OLYMPIA – The Washington State Senate passed Senate Bill 5395 Wednesday to require public school curricula to include comprehensive, science-based sexual health education.
This is the same bill that passed the Senate in the 2019 session, only to die in the House.
Senator Kevin Van De Wege says this legislation has been a focus of concern for a number of parents but, unfortunately, he says much of that concern has been based on misinformation.
We spoke with the Senator on Wednesday.
“What it doesn’t do is, it doesn’t promote sexual activity, you know teachers aren’t going to be telling students how to have sex. Instead it teaches basic stuff, like what’s “good touch” and “bad touch” for the younger kids, what consent means, and we’ve certainly seen problems with that historically with the ‘Me Too’ movement. Especially for male students, understanding what consent means is important. It talks about the medical and economic consequences of their kids choices and how that can also affect their health.”
Van De Wege says, now more than ever, a curriculum like this is needed. He says that by the twelfth grade, approximately 1 in 3 female students report they have been forced into unwanted kissing, sexual touch, or intercourse. By adulthood, 1 in 3 women — and 1 in 6 men — are victims of sexual violence.
But he also wanted to point out that, should this legislation pass, no one will be required to take the curriculum.
The state nor the school is going to not force any child to not do what they want to do. Parents always can exempt their child from taking this class or this curriculum. They can exempt themselves.”
We asked the Senator why he thinks the bill died in the House last year and if he was optimistic about it’s passing this legislative session.
“What I can tell you is, between last year and this year, there was a change in the Speaker of the House. Frank Chopp, long time speaker, retired. And they elected a new member, Speaker Lori Jenkins from Tacoma, who has worked her career in public health and understands the value of legislation like comprehensive sex ed. And so I think it stands a much better chance this year in the house mainly because of that change.”
Here’s a link to the actual bill, along with the bill report that explains it in non-technical terms, so that anyone can see for themselves exactly what’s in the bill.
(Photo via WAStateLeg.org)