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Thousands of parents and teachers have taken to social media to express their disapproval of the updated CSE curriculum lesson plans.
The Facebook group, #LeaveOurKidsAlone, has been growing at a "steady rate" as founder Lauren Evanthia, describes it. The group currently has more than 104 000 members.
Read the story here: #LeaveOurKidsAlone: Leader of anti sex ed group says they'll bring the country to a standstill
The Department of Basic Education has officially introduced what the lesson plans will include that is due to be rolled out in 2020.
See for yourself: The Comprehensive Sexuality Education curriculum is here
Parent24 spoke to Lauren to find out if the group has changed their stance now that they know what the lesson plans include and what their future plans are.
Parent24: Now that the Department of Basic Education has officially published the content they are planning to teach children, does the stance and aim of the group remain the same as before?
Lauren Evanthia: With the group we have tried extremely hard to keep it free of fake news. We know there was a short period people were spreading fake pictures and we have deleted it.
From the beginning we have been responding to what Angie Motshekga and Elijah Mahlangu has been saying.
We have done nothing but taken the information from them and the lesson plans that were released on their site and reacted to that.
The release of the lesson plans was a confirmation to us that this can not go ahead.
We reject it! We do not want this in school.
Sex education and CSE does not belong in the classroom.
The Facebook group continues to grow, what are your thoughts on that?
It makes me feel good that there are parents with the same vision of sexual education not belonging in the classroom but should instead be taught at home, and I expect it to grow more.
I also know there are a lot of people that are not on Facebook but support the same stance, which is removing sex ed and CSE from the curriculum.
What are your thoughts on other parents who support the CSE lesson plans and want it in schools?
Everyone has freedom or is suppose to have freedom, so if some people find it necessary to educate their children on sexual matters then it is up to them to arrange that.
However, the government has no right to take over the role of a parent.
The government has no public participation. People, teachers, parents, principals have been kept in the dark up until now and they can't force this curriculum on us if we don't want it.
If a child is not ready to hear something of a sexual nature; if they are not ready as an individual, you are sexually harassing them.
So what the government is doing is sexually harassing our children and we will not stand for it.
So should sex education solely be the responsibility of the parent, or should schools also be enabled to assist with this kind of education?
A: It is the primary responsibility of the parent, but if we identify a need then there should be NGOs, churches and organisations to provide those kind of facilities but it still has to be with the consent of the parents and the government is taking that right away.
Do we live in a democracy or don't we?
What are you planning to do in the future when the CSE lesson plans gets implemented?
Our plan for the future is to take the movement off Facebook and on the ground and mobilise to create more awareness cause not all parents have Facebook.
Creating awareness is our number on priority at the moment cause not all parents know about the new lesson plan.
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Read more:
Q&A with Dr Eve: Local sex expert answers our questions about the new CSE lesson plans
'CSE does not sexualise children': DBE addresses specific concerns raised on new CSE lessons
