Will County Gazette

Scott Greene, the Republican nominee for Illinois' 86th House District, wants to see the law that modernizes sex education curriculums in K-12 schools reversed. 

Greene addressed the law, Senate Bill 818, recently on Facebook where he shared what children are learning under the updated standards.

"In case you need more information about the Senate Bill 818 that Larry Walsh, Jr. voted for," Greene wrote Monday in a post. "Honestly, I'm tired of talking about it. It needs to be repealed. While he was spouting off of a script about January 6, he was stabbing Illinois citizens in the back while chasing after our children."

Under the legislation signed into law by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker in August 2021, K-12 schools with sex education programs are required to follow National Sex Education Standards standards. In a press release, the governor said the update would help "keep our children safe and ensure important lessons, like consent and internet safety are taught in classrooms."

According to a report by Break Through, the standards include teaching kindergarten through second-grade students to define gender, gender identity and gender-role stereotypes. Third through fifth graders learn about masturbation, hormonal development, and the differences between cisgender, transgender and nonbinary. Sixth through eighth graders learn to define oral, anal and vaginal sex, and about non-prescription contraception.

The new standards come as Illinois students underperformed in other important education areas. The Chicago Sun-Times reports less than 20% of Chicago third graders could read or perform math at grade level. Meanwhile, 38% of students statewide were at grade-level for reading, according to Wirepoints.