A teacher has expressed concern after a popular ABC TV news show for children aired an episode about gender and sexual identities.
The teacher called 2GB radio to highlight an episode of Behind The News (BTN) which was played during a class at a school in Sydney recently.
The episode included a story dedicated to the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), which is marked globally on May 17.
The day marks the date the World Health Organisation (WHO) removed homosexuality as being classified as a disease more than three decades ago.
Students in the class were left confused after the episode featured a group of high school students from Henley High School, in South Australia, who identified as ‘aroace’ and ‘agender’.
‘I use he/him pronouns and I’m aroace and agender,’ one student, Alex, said.
‘I go by any pronouns just because I don’t really care and I think I’m aroace, I don’t really do the labelling thing, I just describe it,’ another student, Ruby, said.
A teacher has expressed concern over an episode of Behind The News (BTN) (pictured), which featured several gender terms such as ‘aroace’ and ‘agender’
The terms prompted the students to ask their teacher what the word ‘aroace’ meant, leaving the teacher – who had never heard of the term – stumped.
Aroace is short for ‘aromantic asexual’ and is used to describe a person who is not romantically attracted to anyone.
Aromanticism also refers to people who do not feel the need to develop a romantic relationship with others however, people who identify as aroace can form relationships with others in a non-romantic way.
Aroace also has different classifications, similar to sexual orientations, to indicate the type of romantic attraction a person may feel or experience.
Some of the high school students, who are part of a Queer club at the high school, said they also identify by certain pronouns.
Others said they don’t identify by a specific gender.
The students who saw the BTN episode asked the teacher what the term ‘aroace’ meant leaving the teacher – who had never heard of the term – stumped (pictured, a still from the BTN episode)
According to guidelines issued by the NSW Department of Education, BTN episodes are considered a supplementary student learning resource that should be aligned with the syllabus.
Supplementary resources are used in classrooms to inspire engagement with course material and to explore ways to encourage and demonstrate a ‘personal understanding’ with the course content.
Gender and sexuality is taught in schools across NSW in Personal Development Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) classes, and are also included in the syllabuses of English, History, and Society and Culture.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the NSW Department of Education and the ABC for comment.
