WARWICK HEART-TO-HEART: Opt-in Policy VS Opt-out Policy

On Tuesday August 2nd, the Committee of the Whole discussed a topic at a board meeting that has led our entire community into a discussion - the addition of an opt-in policy.  

An opt-in policy asks for parental notification when curriculum/materials in Warwick School District include sexual content.

Two community members spoke on this topic - one in favor of the opt-in policy, and one in favor of the opt-out policy.  Both speakers took the time to consult with many members of the community to carefully and respectfully consider all various outlooks and different opinions before giving their speeches.  Everyone commented on how they showed each other courtesy and engaged in an intellectual debate at the school board meeting. 

Thank you for your leadership and courage, Arielle and Reggie!!

Reggie Weaver: In Favor of the Opt-in Policy

The one word I’d like to speak on tonight is - consent. In the past 5 years, that word has been used more than any other time I can recall in society.  This was largely led by the Me Too movement.  As we are talking about things of a sexual nature, the biggest take away from Me Too has been that everyone agrees on is consent is a must.  

Is consent applied to sexual content and children within the schools?  In the past couple of years there has been a huge loss of trust between parents and the education system across the country and within Warwick. Sexual content has popped up out of nowhere in our schools, but nobody seems to know how it got here?  There are sexual content discussions taking place country wide in board meetings, and here we are tonight. 

I’ve had some excellent discussions with people on the opposite side of the aisle who agree the sexualization of students in the schools must stop! The schools should not be in the business of promoting this content.  As children cannot, and should not, be able to consent to sexual materials, by default this falls to the parents.  If the district chooses to bring these sexual materials into the schools their position in order to rebuild trust with the parents and community should err on the side of caution. This is done by being overly transparent and letting everyone know what is being made available in the schools.  Should a parent consent (opt in) to allow their children to have access to the content then they have made what they feel is the best decision for their child. 

Nobody is banning what they can have access to, but due to its sexual nature consent is required rather than assuming it’s acceptable for everyone. This also gives a layer of protection for the district.  I ask the board for an opt in policy to start the rebuilding of trust in the community and stop this push to hypersexualize our children.

Arielle Miller: In Favor of the Opt-out Policy

We have a community that is hungry for unity. Yet, here we are, with our elected officials willing to risk ostracizing the diverse families in our district with talks of changing our curriculum policy from opt-out to opt-in and using board meetings to further the already deep political divide. What the board surely knows is that curriculum is developed in a meaningful and age-appropriate way that both academically and socially propels our students forward. I know this as the daughter and daughter-in-law of educators in the public school system. But regardless of what I know about the thought and care that goes into curriculum development or what you know about it, when parents feel that that curriculum is not aligned with their personal views, they of course should continue to have the right to opt-out of said curriculum. 

Public schools are SO important for the promotion of exposure to people with different backgrounds. School is where most children are exposed to people who do not subscribe to their religion, who are from a different racial background, or who might come from a same sex household versus having a “traditional, nuclear family”. If we want to be a community that has unity and coexists, we have to be okay with being uncomfortable - including having our kids learn about topics that make us uncomfortable, as long as those topics are presented in meaningful and age appropriate ways. 

Parents have a choice in what their kids learn, yes, and they should continue to have that choice through the existing opt-out policy or a refined opt out policy, if that’s what you choose to do. But as a public institution, our district has a duty to provide - to the best of our ability - a complete education that covers each student academically and socially, which cannot exist if you allow the policy to change to opt-in.