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RED HOOK, New York — Some parents are questioning the appropriateness of a New York middle school's health class presentation on sexual orientation, but the school says claims of impropriety have been overblown by media outlets.
An anti-bullying presentation on sexual orientations and gender identities was given last week to eighth-graders at Linden Avenue Middle School. Some parents complained that the Bard College students who gave the presentation weren't a good fit, and said they should have been notified in advance of the lesson, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.
One part of the lesson included a role-playing activity during which female students were asked to request a kiss from other female students, according to the Journal. The activity was meant to teach the students how to say "no" in uncomfortable situations, the school said.
Principal Katie Zahedi told the paper the school made it clear to the presenters that no discussion of sexual acts was OK in middle school, "and they used the examples of a kiss," she said. "It was a separate activity for boys and girls and ultimately about respect and safety."
Following a Fox News story on the presentation, the school said it has received "hostile, hateful emails and/or phone calls" regarding the class.
It was a separate activity for boys and girls and ultimately about respect and safety.
–Katie Zahedi
Mandy Coon, whose daughter was in the health class, told Fox her daughter had been upset by the lecture, which she said was "awkward."
"She told me, ‘Mom, we all get teased and picked on enough — now I'm going to be called a lesbian because I had to ask another girl if I could kiss her,' " Coon said.
Todd Starnes wrote for Fox News that the students were also told it is "perfectly normal for 14-year-old girls to have sex and there was nothing their parents could do to intervene," but the school claims that is not the case.
Paul Finch, superintendent of the Red Hook Central School District, addressed in an email to Starnes what he said were factual inaccuracies with the Fox News article.
"To suggest that we would condone or promote sexual activity among teenagers is absurd," he wrote. "It is equally absurd to suggest that an activity, designed to have young women feel more confident saying no to unwanted advances from boys, is in some way promoting a lesbian lifestyle."
Finch said the college students who gave the presentation were acting under the supervision of educators and that "there is no evidence to suggest that they were inappropriately acting with the students." He did say better communication from the school to parents is necessary for future activities.
