Getty ImagesFile this under Fail. A Minnesota school official is under some hot water this week after taking students on an, um, alternative field trip. Make that very alternative.
According to the Star Tribune, a director at the Gaia Democratic School in Minneapolis brought about a dozen students to a place called Smitten Kitten. That doesn't sound so bad, except for the fact that it's actually a sex shop. Or, rather, a "progressive sex toy store for people of all genders and orientations." We're on board with the progressiveness and inclusive nature, but it's still a sex shop. That schoolchildren visited. With their teacher.
The Kitten (we're on a nickname basis with this shop) peddles what you'd expect to find at a sex toy store: Vibrators, BDSM gear, videos, etc. The field trip leader, Starri Hedges, told the Tribune that she brought students there to expand on what they learned in sex ed class. "What I saw happening on our trip, I thought it was beautiful because kids could talk to these sex educators without any shame, without any fear," she said.
Which is great! A healthy, open dialogue is great, especially for students who are still learning about everything. But there's just one problem: Hedges didn't exactly get parents' permission first. Whoops.
Parents are pretty pissed off about not being informed of their children's extracurricular activities, and some have even pulled their kids from the private school (which, we have to imagine, costs a pretty penny to attend). And now city officials are looking into the incident and investigating whether Smitten Kitten that violated rules about minors in sex stores.
It's safe to say that this field trip didn't exactly go as planned, and we think Hedges said it best: "It was certainly the first time we have taken that kind of field trip and it will probably be our last," she told the Tribune.