SANDY, Utah, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — In a 4-3 vote, Canyons School District permanently suspended the controversial Second Step Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum from use in their K-8 schools. The program had already been put on hold in September after it was revealed the curriculum contained age-inappropriate sexual content that violated Utah sex education laws.
Lisa Logan, a concerned parent who spearheaded the effort, spent over 30 hours at the district office with another parent, Stacie Clayton, going through the 8th grade curriculum and they put out a report detailing their findings. The report shows that Second Step touts "power and privilege," which are tenets of Critical Race Theory, as one of the three main factors for bullying. It also teaches children how to be social justice activists and points children toward sexual topics that break state law. "Parents are unaware that concepts like Critical Race Theory and Comprehensive Sex Education are being taught under the guise of Social Emotional Learning programs like Second Step," Logan said, "and that has to change."
Social Emotional Learning is a recent fad in education, with districts across the nation rapidly adopting curriculum like Second Step, which itself reaches 20.5 million K-8 students each year. Social Emotional Learning is supposed to teach students competencies like self-regulation, self-management and empathy, but the definition of Social Emotional Learning was surreptitiously changed in 2020 to be Transformative Social Emotional Learning. This approach shifts the focus of SEL to be done through an "equity" lens with the notion that "racialized oppression was foundational to the establishment of the United States."
"Any SEL program implemented by the district should be politically and ideologically neutral, says Clayton. "Children shouldn’t be served up social emotional learning with a side of CRT."
Logan says that this was a parent-led effort and it couldn’t have happened without the support of the 700 other parents and grandparents who signed a petition advocating for the removal of Second Step, as well as those who showed up at the board meetings and/or made public comment. "It took a couple of months, but we achieved our goal of getting this destructive program out of our school district. If we can do it, other parent groups can. Reach out and we can help you. Our children’s hearts and minds, and the future of our country, depend on it."
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SOURCE Parents of Patriots
