A teacher has expressed concern after a popular ABC TV children’s news program aired an episode about gender and sexual identities.
The teacher called into 2GB radio to highlight an episode of Behind The News (BTN) that aired recently during a class at a school in Sydney.
The episode included a story dedicated to the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), which is celebrated globally on May 17.
The day marks the date the World Health Organization (WHO) removed the classification of homosexuality as a disease more than three decades ago.
Students in the class were left confused after the episode featured a group of high school students from Henley High School in South Australia who identified themselves as ‘aroace’ and ‘agender’.
“I use he/him pronouns and I am aroace and agender,” said one student, Alex.
“I use any pronoun just because I don’t really care and I think I’m aroace, I don’t really make labels, I just describe it,” said another student, Ruby.
A teacher has raised concerns about an episode of Behind The News (BTN) (pictured), which featured various gender terms such as “aroace” and “agender”.
The terms led students to ask their teacher what the word “aroace” meant, perplexing the teacher, who had never heard of the term.
Aroace is short for “romantic asexual” and is used to describe a person who is not romantically attracted to anyone.
Aromanticism also refers to people who do not feel the need to develop a romantic relationship with others; However, people who identify as Aroace may form relationships with others in a non-romantic way.
Aroace also has different classifications, similar to sexual orientations, to indicate the type of romantic attraction a person may feel or experience.
Some of the high school students, who are part of a Queer club in high school, said they also identify with certain pronouns.
Others said they do not identify by a specific gender.
Students who watched the BTN episode asked the professor what the term “aroace” meant, perplexing the professor, who had never heard of the term (pictured, an image from the BTN episode).
According to guidelines issued by the New South Wales Department of Education, BTN episodes are considered a supplementary learning resource for students that should be aligned with the curriculum.
Supplemental resources are used in classrooms to inspire engagement with course material and explore ways to foster and demonstrate a “personal understanding” of course content.
Gender and sexuality are taught in New South Wales schools in Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) classes, and are also included in English, History and Society and Culture curricula.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the NSW Department of Education and the ABC for comment.