A Fox News host has claimed that a Florida school district was teaching the “ABCs of Masturbation” to three-year-olds.
Trace Gallagher ran a segment on his show about a parent calling out Pasco County Schools over a guide called “Be an Askable Parent” that had been posted to its website.
“Well, the school district in Florida apparently thought three-year-olds needed to know their ABCs about masturbation, so they came up with a guide for parents,” Gallagher claimed on the right-wing channel.
The guide raises issues that parents may face, including if a three-year-old touches themselves. It states that a “possible answer” a parent could give their child is, “I know that feels good and you don’t have to stop. I just want you to do it in private because it’s personal.”
Gallagher played his audience a video clip of a parent, Ronald Holstein, complaining about the guide to the school board.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember ever having a conversation with any of my three-year-olds where that was appropriate,” Mr Holstein said in the video. “This even goes on to teaching from four- to eight-years old. The same type of situations. I don’t feel this is safe.”
The school district, which lies north of Tampa, was contacted by “Crisis in the Classroom”, a nationwide educational news brand of the conservative Sinclair Broadcast Group, reported ABC15.
A spokesperson for the district said in a statement that they had “discovered that this document mentioned is in a part of our website that was archived some time ago.”
A spokesperson for the school district says that the guide was posted on their website in 2019 and was in compliance with a directive from the State of Florida. They added that it was not produced by the district and was provided to it.
In a statement, the Pasco County School district said: “We, as a district, have complied with Florida Department of Education state standards, and this includes maintaining the parent resource Be an Askable Parent. It was most recently resubmitted to the state on September 30th as it is submitted every year.”
