Parents of students at a small Minneapolis private school are livid at the school’s director after she led a school field trip to a sex shop.
The trip to Smitten Kitten was the conclusion to a sex education class. About 12 of the 25 students enrolled in the progressive K-12 school are part of the sex and health class taught by Starri Hedges. They were the only ones allowed to go on the trip, and unfortunately parents were not notified before the trip was taken.
Steve Strawmatt, a parent, issued a statement on behalf of about nine sets of parents of kids at Gaia Democratic School who are outraged that director Starri Hedges took about a dozen middle- and high-school-age students to the Smitten Kitten late last week as part of a sex education course. “We are not happy with what happened,” said Steve Strawmatt, who has already removed his 10-year-old son from the school. Meanwhile, parent Lynn Floyd filed a complaint with police department accusing Hedges of exposing children to pornographic material, including sex novelties, sex toys and sexual images located throughout the store. Interesting enough, the sex store has educational workshops that the students attended.
Hedges, who is the director of Gaia and the sex education teacher, defended herself, used the field trip to be able to provide a space for students to openly engage in sexual discourse. Anything considered pornographic was off limits for the students, even though there were sex toys around in the store. “What I saw happening on our trip, I thought it was beautiful because kids could talk to these sex educators without any shame, without any fear,” said Hedges to a local news publication. But, Hedges did acknowledge her wrongdoings for not initiating conversation with parents for consent.
Minnesota Department of Education spokesman Josh Collins said the state has no authority over the school because the institution is private. “I don’t think anybody would think that going to the Smitten Kitten is a great idea,” he said. Although it is unclear if the trip broke laws, a city ordinance said those younger than 18 should not be exposed to sexually provocative written, photographic, printed, sound, or published materials considered harmful to minors.
Hedges says she won’t lead anymore field trips to a sex shop, while parents are calling for her removal from the institution.
SOURCE: STAR TRIBUNE
