A Pennsylvania high school teacher is getting lambasted online for labeling kids “sexual beings” — but the school is defending him.
Al Vernacchio has been backed by Friends’ Central School after reports the English teacher included sexual photos and videos in his curriculum in order to “desensitize children to images of genitalia.”
Reports have stated, “The lessons that tend to raise eyebrows outside the school, according to Vernacchio, are a medical research video he shows of a woman ejaculating — students are allowed to excuse themselves if they prefer not to watch — and a couple of dozen up-close photographs of vulvas and penises. The photos, Vernacchio said, are intended to show his charges the broad range of what’s out there.”
“It’s really a process of desensitizing them to what real genitals look like, so they’ll be less freaked out by their own and, one day, their partner’s,” the teacher added.
Even after concerns from parents, the school board has stated they will “firmly stand behind their educator.”
“Al Vernacchio is a nationally renowned and highly respected educator. It is disappointing that his work and our School are being miscast so thoroughly. Friends’ Central is committed to cultivating our students’ intellectual, ethical, and spiritual promise in a world that needs that more than ever,” they said in a statement.
In a surfaced video of the teacher, Vernacchio states, “everyone single one of these kids is a sexual being. They have been since birth, and at every age and stage, we can offer them age-appropriate transformative sex Ed.”
Al Vernacchio is a sex educator for kids ages 3 to 18 at Friends’ Central School in PA.
— Megan Brock (@MegEBrock) February 10, 2023
“…everyone single one of these kids is a sexual being. They have been since birth and at every age and stage, we can offer them age appropriate transformative sex Ed.” pic.twitter.com/oldZFIu0jQ