Why are schools taking sexual histories from adolescents?

Consider the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, which in 2021 sent out an “Integrated Youth Health Survey” to middle schoolers. Questions included: “Have you ever seriously thought about killing yourself?” and “Have you ever done something to purposely hurt yourself without wanting to die, such as cutting or burning yourself on purpose?” The 12- and 13-year-olds were also asked whether they’d had sexual intercourse or oral sex, and, if so, whether they’d used a condom the last time they had sex.

Another 2021 survey, this one sent to Rhode Island middle schoolers, states that “a person’s appearance, style, dress, or the way they walk may affect how people describe them. How do you think other people at school would describe you?” The responses offered for students to choose from include “very feminine,” “very masculine,” and “equally feminine and masculine.” The survey also asks children if they have ever “made a plan” to kill themselves.

California’s “healthy kids survey,” given to high schoolers, states: “Some people describe themselves as transgender when how they think or feel about their gender is different from the sex they were assigned at birth. Are you transgender?” Students are also asked whether they identify as “straight (not gay),” “lesbian or gay,” “bisexual,” or “something else.” …

What is the point of this information-gathering? In some cases, survey results are being used to justify a radical curriculum, and, in other instances, they can be used to drive a wedge between students and parents. For instance, in Massachusetts, Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School asked pupils their preferred pronouns and whether they wanted school personnel to address them by a different name and pronoun when communicating with their parents/guardians. We’ve seen where this can lead. In Florida, a twelve-year-old girl twice tried to kill herself at school after months of secret meetings with school personnel to discuss her “gender identity,” while her parents were deliberately kept in the dark.