CLEVELAND — There's a claim circulating on TikTok that a fifth grade health class in Summit County teaches inappropriate sexual content.
A video posted on Sept. 10 by the parent of a Tallmadge Elementary School fifth grader has been viewed about 637,000 times, where the parent says, "You will be astounded, blown away, by what they are trying to teach my fifth grader."
THE CLAIM
The parent claims that a video about sexual urges is part of the fifth grade health curriculum at Tallmadge Elementary School.
SOURCES
To VERIFY whether that's true, our sources are:
- Tallmadge City School District
- The district's health class syllabus for grades 5 through 8
- The parent's TikTok videos
- AMAZE.org
EXPLANATION
AMAZE.org is a federally recommended resource to teach age-appropriate sexual education. It's used by health instructors in Tallmadge City Schools.
The site includes around 400 videos, including one about sexual urges, which is referenced by the parent in her TikTok video.
That TikTok video is pinned as the first thing you see on the parent's page. If you scroll down, though, you see an update video posted on Sept. 19 with only about 1,500 views where she recaps talking with school officials and says, "I let them know that I felt the syllabus needed to be more specific. It doesn't let you know exactly what videos on AMAZE the children will be watching."
However, I reviewed the original syllabus that the parent received, and it includes a link to view exactly which video fifth graders will see. There's also a description saying, "5th grade will only see one AMAZE Jr. video that is age-appropriate and made for younger children called 'Help Kids Learn How Babies Are Made.'"
When I talked with Tallmadge City School officials, they told me:
"We are committed to providing age-appropriate health education that both meets the requirements of the State of Ohio and prioritizes the health and safety of students. TCS maintains a commitment to transparency in the curriculum. The health education syllabus for each grade-level includes class materials, which we encourage families to review as this is a key developmental phase of life for students. In this instance, a parent misunderstood which resources would be part of the fifth-grade curriculum. After meeting with the parent, the district is clarifying course information to ensure clearer guidance for parents or guardians in the future by providing more specifics on what content is delivered to students and when."
ANSWER
So we can VERIFY that the claims in this parent’s TikTok video are false. A video intended to teach about sexual urges is not part of the fifth grade health curriculum at Tallmadge Elementary School.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Fifth graders at Tallmadge Elementary School will only be seeing one video from AMAZE.org's resources, which specifically tailored to younger children.
If you see something you want us to fact check, you can send it our way at VERIFY@wkyc.com.