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Sexual Education at CISD Harmful for Children: Big Decisions

Updated: Feb 20, 2023



Canyon ISD is utilizing the Big Decisions sexual education curriculum. Big Decisions was created by Dr. Janet Realini, a planned parenthood advocate. The curriculum is categorized as a SRR or Sexual Risk Reduction program and as a CSE or Comprehensive Sexual Education program. It has been deemed harmful for children by the StopCSE.org website which stands for 'Stop Comprehensive Sex Education'. They have created harm analysis' for numerous sexual education curriculums to help parents understand just what is inside these programs. The Big Decisions program fails 15 out of 15 elements on the detailed harm analysis with elements such as:

  1. Sexualizes Children

  2. Teaches Children to Consent to Sex

  3. Promotes Anal and Oral Sex

  4. Promotes Homosexual/Bisexual Behavior

  5. Promotes Sexual Pleasure

  6. Promotes Solo And/Or Mutual Masturbation

  7. Promotes Condom Use in Inappropriate Ways

  8. Promotes Premature Sexual Autonomy

  9. Fails To Establish Abstinence As The Expected Standard

  10. Promotes Transgender Ideology

  11. Promotes Contraception/Abortion To Children

  12. Promotes Peer-To-Peer Sex Ed Or Sexual Rights Advocacy

  13. Undermines Traditional Values And Beliefs

  14. Undermines Parents or Parental Rights

  15. Refers Children To Harmful Resources




What is Comprehensive Sex Ed?


While there is not one universal definition of "comprehensive sexuality education" (CSE) and what it includes, CSE is a highly controversial, "rights-based" approach to sex education that encompasses a great deal more than just teaching children and youth about sexual intercourse and human reproduction.


“Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) goes far beyond sex ed, and is a dangerous assault on the health and innocence of children…” - American College of Pediatricians

Comprehensive sexuality education programs seek to change society by changing sexual gender norms and teaching youth to advocate for their sexual rights. Most CSE programs promote acceptance of diverse sexual identities and orientations and have an almost obsessive focus on sexual pleasure, instructing children and youth at the earliest ages on how to obtain sexual pleasure in a variety of ways.


Advocates of comprehensive sexuality education programs claim that among other things, CSE programs will reduce teen pregnancy and STD infections and that they do not sexualize children. However, as you explore the documentation on these providers, including research on CSE programs, you can judge for yourself if these claims are true or whether the exact opposite may be true.


Belief System


Big Decisions creator, Dr. Realini, is also the founder of Healthy Futures of Texas which promotes extremely harmful and disturbing websites such as GoAskAlice! (which we reported on being in the CISD tMHFA program), Amaze, 5 Minutes of Intercourse, Scarleteen and many others. Big Decisions and Healthy Futures Texas reveal basic beliefs about what Dr. Realini and Planned Parenthood believe which are:

  • Children Are Sexual From Birth

  • Children Deserve And Have The Right To Seek Sexual Pleasure

  • Children Will Have Sex, So Let's Accept That And Just Make It Safe

  • Parents Are A Barrier To Service, The Oppressor

In a recent podcast, Monica Leal Cline with 'It Takes A Family' further explains the philosophy behind comprehensive sexual education (CSE). Monica is one of the nation's leading experts in sexual education. She worked with Planned Parenthood for years until she realized the harm she was causing and is now a strong advocate for families and parental rights. Monica says, "they believe that if anyone, including parents, are stopping a child from having sex, then you are judging them and being oppressive." Sexual predators and CSE both start with breaking down inhibitions. Next, they gain trust and then move the child towards sexual activity.

CSE Sexual Educator Goals:

  • Breaking down inhibitions

  • Talk about sex like it's a recreational activity and not private (funny, use games)

  • It's safe to talk about sex in a public place and with adults

  • Introduce sexual activity

  • Role playing so children know how to ask for sex (give consent)

  • Teach them how to seek pleasure

Comprehensive sexual educators want social change. They want to move children away from their parents and they do not want parents to be the sole authority of the child. They want to destroy the nuclear family and let public education be the sole teachers of children. Big Decisions mirrors the goals listed above.

Below, we show two pages from the Big Decisions curriculum. The 'Is This Abstinence?' sheet blurs the line about what abstinence truly is as well as teaching perverse forms of sexual activity that have nothing to do with reproduction. Abstinence should be defined as “not participating in any sexual activity outside of marriage.” The 'Contraceptive Bingo' game breaks down inhibitions by getting kids to talk freely about sex. How is this focusing on abstinence as Texas law instructs?


Two other Big Decisions exercises worth noting for parents:

Click here for more information on Big Decisions.


SRR vs SRA


As stated above, SRR stands for Sexual Risk Reduction and is associated with the harmful comprehensive sexuality education known as CSE. SRA stands for Sexual Risk Avoidance and truly promotes abstinence. SRR programs normalize teen sex and promote that contraception and consent make teen sex acceptable. Big Decisions is a SRR program.



Texas Penal Code 21.11 defines the age of legal consent in Texas. People who are under the age of 17 are not capable of giving consent to sexual activity. Children lack the brain development to fully understand the consequences of the choices they make.



Who Else Is Using Big Decisions?


Big Decisions is also available in Amarillo through Planned Parenthood who has changed their name to Haven Health. Haven Health says their mission is to "Provide access to quality medical care, reproductive health services and education for women and men throughout the region, regardless of their ability to pay."


Does CISD Know?


November 2020

At the November CISD School Board meeting, a community member alerted parents about CSE and what it really entails. This concerned citizen was alerted via a church presentation sponsored by Texas Values. He handed out physical copies of the 'Concerned Parents of Texas' booklet entitled 'Sexual Indoctrination in Public School - What Parents Need To Know'. This document identifies Big Decisions as a harmful SRR program on page 10.


January 2021

I (Jamie Haynes) presented lots of information including hardcopies for each board member of the 15 point harm analysis on Big Decisions at the January 2021 School Board meeting. I asked for the program to please be removed. Robyn Cramner, Assistant Superintendent of CISD, was present.


February 9th, 2021

SHAC (School Health Advisory Committee) meeting was held. According to the CISD SHAC meeting notes from February 9th posted on the district website, Chris Hall scheduled in Monica Riveria (note that she is listed on the Healthy Futures of Texan website) with Big Decisions to promote the program's new 5th version that has been released. At this meeting, a SHAC parent expressed concerns about the Big Decisions program. Per the notes, her conversation was cut short due to lack of time. There is no mention that attendee Robyn Cramner communicated the information that I (Jamie Haynes) presented at the January 2021 school board meeting to the SHAC.


March 8, 2021

At the CISD school board meeting, Robyn Cramner stood up and gave a verbal update on the February 9th SHAC meeting. She said that the SHAC members were researching other sexual education curriculum options.


April 2021

In April 2021, a SHAC meeting was scheduled. Prior to this meeting, a SHAC parent requested to bring in a speaker to speak about the new health TEKS. The speaker is an expert in the sexual education arena, had assisted with writing Texas Health TEKS in the past and has Canyon, TX, roots. The SHAC parent member was denied, or rather pushed off, putting her guest on the agenda by committee chair, Chris Hall (CISD employee), even though that was the assignment as stated by Assistant Superintendent, Robyn Cramner, on March 8th, 2021.

At the actual April SHAC meeting on April 6th, discussion on sexual education was tabled since it was not an 'adoption year' and it would be discussed in the fall.


We checked with several Texas sexual education experts and they said there is no law that says you cannot add, change or remove a sexual education program at any time. From what we understand, districts can have general adoption rotations and every three years is common. We have no idea if CISD has a formal curriculum adoption schedule or not. We could not locate one. We have requested one from the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum at CISD. However, we will note that at the April 2021 School Board meeting, there were multiple slides presented to preview the curriculum that teachers were deciding on so it seemed obvious that lots of other curriculum was being evaluated, voted on and adopted.


It seems that the district has known since at least late fall 2020 about this harmful program and, still, it remains in the classroom. Our team did go and sit down at the district support center and preview the Big Decisions curriculum. The district has sticky notes inserted to denote what parts that are to be removed when the curriculum is presented. The narrative is that they have "removed the bad stuff". We do not believe this is accurate. We have testimonies of children that have come out of the program asking their parents about anal sex thus we do not believe that all of the 'bad stuff' is skipped. As far as the SHAC meetings go, it seems obvious that the district does not want to remove the Big Decisions program thus they are ignoring it being addressed immediately and suppressing SHAC member requests to address it now.

I did mention the suppression of SHAC member requests at the last school board meeting and Cameron Rosser replied via email with the following on April 19, 2021...

"Expert speakers in SHAC- Yes, expert speakers can be brought to SHAC to present. So far, one speaker has been proposed. This person will be invited to speak at one of the meetings during the 21-22 school year."


Again, it appears the district is not addressing the issue today, but punting to fall 2021. The parents on the SHAC have no real voting power because the SHAC is stacked (please read our 'CISD Violates Texas Education Code' blog). Meanwhile, we have a spring 2021 and a fall 2021 class of students who have and will receive this harmful program. Even if the district thinks the program is nifty, you would think that they would not want to be associated with a curriculum that has a formal harm analysis that fails 15 out of 15 points, is associated with abortion affiliates, and violates Texas law. We are very concerned about the children.


What Parents Need To Know Today


If you have concerns about this program, I would encourage you to do your own research on CSE. If you visit the Texans Wake Up homepage, we have two excellent websites under 'Sexual Education' we'd advise you to explore. Then you can visit the Resources menu option for Links and Videos on this topic.


Parents need to understand that sexuality instruction is not what it was 25 years ago. Parents should ask yourself these questions:

  • Who is teaching my child sex ed?

  • What are his/her qualifications?

  • What are his/her world views?

  • Where is the exact, detailed program information including handouts, exercises, visuals that my child will receive (not a notebook with sticky notes)?

  • Why does my district not provide a full program preview for parents?

  • Will I allow my child to sit through a sexual education program that I have never seen?


If you have a child that is taking Health in the fall of 2021, we recommend opting out of the program. We have created a 'Children's Bill of Rights' that allows for exemption for instruction under Texas law as well as other organization's opt out forms specific to sexual education instruction.


What Parents Need To Know Moving Forward


On November 20, 2020, for the first time in more than 20 years, the State Board of Education updated the minimum curriculum standards (TEKS) that guide health education, including sex education, for Texas students.

What the new TEKS include:

  • Age-appropriate information on key topics like human anatomy, reproduction, puberty, menstruation, and postpartum depression.

  • Contraception and prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the HPV vaccination.

  • Special Note: This information will be offered at the middle and high school levels.

  • Healthy relationships, including topics like communication and recognizing warning signs of abusive relationships.

  • Standards that address emerging topics like sexting, online safety, cyberbullying, and human trafficking.

What they don’t include:

  • Information on consent.

  • Inclusivity - The new TEKS do not include content that address LGBTQ+ youth.


To boil it down to basics, Texas law now ...

  • states that sexual education is mandatory

  • have updated what requirements will be taught

Starting 2022, numerous sexual education TEKS are required. All of the TEKS are SRA (Sexual Risk Avoidance) so, in theory, children should be alright, right? The issues that all parents need to fully understand are ...

  1. exactly how (and by whom) the TEKS will be taught

  2. if the district teaches above and beyond what is required in the TEKS

Let's address issue #1. We all know that educators can run off topic, apply their own interpretations, and communicate their own beliefs on what is acceptable. Let's address issue #2. We know that our district currently has a sex ed program deemed harmful by an independent 3rd party and is associated with abortion providers. We also know that CISD is insistent on addressing sexual orientation and identity in the mental health program (tMHFA) and has hidden that fact from parents. Because we know this, parents have to realize that there is a strong possibility that the district will teach above and beyond what is required by the state. This is what parents have to watch out for.


"Although these statewide minimum curriculum standards don’t directly address consent or LGBTQ+ inclusivity, school districts still have the option to teach these topics." - Healthy Futures of Texas


The new health TEKS are still in review and will continue to be edited until finalized later this year, but you can review the working list here. What have the TEKS updates done? Sadly, Texas has ...

  • diminished parental rights

  • diminished local control (via the SHAC)

Texas has removed community voices from the equation. This is a huge loss for Texas parental rights. Up until now, sex education was not required in Texas. The SHAC could make recommendations for sexual instruction to be taught in their district or not have a sexual instruction program at all. The community could decide via the SHAC. The SHAC is supposed to be made up of majority parents to reflect community values.


Starting 2022, this is not the case. The new TEKS are required to be taught. From what our team has found, these new TEKS will not be presented all at once or in a set of specific lessons. Instead, they will more than likely be interwoven into the class throughout the semester. Parents can still opt out of instruction based on religious beliefs or morals (see Sec. 26.010. EXEMPTION FROM INSTRUCTION and our own Children's Bill of Rights). The issue arises in that the TEKS will more than likely be woven into numerous lessons throughout the entire semester so removing your child will be more challenging.


  • Where will my child go during exemption?

  • How frequently will my child have to be removed from instruction?

  • How will my child be tested on material I deem inappropriate?


We will see how our district handles the issue. Texas has backed parents in a corner. I highly suggest all parents listen to this 'Texas Sex Ed Mandate' podcast which does a deep dive into the TEKS updates. It really breaks down how these mandates are infringing upon parental rights and shoving the beliefs of others down Texan's throats. We will continue to keep you updated as these mandates are deployed.


Conversations about sex and abstinence need to happen at home. There are lots of resources available for families to start these conversations. Talk to your children about sex today. Protect your child's innocence by visiting our 'Act Now' page. Parents, please opt your children out of objectionable instruction.

Canyon Independent School District (CISD) is in Region 16 of Texas and covers the Amarillo and Canyon, TX, areas in the Texas Panhandle. CISD is under the superintendent supervision of Dr. Daryl Flusche.



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