One Nation’s Sarah Game: Give sex ed control back to parents

In the fallout from the Renmark High School sex ed scandal, One Nation MLC Sarah Game wants parents and carers, not the government, to decide what their kids are taught.

One Nation MLC Sarah Game has revealed plans to introduce a Bill to state parliament to stop children from being “force-fed gender and woke ideology” and give parents greater control over what is being taught in classrooms.

Speaking exclusively to The Advertiser, Ms Game said The Education and Children’s Services (Parental Primacy) Amendment Bill 2024 would be put to parliament as soon as possible.

She explained the term “parental primacy” meant parents and carers were “the prime educators on moral and ethical teaching” rather than the school system.

“Parents are responsible for moral and ethical teaching of our young people, not teachers, this is significant government neglect and overreach,” she said.

Ms Game is proposing the legislation in the wake of the recent Renmark High School sex education scandal.

On March 22, an hour-long session was run at the school by an outside speaker engaged by Headspace Berri.

It was delivered to the group of year 9 girls, with students saying they were exposed to the concepts of incest and bestiality.

Renmark High School where a group of year 9 girls were exposed to concepts of incest and bestiality during a sex education class. Picture: Supplied

Ms Game said parents and carers had contacted her office with “significant concerns about what their children are being force-fed”.

“I’ve consulted widely and the community is fed up with children being sexualised at school,” she said.

“This focus on sex and the sexualisation of children by the education system is very wrong,

“It’s happening at primary and secondary schools,

“Schools need to focus on education and engendering ambition for the future in our young people, not encouraging them to focus on what type of sex partners they want to be.”

One Nation MLC Sarah Game with Pauline Hanson. Picture: Advertiser library

Ms Game said while lessons about gender fluidity should not be part of the curriculum, children who openly identified as such should not be told by teachers that it was wrong.

“In circumstances where the child openly identifies, the school should be guided by the parents or persons who have primary responsibility for the child,” she said.

Ms Game said the incident at Renmark High School showed the Education Department did not have adequate control regarding children’s curriculum.

Parents were the “primary educators of their children”, she said.

“(The bill is) imperative to empowering parents and guardians with the means and ability to curate and safeguard their children’s education.

“It reaffirms the fundamental role of families in shaping moral, ethical, and social values.”

Ms Game said the bill would prohibit the sexualisation of children in schools “while ensuring that biological and scientific knowledge is provided to maintain the curriculum’s adaptability and objectivity”.

Schools would also be required to inform mums, dads and carers about educational content “related to matters of parental primacy” before classes were held and that they would be invited to provide feedback.

Education Department chief executive Martin Westwell said the speaker at Renmark High School “went over the line”. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Ms Game flagging the bill follows Education Department chief executive Martin Westwell stating the speaker at Renmark High School “went over the line”.

Professor Westwell said using “language and notions like bestiality” in a classroom was “absolutely unacceptable behaviour”.

He also said staff at the school had failed to check the content of the presentation before it was delivered to the students without a teacher present, which was not in line with department policy.

The department’s incident management directorate will conduct a review, along with the school’s own review, and the school has offered counselling to affected students.

The speaker has also been suspended from working in SA government schools.

Originally published as One Nation’s Sarah Game: Give sex ed control back to parents