A dating lesson went horribly wrong at Woodland Park Middle School in San Marcos, California when the instructor (who, let’s be real, was probably just asking for a friend) requested that students stand under signs marked with romantic and sexual acts —ranging from “smiled at” to “all the way with Stephanie Kaye” — to show how far they’d go on a date.
Parents, outraged that their children may have been publicly humiliated, contacted the news to express their disapproval, stating that such an activity could do nothing but embarrass children who are at a sensitive point in their development. Afraid that their children may face further repercussions —the teacher would make the students stand under signs asking kids to guesstimate how far their parents had gone? I would choose “smiled at” — the parents have asked to stay anonymous. One parent said this to ABC 10: “To put them up in front of their friends to be humiliated or to be asked questions that I believe are personal, it’s really none of the school’s business.” Agree.
The school claims that this was all a misunderstanding and that students were being asked what would be appropriate to do on a date at their grade level (“smiled at”) as opposed to being asked if they’d engaged in any type of necking, fondling or frottage. But you can imagine that 14-year-olds already feeling the pressure of talking about sex openly may have misunderstood and that the activity could have (may actually have?) gone terribly wrong in the hands of an unqualified educator. I can’t imagine having to do with my eighth grade class, especially considering that our teacher had to slam books on the desk to stop the ruckus that happened after someone asked if “boners could break.” That is what happens when you ask the art teacher to answer your most pressing sexual curiosities.
School officials are saying that the activity comes from a community clinic and that the school has been using it for years. And besides, outraged parents have no reason to complain because they signed permissions slips allowing their children to be part of the class. The school’s principal told ABC 10 that “The parents sign permission slips for the class and can look at the curriculum prior. The purpose of the lesson was to open the lines of communication between parents and students about dating expectations.”
Parents, however, aren’t mollified and have suggested that if the school really must know what the kids are doing on dates (although it doesn’t seem that the activity was for the school?) they should conduct anonymous surveys that students can put in a locked box. The parents who reported the incident to the news have said that the lesson didn’t tech their child anything (except who is down for some “smiling at”) and that any confusion about the activity is a reason not to do it again.
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