At last! Members of the teaching profession in Ireland are making a bit of a stand against the sexualisation of children and against LGBTQ indoctrination. Senior cycle teachers in Ireland should not be required to deliver sex education classes unless they are happy to teach the “sensitive” material, a teaching union has said.
The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) wrote to school officials to say teaching staff should not be made to take Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) or Relationships and Sexual Education lessons without “full and comprehensive training”.
From 2027, SPHE will be mandatory for 15 to 18 year olds for the first time, and will cover gender, pornography, relationships and sexual consent. The curriculum says LGBTQ+ relationships and identities should be “fully integrated” into the teaching.
Regulations state that parents will have the right to withdraw their child from any teaching that goes against their conscience, although this will cease to apply when the child turns 18.
ASTI’s Secretary General Kieran Christie said that teachers “should only teach material they feel they are comfortable and competent to teach”, adding that some teachers will need “additional expertise and support” if they are to deliver the subject.
While schools will be required to provide at least 60 hours of the teaching across two years, the subject will not be examined as a Leaving Certificate subject.
The Teachers’ Union of Ireland also suggested more teachers would be needed if the subject is to be taught to older students, with the TUI’s Michael Gillespie noting that many schools already operate with a thinly stretched staff body.