Knowledge of the body, identification of situations of harassment, sexual health… Announced by the former Minister of Education Pap Ndiaye, the text on education for emotional, relational and sexual life at school (initially planned for the start of the 2024 school year) is currently the subject of consultations, with a view to a presentation in December. But while its current version is still not final, the program is already arousing opposition from conservative circles… and even within the government. On Wednesday, November 27, the Minister (LR) for Academic Success Alexandre Portier deemed it “unacceptable as it stands”, and assured that “gender theory would not find its place in our schools”. Several associations campaigning against sexist and sexual violence denounce “false” and “dangerous” information. L’Express takes stock of this controversy, and what the text really contains.
Learning about emotions and intimacy in kindergarten
In nursery and elementary school, the program is centered on emotional and relational life. In kindergarten, it provides for consideration of the body, feelings, emotions, respect for privacy and equality between girls and boys. Before four years, it is about knowing your body (naming its different parts), being aware of intimacy, learning to accept and refuse (through situations like “can I sit next to you?”), or to be aware of equality between girls and boys (understanding for example that an activity or a profession can be chosen by everyone).
From the age of four, the program includes identifying trusted adults and learning to call on them, distinguishing between what you can keep to yourself (like a secret) and a dangerous situation. , or to discover the different family structures (heteroparental, single-parent, same-sex parent families, separated parents, etc.), according to this draft text.
In elementary: body changes, violence, stereotypes
In elementary school, students are presented with more precise scientific knowledge about their body (with vocabulary adapted to their age) and their emotions. From CM1, they also learn to know the main changes in the body at puberty, to identify situations of harassment or to understand stereotypes to fight against discrimination (for example reading texts to identify inequalities between women and men in ‘history). In CM2, children also learn to identify and protect themselves from gender-based and sexual violence, or to know their rights for secure digital use.
Apprehension of sexuality in college
From middle school onwards, the program also addresses sexuality. The aim is to help students “appropriate” the changes they experience and “progressively understand” the notion of sexuality “in all of its implications”, according to the draft text. Co-facilitation of sessions is favored, either between teachers or between teachers and other stakeholders (particularly medical).
This involves understanding changes to the body in 6th grade, sexual orientation and the fact of freely developing one’s personality, particularly in 5th grade. In 4th grade, sexuality is approached as a “complex reality” (combining love, reproduction, pleasure, being the subject of a series of representations, etc.) and in terms of health (risk prevention). In 3rd grade, students must be encouraged to “question the links between happiness, emotion and sexuality”, “know how to characterize problematic situations” (risks, control mechanisms, etc.), sexual violence or discrimination.
In high school: considering intimate issues “responsibly”
In high school, the program invites “the development of more precise or more complete knowledge”. The second class must “explore the tensions between the intimate and the social”, the first class “conducts, temptations, pleasures and risks” (for example through the study of works). The final year “brings together the knowledge enabling the student to understand sexuality as a responsible young adult”, according to the draft program. This includes, among other things, “knowing reliable sources” to access “sexual health support”.
Offensive from conservative circles
Not yet published, this future program is already disgusting conservative circles, supported by the Minister Delegate Alexandre Portier, who assured that he would “personally commit to ensuring that gender theory does not find its place in our schools”, reiterating the expression used by a conservative segment of society which is concerned about studies and teaching opening up a nuanced perception of differences between the sexes. “Gender theory does not exist, it does not exist in the program either,” responded this Thursday the Minister of Education Anne Genetet on the sidelines of a trip to Marcq-en-Baroeul (North), in the suburbs of Lille. This program “is very clear”, “progressive”, “adapted to all ages” and “allows you to learn fundamental notions such as respect, consent, knowing how to say no, what a girl is, what a boy is,” she continued.
The project must be presented in mid-December to the Higher Education Council (CSE), a consultative body. In recent weeks, conservative organizations have mobilized, such as the Family Union, ex-Manif pour tous, citing “pro-gender and transactivist brainwashing”. These groups, close to the right or the extreme right, have stepped up since the start of the school year against this program, notably with the distribution of leaflets in front of schools, which have worried the teaching unions.
A “necessary” text
The latter are unanimous in affirming that this program is really necessary. “We are going to ask that the institution support and protect teachers who could be attacked once this new program is put in place,” Jérôme Fournier, national secretary of SE-Unsa, explained to AFP.
“Isolated but vehement voices are being heard to attack this program and empty it of its content, or even push the government to abandon it,” deplored the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (Ciivise). ). “Never”, she insists in a press release, “the need to educate children in a way adjusted to their age to enable them to understand the issues of emotional life, of consent, has been more obvious and consensual. “, says the organization which recalls that 160,000 children are victims of sexual violence each year.
Same indignation within the collective “for real sexuality education”, set up in 2022 and which counts in its ranks Family Planning, the National Federation of Information Centers on the Rights of Women and Families (FNCIDFF) , Sidaction, among others. “In the midst of the Pélicot trial, the need to implement education to prevent violence and better identify victims should no longer need to be demonstrated,” argue these organizations.