An “elite Manhattan private school” known as Dalton School sent parents into a maddening rage after they learned about videos that were being used to educate first graders about masturbation last autumn, such teachings for youths often being described as one of the first steps of child grooming.
When the concerned parents confronted the school administration over this blasphemy, they were told they had “misinterpreted what Dalton’s ‘health and wellness’ educator Justine Ang Fonte was teaching”, a woman who previously led a “porn literacy” workshop at a different elite prep school.
A sample of one of the videos used in Fonte’s sex education classes for six-year-olds:
Fonte noted she doesn’t utter the word “masturbation” during class and instructs that children shouldn’t touch themselves when in a public area.
A variety of quotes from angered parents:
The school’s head, Dr. William M. Donohue, eventually sent emails to concerned parents addressing matters:While one mother conceded that teaching the concept of consent can be valuable in protecting children from abuse, another said telling kids that that their own parents or grandparents should not touch them without first asking for permission is extreme.
“Literally parents are supposed to say to their kids, May I hug you?” one parent said.
One mother said another parent told her, “I’m paying $50,000 to these a–holes to tell my kid not to let her grandfather hug her when he sees her?”
“Kids have no less than five classes on gender identity — this is pure indoctrination,” a Dalton mother said. “This person should absolutely not be teaching children. Ironically, she teaches kids about ‘consent’ yet she has never gotten consent from parents about the sexually explicit, and age-inappropriate material about transgender to first-graders.”
“We are furious,” a third Dalton mother told The Post. “We were horrified to learn this was shown to our first-grade 6- and 7-year-old kids without our knowledge or consent. But it’s so hard to fight back because you’ll get canceled and your child will suffer.”
The second Dalton mother said, “I’m not against all sex education but it’s not cool to keep parents in the dark about it.”
The second mom hit back at Dalton administrators who she said are playing mind games with parents and not fessing up to what’s really going on in classrooms. The school has said that only a “small group” of parents complained about Fonte’s class last fall and that they “misinterpreted” the content. At the same time, however, the school quietly removed the video about kids touching themselves from the curriculum.
“We are not ‘confused.’ We are in fact just seeing very clearly for the first time what a ‘progressive’ education really means at Dalton,” the mother said. “The fact that the school then gaslit parents into thinking we are confused is abysmal.”
A spokesman for the school also provided a non-apology:Shortly after The Post published the Columbia Prep story last week, its head of school, Dr. William M. Donohue, sent a conciliatory email to school parents saying that the “content and tone of the presentation did not represent our philosophy, which is to educate our students in ways that promote their personal development and overall health, as well as to express respect for them as individuals. … It was unfortunate that we did not better inform ourselves of the speaker’s specific content in advance. I apologize … Going forward we will certainly learn from this experience.”
This turn of events will likely not surprise those familiar with the corruption that has been invading Western schools over the last few years, with this school in particular apparently having far more problems than just this one:“As part of Dalton’s comprehensive Health curriculum for students, a lesson on Gender & Bodies included two evidence-based and age-appropriate videos approved for students 4 years and older. These videos align with nationally recognized methodologies and standards. We consistently review our Health curriculum, making sure that the content is developmentally appropriate and, if necessary, we adapt our curriculum accordingly. We will continue to listen carefully to parent feedback, respond thoughtfully to community concerns, and develop lessons that are in the best interest of our students, respect our community’s values, and correspond with best practices.”
An anonymous group of parents penned a letter objecting to Dalton’s direction in January.
“Every class this year has had an obsessive focus on race and identity, ‘racist cop’ reenactments in science, ‘de-centering whiteness’ in art class, learning about white supremacy and sexuality in health class,” the missive stated. “Wildly inappropriate, many of these classes feel more akin to a Zoom corporate sensitivity-training than to Dalton’s intellectually engaging curriculum.”