Her friends and her giggled through an explanation of the Website where people post pictures of their feet for sexual gratification. Several days later, I tried to play a video on ancient Rome for my students, but before it even began the 8th grade class burst into laughter over the station identification.
The video was produced by the British Broadcasting Company. The BBC. Yesterday I overheard some of the girls in my 7th grade homeroom talking. I smiled thinking about my first kiss. Most of the kids here already know about sex. They know way more than I did at their age. But what they know is a jumble of images and details without the big picture. The latest bit of dark ages lawmaking would require parent authorization before schools from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia could provide students with materials that contain anything that might be considered sexually explicit.
For kids in kindergarten through 8th grade, this even includes books with depictions of any kind of nudity. Thankfully the GOP legislation only prohibits depictions of these things in books.
Kids are still allowed to look at their own bodies. The bill passed the Senate in a vote nearly along party lines, with only one Democrat supporting the proposal. It faces an uncertain future in the House where Democrats hold a one seat majority and would also require the signature of Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro before becoming law.
A similar measure was passed before Democrats took the House last year but was vetoed by the previous Democratic Governor Tom Wolf.
