PROHIBITS TALK

Of Menstruation Until 6th Grade

Approval Comes Despite Data That Suggests Puberty Can Start At Age 9

Miles

mandy@keysweekly.com

The Florida House of Representatives has passed a bill that would, among other things, prohibit the discussion of menstruation in school health classes until sixth grade.

The bill, which was drafted by Republican Rep. Stan McClain, passed the House on March 31, a day after Rep. Ashley Gantt, a former school teacher, asked McClain, “So if little girls experience their menstrual cycle in fifth grade or fourth grade, will that prohibit conversations from them since they are in a grade lower than sixth grade?”

McClain answered, “Yes, it would,” despite evidence from the Mayo Clinic that states that girls may experience puberty as young as 8 and boys at age 9.

Florida Keys State Rep. Jim Mooney voted in favor of the bill that also requires school health education classes to “teach abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage as the expected standard for all school-age students while teaching the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage; and emphasize that abstinence from sexual activity is a certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and other associated health problems.”

The proposed changes to Florida’s health and sexual education curriculum are significantly more conservative than previously approved statewide curricula, one of which was approved by the Monroe County school board earlier this year.

The health curriculum approved by the local school board separated discussions of biology and puberty by grade level. The curriculum