focussed bullying and discrimination
Making schools safer
*See the MOE's Frequently Queried Topics Years 7-10 (p21)
Overview
Family Planning believes young people have the right to “honest, accurate, and age-appropriate information about sexuality.” Their resource, Navigating the Journey, is provided for this purpose and is used in over 30% of New Zealand schools. https://www.familyplanning.org.nz/catalog/resources
This programme is intended for children from year 1 to year 10 with the aim of promoting the wellbeing of young people and to help them develop healthy, consensual, and respectful relationships.
While containing many worthwhile activities, the resource is not accurate or age-appropriate when it comes to sex and gender. The lessons present gender ideology as fact, without reference to gender identity being something some people believe but not the majority. Heterosexuality is only mentioned negatively.
The programme is divided into lessons for Years 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 , and 9-10, after which Health ceases to be a compulsory subject in schools. The same problems are evident at all levels of the lesson plans:
Factual inaccuracies
From Year One, children are taught that there are more sexes than male and female by incorrectly using intersex (a medical condition) as proof. (see our FAQ on intersex conditions here.)
Further, they are taught incorrect biology:
Turn around if you think everyone who has a period identifies as a girl. (NO) (p59 Y5-6)
Sit down if you think some boys start growing breasts during puberty. (YES) (p59 Y5-6)
Do our body parts define who we are? (No. Some people with penises might feel more like girls and some people who identify as boys might have female body parts.) (p63 Y5-6)
Appendix 19 (Y5-6)has labelled drawings of reproductive parts, but no label to say they are male or female.
The discussion about periods in Appendix 26 (Y5-6) refers to people getting periods, not girls getting periods.
The false and unscientific phrase “Sex assigned at birth” is used repeatedly. (eg p30 Y7-8)
A recommended video states that when you’re born, grown-ups make a “guess” and who you are can change from day to day Who Are You? - Book Reading - YouTube. (p38 Y3-4)
On p50 (Y7-8) the suggested discussion questions depict the battle for gay rights as still in full swing when it was won 20 years ago.
The rare condition of intersex is elevated to mainstream. At an incidence of 0.018% in the population, intersex doesn’t deserve to be listed alongside male and female (p30 Y7-8)
Belief taught as fact
“Other people may be born with female or male bodies, but as they grow up, they identify as being of the opposite gender, or of neither gender. The term for this is “transgender” or “non-binary”. (p33 Y7-8) A healthier message without labelling people would be: “They are gender nonconforming and that’s ok.”
Introducing Teddy - YouTube (Y3-4) “only you know who you are on the inside” apparently your parents don’t know you! Also reinforces that if a person (teddy in this case) goes against gender stereotypes (a bow in the hair), then they’re actually the other sex.
Erasure of sex categories
The language is clunky, confusing and ideological. If they kept it to the basics – male/female, gay/straight and said, “Just be you and ignore stereotypes,” the message would be a lot clearer and far more positive for everyone.
Occasionally man/male/boyfriend and woman/female/girlfriend appear but mostly these terms are removed and this makes for very clunky terminology and explanations like “people who have a penis”, “young people can get pregnant”,
'Sex' and 'gender' are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes as very separate things (see pp32 and 30 Y7-8), and sometimes falsely, as when the male/female labels are removed from diagrams of reproductive parts "to support the discussion of sexual diversity". They mean to enforce the idea of gender identity. (p66 Y7-8)
Stereotypes reinforced
Students are encouraged to challenge stereotypes (good!) but they are also relied upon to prove gender ideology.
“…too much exposure to stereotypical characters can affect how we perceive women and men and our expectations of what it is to be a woman or man. They can even shape how we see ourselves. It can be challenging for those who don’t see themselves as female, male, girl, boy, woman, or man.” (p31 Y7-8) A big opportunity has been missed to tell kids that stereotypes don’t matter, and that you can be yourself without worrying about labels.
“Do our body parts define who we are? (No. Some people with penises might feel more like girls and some people who identify as boys might have female body parts.)” (p68 Y7-8) If we are ignoring stereotypes, why are we labelling ourselves at all?
Lack of inclusion
Only non-heterosexual relationships are noted as worthy of celebration. The rare times heterosexuality is referenced it is ridiculed (p31) or treated as oppressive (p49 Y7-8).
In the Understanding gender and stereotypes lesson (pp29-34 Y7-8) – the heterosexual couples are from fairytales while the intended learning aims resources are all for other sexualities. Apparently including ‘everyone’ excludes heterosexual people.
The activities that ask students to, “visualize being straight in a gay society and imagine how you feel” and “compare heterosexual and homosexual couples in different situations”, treat heterosexual people as oppressors and have the potential to create divisions between children where there previously were none. p49 (Y7-8)
Risk of isolation
Activities that put students in small groups and make them stand and move to make their opinions or knowledge known are prime opportunities for creating embarrassment and isolation. (p46, 58, 59 Y7-8)
Seeds of doubt
Navigating the Journey plants seeds of doubt in vulnerable children's minds by saturating them with gender ideology, normalising stereotypes, and promoting gender identity labels. Children are manipulated into wanting to find a label for themselves so they can also be celebrated as special. Children need to be left alone without labels, because 80% of gender confused kids find peace with their bodies after going through puberty.
The focus on transgender identities is confusing and obscures the simple fact that to be inclusive is to accept everyone the way they are without labels.
When the resource asks, “What are some things that we could do as a community to make sure everybody feels comfortable and safe, whatever their identity?” the answer surely is, "How about lose the labels and stereotypes and let kids be kids? "
Conclusion
This programme is politicising children, turning them into little social justice warriors to fight a battle that doesn’t exist. The number one thing that could be done to improve acceptance of others is to remove gender ideology from schools and promote simple inclusivity of everyone, with no labels.
Instead, students are told that their body concerns may be kept confidential from their parents and they are encouraged to find a wide range of other support people. Among the support sources cited is Rainbow Youth which encourages children who are uncomfortable in their bodies to transition.
Worksheets are available for parents and caregivers but do not include any of the above information. There is no acknowledgement of the credentials of the authors of Navigating the Journey. Parents should be aware that untruths are being taught about biology, identity, and gender.
Schools do not have to ask for parents’ permission for their child to be included in this programme but parents do have the right to withdraw them. For more information read Your Rights as a Parent.
Under NZ law, parents have a range of rights and responsibilities that they can exercise when raising their children.
The Care of Children Act
A child’s upbringing is primarily the responsibility of their parents and the parents are to be consulted by any other parties involved in that child’s upbringing.
NZ Care of Children Act 2004, s.5 (Principles relating to child’s welfare and best interests) states:
“a child’s care, development, and upbringing should be primarily the responsibility of his or her parents and guardians,” and,
“a child’s care, development, and upbringing should be facilitated by ongoing consultation and co-operation between his or her parents, guardians, and any other person having a role in his or her care under a parenting or guardianship order”.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2004/0090/latest/DLM317241.html
The Crimes Act 1961
Parents have a duty to take reasonable steps to protect their child from injury.
NZ Crimes Act 1961, Schedule 2, s.152 – Parents of children under the age of 18 have “a legal duty … to take reasonable steps to protect that child from injury.”
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2011/0079/latest/DLM3650020.html
The Bill of Rights Act 1990
Every citizen has the right to freedom of belief and freedom of expression.
NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990, s.13 –
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief, including the right to adopt and to hold opinions without interference.”
s.14 – “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.”
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/whole.html#DLM225513
The Human Rights Act 1993
Discrimination on the grounds of sex is permitted in the interests of public decency, safety, and fairness.
NZ Human Rights Act 1993, s.46 allows for single sex space discrimination, “on the ground of public decency or public safety”. It is established that members of both sexes sometimes need sex-segregated spaces away from the eyes of the public for decency and safety.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0082/latest/DLM304624.html
Some service providers include males who claim they are women into their women's spaces because they think they have to by law. They are not aware of their obligations to provide services that are safe for women - in some cases it is discriminatory not to provide these services.
https://www.speakupforwomen.nz/self-id
The Education and Training Act 2020
Parents have the right to opt their children out of specified parts of the health curriculum related to sexuality.
NZ Education and Training Act 2020, s51(1), "A parent of a student enrolled at a State school may ask the principal in writing to ensure that the student is released from tuition in specified parts of the health curriculum related to sexuality education."
Many parents are surprised to learn that, by law, schools are required to provide a full consultation for parents on sexuality education every two years. This includes providing the curriculum content and adequate opportunity for parents to submit anonymous feedback.
NZ Education and Training Act 2020, s91(1), "The board of a State school must, at least once every 2 years, after consulting the school community, adopt a statement on the delivery of the health curriculum.
S91(2), "The purpose of the consultation is to—(a) inform the school community about the content of the health curriculum; and (b) ascertain the wishes of the school community regarding the way in which the health curriculum should be implemented given the views, beliefs, and customs of the members of that community; and (c) determine, in broad terms, the health education needs of the students at the school."
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0038/latest/LMS171475.html
Here are the legal requirements for schools to consult with parents about the content of relationship and sexuality education and what parents can do if they are dissatisfied with the consultation offered.
https://resistgendereducation.substack.com/p/consultation-use-it-or-lose-it
The Responsibilities of Boards of Trustees
In the last few years, schools and teachers have found themselves in a gender minefield without the training or quality guidance they need on how to navigate through the demands being placed upon them by some very confused ideas about sex and gender.
Among other things they are being asked to:
· teach gender identity beliefs as if they are facts
· use the pronouns and names chosen by individual students
· allow students who claim to be the opposite sex to use the toilets of that sex irrespective of any discomfort the other students may feel
· keep a student’s social transition to another gender a secret from their parents.
Why is this a problem for Boards of Trustees?
The stewardship role of Boards of Trustees involves planning for, and acting in, the interests of the school and its community. Student learning, wellbeing, achievement, and progress are the Board's main concern. (Ref Pg 2, ERO School Trustees Booklet 2017).
Issues which affect student well-being affect their learning. The sudden rise in the numbers of students expressing gender identity beliefs - the idea that they can change their sex or be non-binary or have no sex at all - has serious implications for schools. When students assert that their feelings about their sex or gender are more important than their physical sexed bodies, and when school policies and practices support those beliefs, the well-being of everyone in the school is affected.
The desires of some students should not be met at the expense of other students. School policies and practices need to be respectful of the whole school community and facilities need to meet the needs of all students.
In order to navigate the gender minefield, trustees and staff need to become fully informed about the concepts associated with gender identity theory and be aware that these concepts are heavily criticised by a wide range of international experts. This is a complex issue that has the potential for conflict in the community and even litigation against the school.
In this video, Stella O'Malley, psychotherapist and Director of Genspect, provides an introduction to the issues for schools. Genspect advocates for a "cautious, gentle, compassionate and understanding approach."
Relationships and sexuality education
The Relationship and Sexuality Education Guide (RSE Guide) for NZ schools that was published in September 2020 not only accepts but actively promotes controversial gender identity beliefs as if they are fact.
Schools are entrusted to educate children about controversial topics by providing students with both sides of a debate presented neutrally and objectively. This trust is being undermined by the MOE’s policies for teaching children that they can choose their sex and that embracing body dysmorphia as part of a trans identity is an easy, joyful, and authentic response to unhappiness. No alternative viewpoint is presented.
Guidelines that recommend schools collude with students to keep their gender transition at school a secret from their parents are the ultimate betrayal of trust and are unprofessional in the extreme. Court cases have already been instigated overseas in relation to demands like those placed upon our teachers. Litigation has been brought by parents whose children have been socially transitioned at school without their consent; on behalf of girls who have been sexually assaulted in mixed-sex school facilities; and by teachers whose personal beliefs have been overridden by school policies that enforce gender ideology practices such as using preferred pronouns.
The purpose of a school is not to provide a conduit for political or social ideologies. We recommend that Boards of Trustees remove gender politics from schools and focus on respecting the needs of all students and creating an environment of acceptance rather than one of exceptionalism.
Concepts that everyone needs to fully understand:
· What is gender identity theory? Why do some people say it is fact when it is really a belief?
· What are the new definitions and language of gender theory and are they accurate?
· What is gender dysphoria and what are the differing explanations for it?
· Why are there suddenly so many students saying they are trans and what is the best evidence for how to support them?
· What is gender affirmation and what are the implications for schools when they automatically affirm students in an adopted gender identity?
· What is social transition and is it a harmful option for children with gender distress?
· What is the new evidence that puberty blockers are powerful drugs that are being used experimentally to disrupt puberty?
. Why are mental health outcomes better when children are allowed to mature naturally?
. What are the flow-on effects in a school when students claim they are the other sex oe that they don't have a sex?
. Why are transgender rights not an extension of gay rights?
. What are intersex conditions (DSD - differences in sex development) and what do they have to do with being transgender?
For answers to these and other questions go to https://www.resistgendereducation.nz/faqs
School policies need to be based not on ideology but on facts, reality, and evidence. Safety and fairness for all students should be paramount and any political or ideological positions should be avoided.
Social transition (the adoption of names, pronouns, and clothing of the opposite sex). Social transition is a process that schools do not have the knowledge or expertise to oversee. It can prematurely cement a life-altering decision and make it hard for a student to retract. It places unreasonable demands for other students and staff to comply with a minority belief. Unambiguous policies are needed to enable schools to manage any student or parental requests to affirm a child in a chosen identity.
Uniforms It is appropriate for uniforms and hairstyles to be fluid. If students want to wear a different uniform, they should be able to without it being a major statement. Allowing students to express themselves as they choose does not make them the opposite sex.
Names While peers and teachers may choose to use nicknames, legal names should be used for all formal documents. Only when there has been a documented legal change of name should formal school records be altered.
Pronouns The use of ‘preferred pronouns’ is an unworkable concept in schools.Many neurodiverse and learning-disabled students, or those with speech and language difficulties, or with English as a second language, find the concept very confusing and difficult. It is also discriminatory to those who do not adhere to gender identity beliefs. It is not the responsibility of children or teachers to provide opposite sex affirmation to students in their classes.
Toilets, changing rooms, and residential stays Single-sex facilities at school and on residential stays are necessary for the safety and dignity of children of both sexes and should be protected. For the small number of children who find that challenging, separate single-occupancy facilities can be provided. No children should be asked to ignore their own need for privacy and dignity in order to validate another child’s self-perception.
Sport After puberty, for fairness and safety, all sports should be segregated by sex. Where it is safe, separate mixed-sex teams can be formed as optional extras.
Birth certificates Since June 2023 it has been possible for parents to change the sex marker on their child’s birth certificate. Very serious safe-guarding issues are raised if this change is not disclosed to the school. If the correct sex of a child is not known, the possibilities are open-ended for accusations of, or actual, sexual assaults.
Keeping secrets provides a ripe environment for all sorts of bullying and emotional blackmail. If teachers do not know the actual sex of the children under their care, they cannot safely provide medical assistance, or plan for residential camps, or offer sex-specific advice. In order to implement the school's policies around gender that have been formed for the benefit of all, the biological sex of every student must be declared upon enrolment.
1. Members of the community are permitted to attend School BOT meetings. Check your school’s website for details about the dates and times of meetings and how to ask for speaking rights. If the information is not there, contact the school office.
2. You will be given a time slot and should practise your presentation to be sure to keep within the allocated time.
3. Take along some supporters. Stay calm and address the BOT as allies rather than adversaries. Frame your concerns as questions for the Board to investigate and form policies around.
4. Highlight that the Board’s role is to work in partnership with the community, to ensure the best possible outcomes for all students. This partnership is fundamental to the wellbeing and success of students, and Board members should actively seek the input of parents, staff and students and take into account all relevant information to decide what is in the best interests of all students.
5. Ask when the next school consultation on Relationship and Sexuality Education will be held. Ask what is the school’s definition of sex and gender identity? Is the school’s definition in keeping with the views of its community? Is the school teaching scientific facts or ideological beliefs about human sexuality, or is it avoiding the subject altogether?
6. Remind the Board that they are required to undertake due diligence to manage risk and ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that the school is a healthy and safe environment for all staff and students.
7. Ask how the school meets the needs and safety of all students (and staff) in a way that ensures everyone’s values and beliefs are respected. How does the school ensure that no-one is pressured to endorse a belief they do not hold? Is the school gender identity policy consistent with the way it treats other religious or political beliefs?
8. As much as possible, provide personal or NZ evidence to support your comments. Send copies of your speech and evidence to the Board. Identify the actions you want the BOT to take and give a reasonable time frame for a response.
9. Ask what school policies might need to change, be added, or be removed so that children can be free to explore their identities in a neutral space that neither celebrates nor shames them.
10. Remember: Your goal is to reach agreement on a school curriculum and school policies that are scientifically accurate, age-appropriate, and have the support of most parents. Thank the Board for their time and emphasise the need for the community to be involved in formulating gender identity policies that everyone can support.
By law, schools are required to provide full consultation for parents on sexuality education every two years and to be guided by community input. As parents may want to withdraw their children from particular RSE lessons, the consultation needs to be full and transparent.
For parents to make fully-informed decisions, schools need to consult with them in good faith.
There should be a consultation period of at least two months.
All materials to be used with their children (including worksheets, videos, and graphics) should be readily available for parental assessment, without them having to go into the school. No materials should be withheld for copyright reasons.
The school should confirm that all teaching of RSE content will be in dedicated lessons, and that RSE will not be embedded throughout the curriculum as recommended by the MOE. Embedding the content thwarts the parents’ right to withdraw their children from some or all lessons.
Education about sex, gender, and sexuality should be age appropriate. Schools and parents should reach a consensus about what topics will be covered at each level at school and which questions will be referred to parents for answering.
Some points for Principals and Boards to consider:
· What is the school’s definition of sex and gender identity? Is the school’s definition in keeping with the views of its community? Is the school teaching scientific facts or ideological beliefs about human sexuality, or is it avoiding the subject altogether?
· How does the school show respect to those who don’t believe in gender theory? How will the school ensure that no-one is pressured to endorse a belief they do not hold?
· Does the school have robust policies around gender identity? What evidence has been used to support those policies? Is the school gender identity policy consistent with the way it treats other religious or political beliefs?
. What school policies might need to change, be added, or be removed so that children can be free to explore their identities in a neutral space that neither celebrates nor shames them?
. How will the school manage requests to ‘affirm’ a student in beliefs that are not supported by scientific evidence and not held by the majority of families or staff?
. How will the school meet the needs and safety of all students (and staff) in a way that ensures everyone’s values and beliefs are respected?
Some easy adjustments to the school curriculum could be removing scientific falsehoods, removing irrelevant information, moving some topics up the curriculum levels if necessary and keeping RSE in dedicated lessons rather than spread throughout the curriculum. (See our alternative lesson plans on our website on the ‘Schools’ page.)
https://www.resistgendereducation.nz/information/lesson-plans
After the consultation
After a meaningful consultation, the BOT has the final decision on what will be taught in the school. It does not have to agree with or implement the outcome of the consultation.
If you’re not happy with the outcome of the consultation, you can withdraw your child from RSE classes and prepare for the next consultation in two years’ time - or you could stand for the BOT in the next elections! (https://www.schoolboardelections.org.nz/ )
Concerns
Part way through our school year, several parents wrote to the school board, raising concerns about gender ideology being taught in the Health Curriculum. Broadly the concerns were in these areas:
· Lack of clear communication had prevented parents from exercising their right to withdraw their child from aspects of the curriculum. Parents were told that teachers had been directed to notify parents in advance about puberty and gender ideology. Despite this, some teachers taught without prior notification to parents. Parents felt that Teachers commit a breach of trust when they do not honour the commitment made by the school to parents and caregivers to provide prior notice of teaching in certain areas.
· Age appropriateness: There were concerns that some younger-aged children may not have the emotional intelligence or capability to fully comprehend and process some of the information.
· Topics should be dealt with by parents, not schools: Many believed these types of topics/questions are best dealt with by parents, who can convey the information at a time appropriate for their children.
· Lack of subject boundaries: Teachers teaching in a fluid manner and using their own discretion makes it difficult for the school to provide assurance that children would not be taught in areas from which parents had previously indicated they wished to have them excluded.
All these parents were in agreement that children should be taught to be accepting of those who are different to themselves and to accept diversity and to treat all people with kindness and respect. However, they noted that there is a difference between these things and teaching a worldview that is not shared by all in the community.
Board of Trustees’ Discussion
Discussion amongst board members touched on legal and ethical issues. There was the issue of a breach of the Education and Training Act (by not allowing parents to exercise their opt out rights). Also, potentially an employment law breach, with teachers not following the instructions given to them by the Principal. There was a contrary view expressed that the Teaching Standards and Code essentially requires teachers to affirm children's gender identities ('promoting the wellbeing of learners and protecting them from harm', 'promoting inclusive practices to support the needs and abilities of all learners', 'Create an environment where learners can be confident in their identities, languages, cultures and abilities').
Consultation
The board decided to put the health curriculum on hold until the views of the community could be ascertained. We did this via the biannual health curriculum consultation. The results of that consultation indicated that there was a low level of awareness in the school about the content of the curriculum and that a significant proportion of the community shared the concerns first raised by the letter writers.
New school practice
The Principal and senior staff drafted a new curriculum that attempted to find a middle path between the polarised views of the community.
· We reduced some of the gender content and removed it from the lower age group’s programme altogether - since age appropriateness was a key theme of parental feedback.
· We made the processes for notification of upcoming teaching much clearer so that parents could exercise the opt out option.
· Teachers are now required to teach certain topics in discrete lessons, not in a fluid way woven into other teaching. This helps preserve the right of parents to opt out.
· We developed guidelines for teachers around how they could answer questions to reduce the possibility of teachers relying on the section 51(3) exception to opting out (school not required to exclude that child if they are answering a question raised by another child).
We recommend that all schools consult with their community and set a policy about sex and gender, to avoid unnecessary conflict and potential litigation.
The policy should:
1. Take into account the right (under the Human Rights Act) for parents, students and staff both to hold and not to hold a belief; the right to freedom of expression; and the right of parents to make decisions on behalf of their children.
2. Strive to provide a body positive environment for both boys and girls. There is no right or wrong way to be a boy or girl.
3. Support the rights of individuals to express themselves as they wish and to be free from unlawful discrimination, bullying or harassment.
4. Confirm that the school does not reinforce harmful stereotypes, for instance by affirming that children might be a different sex based on their personality, interests, or the clothes they prefer to wear.
5. Confirm that staff will not suggest to a child that their non-conformity to sex role stereotypes means that either their personality or their body is wrong and in need of changing, and all staff will treat individual students with sympathy and care.
6. Confirm that it is not the role of the school to influence identity formation. Social transition is a powerful psychotherapeutic intervention and should not be carried out without clinical supervision. Refer to A Childhood is not Reversible (Transgender Trend), Brief Guidance for Schools (Genspect) and Whose Pronouns Are They (partners for Ethical Care) for evidence to support the school’s policy.
7. State that the school will consider the needs of all students when determining the appropriate support for those students with diagnosed gender dysphoria.
8. Confirm that the school will not teach as fact, a belief in gender identities or sex being on a spectrum. The school will teach that mammals have two sexes – male and female – but only humans have gender which is the particular way that males and females are expected to behave according to their culture and time. It is not possible for a person to change ‘sex’ but a person can change their ‘gendered’ behaviour. Gendered behaviour does not determine whether you are a girl or a boy. That is determined by your biology.
9. State that those who believe they have a ‘gender identity’ that differs from their sex will be treated with respect, as is the case with all diverse beliefs within the community. Treating a belief with respect does not require agreement with the belief.
10. Confirm that parents will be consulted about relationship and sexuality education and discussion on these topics will be in discrete lessons only, allowing parents to withdraw their children, if they so wish.
11. State that on school camps, students will sleep in dormitories of the same sex unless written permission has been gained from the parents of a few close friends, who know the sex of each child, for them to share a room. All adults on school camps will sleep in quarters separate from children.