Parents at an elite private school in New York City are furious that first-graders were being taught sex education via videos that include lesions on how to masturbate. Justine Ang Fonte, a health and wellness teacher at the Dalton School, allegedly showed students a video last fall from the free education series, that included lessons on masturbation and sexual intercourse.
Parents since have been bombarding the school with complaints about Fonte and her 'porn literacy.' However, the posh $55,000-per-year Dalton School has since defended both Fonte and her sex education classes, claiming that what the now-notorious "health and wellness" educator taught is being misinterpreted.
Bold Steps
Last fall, Fonte allegedly showed students a video from the cartoon series, "AMAZE." A little boy in the video asks about erections, the New York Post reported. Following the revelations last week, Dalton parents have "bombarded" the school with complaints about Fonte's curriculum, sources told the outlet.
Fonte's classes also reportedly included lessons on gender identity and consent and also told them that their parents and grandparents should not touch them without their consent. In one of her sex-education classes, Fonte also showed to 6-year-olds videos where little kids can be seen talking about "touching themselves" for pleasure.
"Hey, how come sometimes my penis gets big sometimes and points in the air." The boy then nods his head and adds, "Sometimes I touch my penis because it feels good,"
"That's called an erection," the cartoon adult woman responds.
Then a little girl in the cartoon says: "Sometimes, when I'm in my bath or when Mom puts me to bed, I like to touch my vulva too."
"You have a clitoris there, Kayla, that probably feels good to touch the same way Keith's penis feels good when he touches it," the adult character tells the little girl.
The adult woman then adds: "Have you ever noticed that older kids and grown-ups don't touch their private parts in public? It's okay to touch yourself and see how different body parts feel - but it's best to only do it in private."
According to the Post, parents are furious at Fonte and her teachings and complained to the school. Thereal anger was triggered over consent. "I'm paying $50,000 to these a**holes to tell my kid not to let her grandfather hug her when he sees her?"
Another mother groused if she fought back she'd get canceled. "Literally parents are supposed to say to their kids, May I hug you?" another parent said.
School Shields Fonte
Since the past week, many parents have also called for Fonte's removal from services. Moreover, they are also outraged at the number of classes allotted for sex education to first-graders.
"Kids have no less than five classes on gender identity – this is pure indoctrination," a Dalton mother said. "This person should absolutely not be teaching children. Ironically, she teaches kids about 'consent' yet she has never gotten consent from parents about the sexually explicit, and age inappropriate material about transgender to first graders."
"We are furious," another Dalton mother told the outlet. "We were horrified to learn this was shown to our first-grade 6- and 7-year old kids without our knowledge or consent. But it's so hard to fight back because you'll get cancelled and your child will suffer."
However, both the school administration and Fonte have defended themselves. A School spokesperson said, "As part of Dalton's comprehensive Health curriculum for students, a lesson on Gender & Bodies included two evidence-based and age-appropriate videos approved for students 4 years and older. These videos align with nationally recognized methodologies and standards. We consistently review our Health curriculum, making sure that the content is developmentally appropriate and, if necessary, we adapt our curriculum accordingly."
Fonte has reassured parents that she does not use the word "masturbation" in class, and that her lessons teach kids not to touch themselves in public.
Hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Foundation provided the school, where his former wife Karen is on the board of trustees, with a $450,000 grant which reportedly funds Fonte's work.
The series in which the controversial video appears is created through a partnership between the Washington DC based nonprofit Advocates for Youth and the organizations Answer and Youth Tech Health. YouTube statistics show the channel's videos have been viewed 619,938 times.
Dalton School parents who didn't want to identify themselves told the Post that the video was later "quietly removed from the curriculum" after the outrage.
That said Fonte is quite popular as a sex educationist and her videos too are in huge demand. The outlet recently revealed that Fonte led 'Porn Literacy' workshops on May 5 at a $47,000-a-year private school, was once attended by Barron Trump.
Last week the outlet reported on Fonte's workshop, "Porn Literacy: An intersectional focus on mainstream porn," at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School. The often-explicit slide presentation and lecture to the 120 co-ed juniors included how porn takes care of "three big male vulnerabilities"; statistics on the "orgasm gap" showing straight women have far fewer orgasms with their partners than gay men or women; and photos of partially-nude women, some in bondage, to analyze "what is porn and what is art."
Fonte's presentation included a list of the most-searched pornographic terms of 2019, including "creampie," "anal," "gangbang," "stepmom" and more.
