Summarised by Centrist
Primary school principals are voicing concerns over the government’s draft relationships and sexuality education (RSE) framework.
A Principals’ Federation group reviewing the draft said concepts like consent, coercion, and sexual activity were being pushed too soon into classrooms.
Whangārei Intermediate principal Hayley Read said the idea of teaching 12-year-olds about sexual activity was out of step with the legal age of consent: “We just don’t believe it’s appropriate… It’s challenging for students, parents and teachers.”
Read argued that schools should be helping children form healthy, respectful relationships, not pushing premature discussions of sex and attraction. “Some of our students are still very young developmentally,” she said, “running around… making roads under their desks.”
Rotorua principal Phil Palfrey said exposure to adult content online was real, but agreed the material needed to be delivered carefully.
He was one of the few to criticise the framework’s omission of transgender references – a complaint echoed by health activists and Otago academics who accused the new approach of ignoring gender diversity.
After scrapping the previous RSE guidelines over concerns about “gender ideology,” the government has moved toward a simplified framework grounded in clarity and parental choice.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said the draft framework reflects New Zealand First’s belief that parents, not bureaucrats, should decide what’s appropriate.
“We’re on the side of the parents,” he said. “This is a case where parents are going to get control.”
The Ministry of Education will release the final version of the curriculum in term four.
