That will change when the new law goes into effect. “Then it becomes a one-person decision by the school inspector who, I’ll just remind you, is appointed by the minister. So only organizations come in that have the approval of the minister.”
What is and is not allowed will also be unclear. Jaroszewski: “There are no criteria at all. It will be an arbitrary decision.” In the worst case scenario, he could be fired as headmaster if he invites the ‘wrong’ organization. This applies not only to outside information about sexual matters, but also to politically sensitive subjects such as polity, anti-discrimination and justice.
Sensitive topic
There are also Poles who are happy with the bill. Pawel Adamiak lives in Łódź, a large city in western Poland. He is, as he puts it, “married, and the father of six happy children”.
In general, he’s okay with kids being able to get information that isn’t in the school curriculum, he says. “But this subject is very sensitive and I don’t want my children to be exposed to such a danger.”
He fears that the sex education of organizations like Ponton will harm his children. “Educators tell children that they have to protect themselves when they sleep with someone. But I prefer that my children are not sexually active at all until they are adults.”
He is therefore grateful for the minister’s proposal, he says. “Because I see the danger and I’m happy that someone is finally responding.”
Information outside schools
If the law is indeed passed soon, Ponton’s educators will be welcome in very few schools, they expect. And so they are already working on a detour: information outside schools.
“We’ve moved into orphanages and psychiatric facilities for young people,” Lewandowska said. “They can’t stop us.” As they say in Poland: if you can’t get in through the door, then through the window.
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