A Local Children’s Program Faces Renewed Scrutiny

Students in a classroom raising their hands to answer a question

A Washington school board director is once again inviting children as young as 9 into her downtown sex shop for “inclusive” sex-ed classes, reigniting fears about activist grooming and parental rights.^[7]

Story Snapshot

School board director and sex shop owner is teaching sex education to 9–12-year-olds inside her adult store.^[1]^[6]
Past ads for the program listed “sexual anatomy for pleasure” and “solo and partner sexual activities” for nine-year-olds.^[7]
Current promotion now stresses “puberty” and “healthy relationships,” raising questions about what really changed.^[3]^[6]
The controversy highlights a wider fight over parental rights, sex-ed transparency, and activist control in the classroom.^[11]^[12]

School board director’s sex-ed classes inside an adult shop

In Bellingham, Washington, school board director Jenn Mason is again offering sex education workshops for kids ages 9 to 12 through her “Uncringe Academy” program, held at WinkWink, the sex toy boutique she owns downtown.^[1]^[3]^[6] WinkWink openly describes itself as a “not creepy” adult sex shop that sells sex toys and lingerie, and also markets pride flags and gender‑affirming supplies.^[2]^[10] Mason says her goal is to make kids “comfortable” with sexual topics so they can “advocate for their own bodies, health, and well‑being.”^[1]^[3]^[5]

The workshop for 9‑ to 12‑year‑olds is advertised as a single 4.5‑hour session that covers healthy relationships, gender and sexual identities, the science of puberty, periods, sexual and reproductive anatomy, consent, and “defining sex and sexuality.”^[3]^[6] Promotional materials say the class is “based in empowerment and information, rather than shame, fear, and judgment,” and stresses an “accepting, informing, and affirming framework.”^[3] Organizers promise games, group discussions, and activities to keep kids engaged, with snacks and prizes offered during the session, in the same business that sells adult sexual products.^[3]^[7]

From “anatomy for pleasure” to “puberty”: what changed?

Critics point to past advertisements for Uncringe Academy that openly promised to teach “sexual anatomy for pleasure” and “kinds of solo and partner sexual activities” to the 9‑12 age group, including nine‑year‑old children.^[5]^[7]^[8] Those earlier descriptions went far beyond basic puberty and safety and helped spark outrage among parents and right‑leaning media, who argued that such content for preteens crosses a clear line.^[5]^[7] Newer listings for the same age bracket have quietly dropped the word “pleasure,” now centering on puberty, healthy relationships, and consent instead.^[3]^[7]

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mason now insists Uncringe Academy only covers “standard sex education topics, including puberty, relationships, consent and safer sex,” and claims lessons are “adjusted to be developmentally appropriate for each age group.”^[6] She also says there is “absolutely nothing hands‑on in the class” and denies teaching children how to “pleasure themselves or others.”^[1] However, critics note that there is still no public release of the full curriculum, slide decks, or handouts for the 9‑12 group, which makes it impossible for parents to independently verify what is actually being taught.^[5]

Conflict of interest and parental authority concerns

Many parents and commentators argue that a sitting school board director running sex-ed classes for nine‑year‑olds inside her own adult store is a serious conflict of interest.^[1]^[7]^[8] The Bellingham school district has tried to distance itself, stressing that events at WinkWink “are not connected to the school district or any of our schools,” but Mason’s elected position gives her influence over what children in the community learn.^[1]^[7] For worried families, the problem is not only the content but the message: an official in charge of schools using her power and profile to normalize sending kids into a sex shop for “education.”

Mason responds that the program is “voluntary,” was “created in response to requests from parents,” and that “parents are always welcome to attend alongside their kids.”^[6] Supporters say the classes emphasize body autonomy and consent and help fill gaps left by poor school sex education.^[8]^[10] Yet critics note that Washington’s broader debate over sex education and parental rights has heated up, and many parents feel left out of key decisions as activists push aggressive “comprehensive” models that include gender ideology and detailed sexual content for younger ages.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Part of a wider fight over sex-ed and parental rights

This local fight sits inside a much larger national battle over who controls what children learn about sex and gender. Sex education rules are mostly set at the state and local level, and there is no single national standard for what is taught or when.^[11]^[16] Many states require that abstinence be stressed, but fewer than half demand that sex-ed be medically accurate, and only some require that it be age‑appropriate.^[11] In places like Washington, activist‑backed “comprehensive” models have moved to add topics such as consent, gender identity, and sexual orientation down into middle and even elementary grades.^[12]^[13]

For conservative parents, the Uncringe Academy story is another warning sign of a broader cultural push: progressive officials and allied businesses using “inclusive” language to slip adult sexual themes into spaces for children, often with weak transparency and limited oversight. The fact that this program targets 9‑year‑olds, happens in a sex shop, and has shifted its advertising away from “pleasure” only after backlash should raise serious questions for any family that values childhood innocence, clear boundaries, and true parental control over when and how kids learn about sex.^[5]^[7]^[10]