A Pennsylvania English teacher said he included close-up photographs of penises, vulvas, as well as a video of a woman ejaculating in an optional sexuality class, according to an interview. The school told Fox News Digital they were standing by him.

Al Vernacchio is an English teacher at Friends’ Central School, a private school in Wynnewood. He also is involved in the sexuality curriculum, which expounds from children nursery through 12th grade, according to his website.

In his work as Sexuality Education Coordinator, Vernacchio teaches classes, organizes sexuality-themed programs and assemblies, and is one of the faculty advisors for the Gender and Sexual Orientation Alliance.

In an unearthed 2011 interview he gave to The New York Times Magazine, Vernacchio described his graphic lesson plans which he said have raised concerns outside the school. The teacher said his goal is to desensitize children to images of genitalia.

The Times reported, “The lessons that tend to raise eyebrows outside the school, according to Vernacchio, are a medical research video he shows of a woman ejaculating — students are allowed to excuse themselves if they prefer not to watch — and a couple of dozen up-close photographs of vulvas and penises. The photos, Vernacchio said, are intended to show his charges the broad range of what’s out there.”

“It’s really a process of desensitizing them to what real genitals look like, so they’ll be less freaked out by their own and, one day, their partner’s,” the teacher added.

Eleventh and 12th-grade students were exposed to those lessons. Students had the option to opt-out from viewing the nude images and parents sign off on enrollments. The school said they stood firmly by their educator.

“Al Vernacchio is a nationally renowned and highly respected educator. It is disappointing that his work and our School are being miscast so thoroughly. Friends’ Central is committed to cultivating the intellectual, ethical, and spiritual promise of our students, in a world that needs that more than ever,” they said in a statement. (SOURCE)