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Intrusive and Ideological Questions
The first few pages of the survey wasted no time diving into highly personal topics. Students were asked: “What sex were you assigned at birth?” and “What is your gender identity?” Options included “non-binary,” “gender-fluid,” and “I am not sure about my gender identity.”
One of the next questions bluntly asked whether students considered themselves transgender. Others asked if they identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or “questioning.”
The tone shifted again midway through — from identity politics to despair. Children were asked how often they felt “hopeless,” “like a failure,” or whether they had “seriously considered killing themselves.”
Later sections even included questions about climate change, such as how worried they were about it or whether they believed it affected them personally.
The survey also asked whether “parents or adults at home” insulted or hit them.
Officials Defend the Program
Superintendent Jeff Marsden defended the exercise, telling Fox News Digital that “the data is used to help the 25 school districts with programming, staffing needs, grants, and support for kids.”
He added that 40,000 students across 25 Massachusetts school districts take the same survey and that student responses are anonymous.
But that explanation hasn’t reassured parents — especially after years of similar scandals across the state.
A Pattern of Parental Rights Violations
Just months ago, Burlington Public Schools found itself under federal investigation after forcing students to complete another explicit “Youth Risk Behavior Survey” despite parents opting out.
That version included questions about sexual activity, sex toys, and gender ideology. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon called Burlington’s behavior “unconscionable,” saying, “The allegations that Burlington violated parents’ rights by administering a survey against parents’ wishes — and particularly one that is graphic, and downright inappropriate in nature — is unconscionable.”
The Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center accused the district of “pushing sexual, racial, and political ideologies upon students without consulting parents.”
One father, David Hanafin, said his special-needs son came home “visibly upset” after being asked graphic questions — despite having opted him out.
Parents Say Enough Is Enough
Critics say the secrecy surrounding these surveys is the most alarming part. “School officials handed parents a 112-question survey asking 11-year-olds about gender identity, suicide, and whether mommy and daddy hit each other at home. Then they told parents to keep it secret,” one parent told Fox.
Conservative education watchdog Erika Sanzi said such surveys are “extremely common in schools and continue to get more invasive, ideological and developmentally inappropriate.”
She even noted that Medfield was being “praised for transparency” simply because it allowed parents to view the document — something she called “extremely rare.”
Federal Crackdown Coming
After months of escalating incidents, Secretary McMahon finally drew a line in the sand.
In a March 28, 2025 “Dear Colleague” letter, she warned every U.S. school district to comply with federal parental rights laws or risk losing federal funding. “Parents must be the primary decision-makers in their children’s education,” McMahon declared.
She didn’t stop at Massachusetts. Her department opened FERPA investigations into California and Maine for hiding students’ gender transitions from parents.
The Bottom Line
Massachusetts schools appear to have built an entire framework of so-called “health surveys” that gather personal, ideological, and family information — all while pushing parents out of the loop.
McMahon’s crackdown may finally expose what’s happening behind those classroom doors.
As one critic put it best: “That’s not education policy. That’s what predators do.”
