MINNESOTA'S SEX-ED ROLLBACK
KERSTEN, KATHERINE
MINNESOTA'S SEX-ED ROLLBACK By Katherine Kersten Liberal Minnesota is the last place you'd expect to find an anti-"sex-ed" revolution. But in Osseo, a large suburban district near Minneapolis,...
...But just the opposite is true...
...The ACLU has taken this notion the next step...
...Along with reproductive biology and sexually transmitted diseases, the course will cover the social role of marriage and the personal benefits a committed marriage can bring...
...Across the nation, advocates on both sides of the sex-ed wars—notably the Reproductive Freedom Project of the American Katherine Kersten is senior fellow for cultural studies at the Center of the American Experiment in Minneapolis, Minn...
...The new plan creates diversity where none existed before...
...From a parent's vantage point, it is just as well that they have shown their true colors...
...In addition, such curricula "instill fear and shame" and are "laden with racist and sexist stereotypes and religious prescriptions for proper behavior and values...
...Nevertheless, it has encountered fierce opposition—from teachers who resent parents' "lack of trust" in the status quo, and from advocacy groups wedded to comprehensive sex education...
...Its Reproductive Freedom Project, launched in 1974, would elevate sexual expression for children to a legal right...
...In 1991, for example, the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin sued to halt use of the popular "Sex Respect" curriculum in the East Troy public schools but was unsuccessful...
...Teens are crying out for strong messages about abstaining from sex...
...It gives a voice to parents who believe that sex belongs within marriage and who want their children's public-school instruction on this vital aspect of life to respect their beliefs...
...It turns out the "diversity" argument is just a cover...
...This movement holds that sex is at the core of our identity and that sexual self-expression is critical to personal authenticity...
...For 30 years, America's knowledge class has embraced the tenets of sexual liberation...
...In addition, classes will study how to set goals, hone self-control, and avoid sexually compromising situations...
...According to an April 1998 memo in the project's resource kit for defending comprehensive sexuality education, sex-ed courses geared to abstinence withhold information students need to "control their lives," thus impeding the "full exercise of reproductive rights" and constituting "censorship...
...Apparently the MCLU is weighing a constitutional challenge based on the district's failure to maintain separation of church and state...
...The new "abstinence-only" track has a very different goal...
...The ACLU, true to form, has threatened to sue...
...The critics' reactions are revealing...
...There's a deeper reason why people who elevate choice and tolerance to quasi-religious principles in other contexts so vehemently oppose parents' right to govern their children's education in sexual morality...
...Even more helpful is Osseo's two-track curriculum—a practical model for communities struggling to make their public schools more welcoming to all...
...Abstinence is discussed, but the primary focus is the how-to's of birth control, along with "communication" and "decision-making" skills...
...When it comes to sexuality education, it is clear which kind of liberty the ACLU and its allies value most...
...In an Emory University survey of sexually active teen girls, 84 percent reported that what they wanted most from adults was information on how to say no without hurting boys' feelings...
...The Reproductive Freedom Project, based in New York City, works with ACLU state affiliates as they build coalitions of educators, parents, and activists to lobby school boards, mount public-relations efforts, and monitor districts...
...Naturally enough, the project is fighting abstinence-only curricula in schools...
...Students will learn about birth control, but will focus on the related health risks rather than on the use of contraceptives...
...Today, almost 52 percent of high school students report that they are abstinent, an 11 percent increase since 1991...
...Civil Liberties Union—will be watching closely...
...Parents have good reason to expect their children to benefit from the abstinence-only track...
...The curriculum will present abstinence as the "desired standard of behavior" and help students develop the character traits necessary to achieve it...
...The project also encourages affiliates to look for cases that lend themselves to legal challenge, though so far litigation has been stymied by the courts' deference to school boards on questions of curriculum...
...Osseo's two-track sex-ed plan will create a new option for parents...
...In this view, to suggest that sex has a moral component—to make value judgments—is to impede life's central task of unfettered "self-actualization...
...This battle is unfolding mainly on the state and local levels...
...BUT THE OPPOSITE is true— IT CREATES diversity where NONE ExISTED...
...Osseo parents' first option will be the "comprehensive" or "safer sex" curriculum the district currently offers...
...In Osseo, the ACLU may smell a test case...
...But in Osseo, a large suburban district near Minneapolis, parents fed up with "value-neutral" sexuality instruction have overthrown the old regime...
...Several months ago, the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union requested copies of the district's goals and objectives for the new two-track sexuality curriculum, as well as minutes of all school board meetings at which it was discussed...
...Starting in 1999, Osseo schools will offer a two-track sex-ed curriculum for junior and senior high school students, and parents will choose the track they prefer...
...CRITICS COMPLAIN THAT THE NEW PLAN FAILS TO REFLECT "DIVERSITY...
...This course assumes that many young people will have sex and aims to provide the knowledge and skills they need to do so safely...
...It is an irony of our time that champions of individual expression and freedom of conscience should oppose accommodation of difference for traditional Americans...
...In a 1997 survey by the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 68 percent of teen respondents said it is "very important" that teens be given a "strong message from society that they should abstain from sex until they are at least out of high school...
...They complain, for example, that the abstinence-only track is "not inclusive" and fails to reflect the district's "diversity...
Vol. 4 • December 1998 • No. 14
