One of the reasons education reform is sweeping the country is because families realized how necessary it was during the pandemic. My family was one of them.

I remember opening my work calendar and realizing I had back-to-back meetings for six hours while my twin kindergartners, who couldn’t yet read, had to struggle to complete their schoolwork on their own. My third grader couldn’t figure out her math problems but didn’t have anyone she could ask because the teacher wasn’t available online. My office became the kitchen table, and I became my children's teacher.

I started to see what my children were learning or, rather, what they weren’t learning. I began to ask questions about the school system, such as, “Why can my daughter take and fail a test 11 times before passing and still not get any additional help? Why is she even allowed to retake a test she’s failed that many times? She clearly doesn’t understand the material.”

I wasn’t alone. Parents all over the country began hearing, seeing, and experiencing life “inside” the classroom in a new way, and we realized that we cannot afford to stop paying attention.

In December 2020, a parent reached out to me about a presentation that appeared in their child’s online learning platform for health class. The presentation included concepts such as the Genderbread Person, which teaches children about different sexual orientations and how their “gender identity” can be different than their biological sex. I thought to myself, how is my small, rural farming town in Calvert County, Maryland, teaching gender ideology to students without parental consent?

This was only the beginning of what was to come. I began receiving more tips from parents. In February 2022, a parent sent me two assignments her 9th-grade child had to complete with a partner. The first was called the “Pizza Activity.” The directions told the students to pair up and order a pizza together. The “pizza” was “sex”, and the “toppings” were their “sexual preferences.” The intended (but far from reached) goal was consent.

Some of the questions included, “Have you eaten this pizza (sex), or is this style of pizza (sex) something new?” “How much do you envision yourself eating,” and “How satisfied do you think you will feel after eating this pizza?” Read those questions again and imagine having to complete that exercise with a coworker. How in the world is this appropriate for our 14-year-old old children?

The second exercise given to this 9th grader was called “The Sexualitree,” the point of which was to explore sexuality. The assignment claimed there are 45 different elements to sexuality, including things such as abortion, fetish, oral sex, pornography, rape, sex toys, skin hunger, and more. The students were asked to fill the bubbles on the tree with the different ways they experience sexuality. Again, imagine sitting in a meeting at work and creating your sexuality tree. It would not only be inappropriate, but it would violate most workplace sexual harassment policies. So why is this in schools?

These assignments were a part of the Maryland Comprehensive Health Framework, which was passed by the state Education Department in 2019 for all Maryland school districts to use as a guideline when creating and selecting assignments for school children. Parents were never notified of this massive change.

Instead of listening to the concerns of families who would like their schools to focus on making up for the educational ground they lost during COVID-19 rather than forcing leftist narratives onto their children, state Democrats have amplified this. Just this year, Maryland Democrats submitted bills in the state House and Senate to change the law to require every county to teach the entirety of the Maryland Comprehensive Health Framework. The framework currently requires gender ideology to be taught in pre-K and every year thereafter. It also requires instruction on solo, vaginal, anal, and oral sex in 7th grade.

As the parents of Calvert County have discovered, much of this was already being taught to our children without our knowledge or consent. If it is happening here, in a small town that voted for former President Donald Trump twice, it is likely happening where you live.

Check out behindschooldoors.com, a website created to expose some of what is happening in the public education system. Start asking questions. Submit PIA (public information act) requests to your school system. Get copies of every PowerPoint, video, article, assignment, or activity presented to your child. Exercise your right to opt-out. Do not let your children be a part of the largest social experiment in history.

Melissa Macuci Goshorn is a wife and mother of three and the co-host of the 2 Close for Comfort podcast on parenting, marriage, friendship, culture, and public education. She runs an active parent group in her community to keep parents educated on local Board of Education items, and is a Board of County Commissioner appointed member of the Calvert County Blueprint Committee.