Parents complain about health textbook that discusses bondage, sex toys
It may sound like Fifty Shades of Grey for the high school set, but it's actually a ninth grade health textbook, and it has been temporarily taken out of classrooms in California's Fremont Unified School District.
About 2,200 parents and other residents took issue with Your Health Today and "its sexual bondage topics and other material," the Los Angeles Times reports. The district's superintendent, Jim Morris, is set to meet with school board members on Wednesday to ask that the book be put on hold until it is vetted, due to "concerns from the community that it would expose teens to topics on sexual fantasies, sex games, as well as themes that include ropes, handcuffs, sex toys, and vibrators."
Publisher McGraw-Hill will work with the district to modify the textbook, but until then students will use old materials. "Our administration and staff believes this textbook will be an asset to our health curriculum in that it provides current, accurate, factual, and relevant information our students need to make responsible decisions about their health," Morris said in a statement. "I also recognize and respect the concerns of some of our families and believe this recommendation is a great compromise that will address those opinions, while still working toward ultimately providing the best curriculum possible in our schools."
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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