Safe Schools program does not require primary school kids to discuss explicit sexual matters with parents

^{By Ellen Blake}

Social media users are falsely claiming the Victorian Government’s Safe Schools program requires primary school-aged students to discuss “erections and ejaculations” with their parents.

“Ding Dong Dan’s [Andrews] Safe School program now requires 10 year old girls to ask their fathers about their erections and ejaculations. I kid you not,” one Facebook user wrote.

Another user said girls were being asked to discuss such matters as part of their homework.

The claims are posted with a video of Victorian Liberal upper house MP Bernie Finn speaking in the state parliament on April 6. In the video he claims that a school worksheet sent to him by a parent asks a 10-year-old girl to ask her father about his ejaculations and erections as part of her homework.

According to Mr Finn, when the parent complained to the school they were advised that “it was just part of the curriculum”.

The Safe Schools program, which is managed and delivered by the Department of Education and Training, aims to keep children safe from bullying by providing professional development and training for secondary school principals and teachers to equip them to support LGBTIQA+ students.

The program is not part of the Victorian school curriculum and schools are free to use as many or as few of the resources offered.

It is not taught to any students, secondary or primary, and therefore cannot require students to discuss intimate or explicit matters with their parents.

Deakin University Associate Professor of Education Debbie Ollis, a sex education expert, told RMIT FactLab the claim that the homework was mandated under the Safe Schools program was “completely untrue”. 

Safe Schools was introduced into Victorian schools in 2010 and developed for principals, teachers and school communities to foster a safe environment that is supportive and inclusive of LGBTIQA+ students.

“Schools sign up to be a safe school, which means understanding issues of gender and sexuality and inclusion in schools, and providing a safe and supportive learning environment so that our students don’t experience discrimination or bullying,” Professor Ollis said.

The program received national funding in 2013 but garnered conservative criticism for its guidelines to teachers on sexuality and gender. The Turnbull federal government ceased funding the program in 2017.

The Safe Schools program, however, has continued under the Andrews government as a voluntary aid that secondary schools can choose to implement. While the program is aimed at secondary schools, primary schools can also access the resources.

Professor Ollie said sex education in Victorian primary schools is guided by the government learning resource, Catching On Early.

Professor Ollis, who helped develop resources for Victorian schools, said the Catching On Early resource did not direct students to ask their parents about erections, ejaculations, or sexual acts.

“There are no education department resources, there are no learning intentions and there is no curriculum focus on these issues,” she said.

A Department of Education and Training spokesman told RMIT FactLab the homework Mr Finn described in parliament was not mandated by the Victorian curriculum.

“The teaching resources provided by the Department of Education and Training do not include any direction to students to discuss erections and ejaculations with their parents,” he said.

RMIT FactLab contacted Mr Finn’s office for more information on the content of the so-called worksheet, but the office did not respond.