How do you feel about the Florida Education Department’s new proposal?

👍 Strongly agree (27%) – "I believe parents in general should take more accountability for their children’s education. It is one of our primary responsibilities. I have personally been extremely frustrated with the opaqueness of my local school system when it comes to understanding the curriculum being taught. There are certain topics I want to introduce to my children at the appropriate time given their mental maturity and development. I don’t trust the public school system to know ‘when’ and ‘how’ to deliver those messages."

• "I don't think any of these topics need to be discussed in a classroom setting unless it's part of an actual high school-level elective course. If you read the legislation, it refers to "intentional" education, as in it cannot be part of the curriculum or formal instruction/discussion except in certain circumstances. I believe these conversations are best had inside the home, not at school where discussion can easily get out of hand and/or parents don't have knowledge of what is being shared on either side."

📈 Agree/Somewhat agree (10%) – "I’m a supporter for LGBTQ+ rights, but I do believe that talking about sex and gender identity should be the job of the parent. Just like I believe that church should be separate from state. I am not a Christian and it is really offensive to me to always have to say a prayer before any public school event. Some topics should not be the responsibility of educators. They are hired to teach the subject at hand. I am not opposed to higher level classes discussing it if it’s part of the curriculum, but not at the basic level."

🤷 Neutral (7%) – "I actually agreed with the first bill in that I don't think sex or sexuality has any place in K-2 education. I never agreed about being able to be sued. As far as the part about nothing outside of the standards; that might be ok if the standards are comprehensive. I do think some states have overreached of late in the teaching of sex and sexuality at increasingly young ages and in a much explicit manner. I wish we could just have some balance."

📉 Disagree/Somewhat disagree (9%) – "Parents have *always* had the right to choose (or opt out of) the classroom instruction that their kids are involved in. Period. This entire concept was explicitly designed to further ostracize and punish anyone who doesn't fit into traditionally accepted binary sexual/gender norms. It's sole purpose is to be a distraction and an inflammatory wedge issue between otherwise well-intentioned people."

👎 Strongly disagree (47%) – "It is vital in a diverse society that young people are exposed to a variety of perspectives. Understanding that different people have different life experiences is key to respect (which doesn’t require agreement) as well as imagination and the ability to problem solve. Each person deserves to be seen and young people need space and information, not restriction and censorship to thrive."

• "Parents broadly are not educated on these issues just as they are not, broadly speaking, specialized in education. It's damaging to our future, because we're erasing people and history. The rhetoric for these legislative moves only emphasizes how important liberal arts are for the future of our country. DeSantis is one of a few politicians spearheading unequal education in our country."
• "It's incredibly detrimental for students to not learn about sexuality, gender, and sexual orientation whatsoever. Being uneducated not only leads to ignorance but to unhealthy and sometimes dangerous behaviors. Kids will grow up feeling like they're disgusting and fully uncomfortable thinking about let alone discussing something that is completely natural. "
• "I don’t like how they are leaving it up to the parents because many parents, especially parents in red states, aren’t equipped to teach their kids about sexual health. All I was ever taught from my parents was to not have sex, which probably couldn’t even be considered teaching."