St. Johns County Schools Policy
An Goldbauer, Ph.D
Clinical Sexologist | Sexual Health Educator | Human Trafficking Expert | Host of The Umbrella Hour
Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) requires a trafficking curriculum for K-12. This Tool Kit is a progressive and monumental example of implementing a mix of didactic and open discussion sessions that address children and adolescents' vulnerabilities. Florida's Sexual Health Education Community Outreach Tool Kit provides resources to raise awareness about this growing problem within our community and to identify human trafficking.
The efforts of the Governor's Office of Adoption and Child Protection and the Department of Juvenile Justice collaborated with FDOE's Healthy Schools. They were instrumental in revising the Tool Kit to galvanize a community-wide effort of educators, school-based professionals, and parents.
Governor Ron DeSantis's "Don't Say Gay" bill HB 1557 / SB 1834 amplifies the lack of regard for students' vulnerabilities, placing them in harm's way of suffering dire consequences at home. St. Johns County Schools policy requires notifying parents if their child brings attention to a change in their pronoun.
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Why will this place the student at risk?
Transgender and gender non-conforming students are vulnerable to emotional abuse because of misguided information, religious dogma, and family rejection. These are some of the reasons students withhold telling their parents. While this isn't every student's reason, many have reported reluctance to come out to their parents. Youth are quick to pick up on affirmations and rejection, and disapproval in the same vein. According to a study done by Polaris, 46% of LGBTQ youth in the US run away because of family rejection which leads to a high risk for exploitation and trafficking.
We all have a need to belong but what happens to youth who already don't feel they can be themselves at home?
When reviewing the Tool Kit on FLDOE's website on Child Human Trafficking, FLDOE lists many vulnerabilities without including sexual minority, gender non-conforming, and transgender youth within this Tool Kit. This omission discriminately fails to call attention to a vulnerable population at risk for maltreatment, homelessness, and trafficking.
Whether St. Johns County School district capitalized on this omission is now a concern to those who advocate for at-risk LGBTQIA populations.