A “health and wellness” teacher at the elite and “progressive” Dalton School in New York City will not be returning in the fall after parents expressed outrage that the curriculum for first graders included a cartoon about masturbation.
Justine Ang Fonte, who touts a career of “disrupting” health education, used cartoons produced by the far-left Advocates for Youth that are part of its Amaze “educational” series.
The cartoon features an adult woman and a young boy and girl who discuss how they like to touch themselves.
“Hey, how come my penis gets big sometimes and points up in the air?” the little boy asked.
The woman tells him that it is called an erection.
“Sometimes I touch my penis because it feels good,” the boy said in the cartoon.
“Sometimes, when I’m in my bath or when Mom puts me to bed, I like to touch my vulva too.”
The woman also tells the children they should use proper names like penis and vulva instead of nicknames.
Fonte defended the lesson and said the word masturbation is not used and that it taught children not to touch their “private parts” in public but in private.
Fonte was not let go but left of her own accord and Jim Best, the headmaster of the school, defended her and the school’s heath and wellness programs.
“Throughout her tenure at Dalton, Justine Ang Fonte has helped to develop an exemplary K-12 Health and Wellness program. Dalton — our faculty, staff, administration, and trustees — continue to stand firmly behind this program and those who teach it,” Best said in a statement, :which went on
At faculty and staff meetings this week, Justine announced her decision to leave Dalton to focus on her work as an independent health educator. She has been working toward this goal for over a year. We support Justine’s aspirations and look forward to honoring her accomplishments as the academic year comes to a close.
The New York Post first reported that the fallout continues at the school:
Fonte is the third high-profile Dalton staffer to leave the school this year as the school struggles with a simmering conflict between the faculty and parents over its progressive agenda. Domonic Rollins, the school’s director of DEI, (“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”) left in February to “pursue other opportunities,” the school said at the time.
Best, Dalton’s headmaster for the past 3 years who has been with the school a total of 16 years, announced in April he was resigning to pursue “other exciting and inspiring opportunities.”
One parent said Friday she was not impressed with the school’s statement about Fonte. “This inability to admit a mistake or acknowledge misstep is strange,” she said. “It shows a real lack of emotional intelligence and self awareness on behalf of the leadership team.”
It is not the first time parents have been angered by Fonte’s controversial teaching. On May 5 she gave a workshop to about 120 boys and girls at Columbia Grammar & Prep on “porn literacy.”
The Post saw some of the “often-explicit” slide presentation included photos of partially-nude women, some in bondage, and students were asked to determine what is pornography and what is art.
The often-explicit slide presentation and lecture by Fonte to the 120 boys and girls included lessons on how porn takes care of “three big male vulnerabilities”; statistics on the “orgasm gap” showing straight women have far fewer orgasms with their partners than gay men or women; and photos of partially-nude women, some in bondage, to analyze “what is porn and what is art.”
Fonte’s presentation included a list of the most searched pornographic terms of 2019, including “creampie,” “anal,” “gangbang,” and “step mom.”
Parents pay more than $55,000 tuition at the Dalton School, which touts its “progressive” traditions on its website:
Dalton has actively embraced an innovative and progressive tradition for approximately 100 years. Read an introduction from Head of School Jim Best; learn about Dalton’s history and founder Helen Parkhurst’s Education on the Dalton Plan; view Dalton’s mission and values, including the School’s intentional commitment to establish equity and diversity, and review Dalton’s most recent Strategic Plan.
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter or send news tips to pstarr@breitbart.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.