A last-minute change to an Indiana General Assembly bill on human sexuality instruction in Indiana’s K-12 schools eliminates a proposed requirement that such instruction teach the importance of consent to sexual activity.
State Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, on Monday morning announced the change to House Bill 442, which also requires that school districts publish a list of materials used in connection with instruction on human sexuality and makes other changes aimed at increasing oversight of what’s taught regarding sexual education in public schools. The original version of Byrne’s bill did not contain the consent language, so the change isn’t out of left field.
Byrne said local school boards would still be able to choose whether or not to talk about the topic of consent, but he said there “may be different thoughts in different communities.”…