Sensible Sex
Education
EDITORIAL,
washingtonpost.com from the Web, July 4, 2005
THE LEGAL offensive against changes
to Montgomery County's sex education curriculum is over. For now.
In May, the two groups leading the charge, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum
-- a group formed specifically for this fight -- and Parents and Friends of
Ex-Gays and Gays, sued for a temporary restraining order to block a trial in six
schools of the revised "family life and human sexuality" unit. The
Montgomery County School Board settled the lawsuit with a promise that teachers
would not discuss specific religious beliefs regarding sexuality. The
board also agreed to pay $36,000 for the groups' legal fees -- a reasonable
decision when weighed against the likelihood of a protracted court battle
costing the school system hundreds of thousands of dollars.
And so the process begins anew. This time, the school board has asked the
superintendent to ensure that every detail of the updated curriculum is legally
airtight and educationally sound. One of the casualties of the restraining
order was a video produced by the county school system to educate students on
the correct way to use a condom. We hope the superintendent and the school
board will see fit to include it again this time around. In addition to
giving vital information to sexually active teens -- sandwiched between messages
reinforcing the fact that abstinence is the only completely safe option -- the
video saves teachers the embarrassment of demonstrating prophylactic technique.
To its credit, the board has committed to adding the subject of sexual
orientation to the course, a change from the current policy that allows it to be
addressed briefly only in response to students' specific questions.
Let's be clear: The changes involve only one unit of the health education
course for eighth- and 10th-graders, amounting to just 90 minutes -- two class
periods -- of instruction. As required by Maryland law, a citizens
advisory committee will consult with educators developing the revisions.
Parents have the option to review course material, and they must give written
consent before their children can take part. Parents who withhold consent
may choose from three substitutions to the standard curriculum: an
abstinence-only unit; a lesson on stress management, nutrition or a similarly
benign subject; or an independent study on a health topic designated by the
parent.
Meanwhile, students whose parents have no objections to the course will get
accurate information about sexual orientation, abstinence, and preventing
pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. We think that the school
board is right to include this information in a sex education course, but the
alternatives provided are more than adequate for those who disagree.
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