May 3, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — A college psychology course has attracted attention for suggesting student field trips to playgrounds, preschools, and daycare centers to observe sexual interactions while also seeking to eliminate usage of the term “premarital sex” because it aims to “exclude a great deal of sexual behavior.”
The course, “Psychology and Sexual Behavior,” taught this spring at the University of North Texas, has come under scrutiny after Big League Politics procured a copy of a lesson plan revealing troubling approaches to covering “Sexuality During Childhood and Adolescence.”
Objectives, discussion questions, and teaching ideas included in the lesson plan promote an oversexualized view of infants, children, and adolescents — with one presentation titled Sexual Pleasure & Response In Infants — while also overtly directing class members to embrace views of sexuality antithetical to Christian morality.
The lesson plan suggests that instructors:
Take the class to a local elementary school playground, or ask permission for a few of your students to attend various school playgrounds, preschools, or daycare centers during recess to observe behaviors of children. Ask students to note interactions between same-sex and mixed-sex groups. Which group was more frequent? Which behaviors were most frequent? What kind of touching did children engage in? What about teasing behaviors? Were there any overtly sexual interactions? What was the age range of the children being observed? Have students write a report comparing their observations with information in the text.
Course objectives and discussion questions involve the morality of adolescent sex, contraception usage, and abortion.
The instructor is prompted to ask the class, “How or why is the term ‘premarital sex’ problematic, as it pertains to measuring adolescent sexual behavior?” leaving no room for discussion concerning whether the assertion that the term is “problematic” is accurate.
“Have them consider the following: it excludes a great deal of sexual behavior; it presumes that all or most people will marry,” continues the instructor’s prompt.
Another prompt asks, “At what age should an adolescent be considered responsible to make decisions about sexual behavior, including contraception and protection from STIs?” suggesting that those decisions should be made by adolescents and assuming that they will undoubtedly engage in sexual behavior.
One of the 18 objectives for the course is to enable students to “discuss how an adolescent mother’s decision to keep her child may affect her education, financial status, and the life of her child,” subtly implying that abortion may be a better option in some cases.
The lesson plan also proposes inviting a representative from Planned Parenthood as a guest speaker, as well as a representative from a local HIV/AIDS organization who “could discuss prevention programs for adolescents and provide information about local testing programs.”