In Yr2 kids same sex relationships lessons

[yasminluv]

Hi
In Year 2 they have a day where kids learn about samesex relationships
It’s after Easter apperantly is that nationally and is every school different

If this to happen How can I as a parent address this with the teacher the fact that I don’t want him to participate

[ShitWit]

Dds school just talked about different family setups. That children live with a variety of people, some with mam and dad, some with mam and stepdad, some with dad and man etc etc etc.
I’m surprised that at seven he hasn’t noticed same sex relationships in the world around him. I’d want him to know that that part of his families religion is outdated and doesn’t apply and that it’s totally normal to be gay and not forbidden at all.

[SimultaneousEquation]

OP, I’m sorry if I’ve been harsh. We don’t gamble, because of my religious beliefs - it’s not a thing that comes up very often, but I don’t buy raffle tickets or charity lotteries. I explain to the kids that gambling is something that some people do, and that it’s not something I do, and I explain why it is an aspect of my faith. I’m not judgemental - I can see that buying a raffle ticket at the school Christmas fair isn’t a big deal - but I explain that we have choices and I have chosen to follow this principle because of my faith.

I wonder if something similar would work for you?

[BIWI]

I will teach my son acceptance and tolerance

That's great. So how come you don't want him to be in this lesson?

[fulltimeworkingmotherof4]

My 9 year old Dd is in year 5 and s school councillor. She’s been tasked with doing an assembly for the whole of KS2 about LGBT
and I couldn’t be happier. It’s part of society, my mum is gay and my girls have grown up knowing this. Each to their own I guess but it’s just a fact of life.

[yasminluv]

Well I guess everyone here is an atheist. I just explained to you alllll that it’s not a personal attack on anyone and I’m not HOMOPHOPIC.

[Thistlebelle]

I think it’s highly unlikely that a 7yo isn’t already at least peripherally aware that sometimes two men or two women form relationships.

If you plan to teach your child acceptance and tolerance, it would seem that this would be a perfect opportunity to demonstrate that.

Nothing magic is going to happen by age of 9 that will make this easier for him other than the fact the his friends and classmates will have already given him all the details of the lesson you withdrew him from and you waited two years to give him your views.

You can’t hold back the world from your children, you need to fit them for it.

[Pannacott]

He's growing up in a family which holds certain religious beliefs, and in a culture which is legally non-religious, and where is is illegal to discriminate against gay people.

There are (rightly) many positive depictions of gay couples and families, including on children's tv, children's books and this will be the situation which his classmates families too.

This culture clash is going to be confusing for him, and he isn't going to 'not notice it', if you withdraw him from the class.

Surely the best thing you can do is find out more about what the teaching will be, perhaps even attend with him, and then have an informed supportive perspective, and be able as a family to discuss the tension between it being religiously not allowed but culturally and legally it is allowed.

Having this conversation with him, and within your family, is surely better than ignoring it - he will be learning about it anyway.

[MissMouseMcPhee]

I almost can't believe that there is a need for a special class in same sex relationships... i think that in this day and age that's a bit weird. If you live in the UK where gay marriage is legal then surely same sex relationships would just be incorporated naturally into all relationship/sex education lessons. To differentiate it in this way , to me is actually quite backwards. "Ok today kids we're going to talk about the gays...." Weird... does anyone else have experience of a special same sex relationship class. My kids certainly haven't had one?

[SimultaneousEquation]

Not an atheist 🙋🏻‍♀️

[Greensleeves]

You are homophobic. You've already said that same-sex relationships are banned in your religion, you follow that religion and you want it to stay that way. And you started this thread asking us to help you in hiding a fundamental human truth from your child.

Are you really surprised by the response?

[yasminluv]

StillSeekingResponsibleAdult
That’s exactly what I will do and the other thing is I didn’t know what they would say so I was naive on what might the discussion be in class exactly

[TheRebel]

You have the right to believe what you want but no one has to respect your beliefs, and I for one don’t respect any religion that says being a homosexual is a sin.

[PatriciaHolm]

I have no idea from an educational point of view what the lesson will entail, other than a cursory nod to the topic within the standard SRE education for this age, On a practical level, OP - how are you going to avoid his classmates telling him all about it? Or him asking them after his interest has been piqued by the fact he was withdrawn? Surely that's going to make him more interested not less!

[ShitWit]

How can you say you are. It homophobic when earlier in the thread you said

I’m fine with all your saying but I’m my religion same sex relationships are forbidden and we do follow it at home and I just want it to continue like that

Wanting to teach your child that being gay is forbidden is homophobic. You dint want him to learn about different relationships because you want to continue following believing being gay is forbidden. If yours is a religion where women are seen as less will you be teaching and following that at home too? Plenty of people are religious without being bigoted and have left those outdated idea in the past when whatever book they follow was written. If any of the dc have gay parents or family members and your child tells them it’s forbidden, could he be in trouble with school?

[Greensleeves]

Well, they certainly won't tell the children that same-sex relationships are wrong. Because they aren't

[Aeroflotgirl]

My goodness, op has every right to be concerned and to discuss this with the teacher. I think it should be taught later in yr 4 or 5, when kids have a better understanding of relationships. My ds nearly 6 would be totally baffled by it. He does not understand about about relationships, marriage, he really isen't that interested in it. For me, it would not be needed yet.

[TheFallenMadonna]

For young children, It's all about love, not about sex. It's as easy to acknowledge that some women fall in love with women, and some men fall in love with men, as it is that some men fall in love with women, and some women with men. I don't see how you can teach tolerance of something unacknowledged. I'm not an atheist.

[Greensleeves]

Aeroflot, your 6yo doesn't know that adults form couples, sometimes get married and live together? Wow

[Glumglowworm]

You are being ridiculous and homophobic. And you are the exact reason that schools need to teach kids about this stuff, so that your kids have a chance to grow up less bigoted than you

Your child knows that adults have romantic relationships. The only extra bit in this lesson is that sometimes men love men and women love women. That’s a fact. There’s nothing to object to.

I hope for your child’s sake that he doesn’t grow up to be gay

[TheFallenMadonna]

How would it be better to acknowledge that some people fall in love with people of the same sex after children have developed a schema of relationships that is exclusively heterosexual?

[yasminluv]

Greensleeves, I do follow my religion and I do respect it so if I am in your eyes so be it not bothered. All I care about is my child I asked because I thought I’d get answers on what I asked not called all sorts off names

[SheGotBetteDavisEyes]

My 7 & 4y old are already aware of same-sex relationships and have been for some time. They know men & men /women & women / men & women can love each offer - to them it is a fact and nothing more. There is no issue if an issue is not made of it.

Same here. My DC are aware of same sex relationships as much as they are any other. It's just another normal thing/bit of life.

[Thistlebelle]

Aero your 6 year old doesn’t understand relationships?

Really?

He doesn’t have close friends, have examples of loving adult relationships within his family? Parents, Grandparents Aunts and Uncles?

What is there to “understand”?

[Greensleeves]

You're going to have a tough time shielding your child from all the realities of normal life in the 21st century, then. Have you considered home educating him? Forever?

[LemonScentedStickyBat]

What would you have done if your child was in a class with one of my children, OP? The children all know my dd and my ds have two mums. They don’t seem to have suffered from this knowledge, tbh.