Michigan Parents Seek Change in Sex Ed

Proposed changes to the Rochester, Mich., school district's sex education program have some parents arguing the material steers students away from abstinence and instead encourages them to practice safe sex. "Teaching kids that having sex with condoms makes it safe is terribly misleading," said Carolyn Mack, who has three children in district schools.

The district began researching updates to its 10-year-old health curriculum in 1998. Materials and statistics need to reflect current trends, said Betty Crowder, the district's health education coordinator. Administrators say they're puzzled by the emerging controversy. They argue that the proposed changes are minimal, and many of the changes are more conservative than the past curriculum. About 50 parents have attended two public hearings on the changes, the second of which was held Monday.

"We have emphasized over and over that we are 100 percent behind teaching abstinence," said Superintendent John Schultz. "But we also feel kids need to be able to understand that if they get themselves into a situation, that they can protect themselves." Proposed changes include dropping the K-3 health curriculum, eliminating discussion on family planning and STDs at the 6th grade level, and eliminating the visual condom presentation in 7th grade, Crowder said.

But Mack, who served on the Health Advisory Committee, a state-mandated board required to make recommendations on changes to health curricula, said she felt "outnumbered and outmaneuvered" by panelists who advocated the safe sex message. "When you look seriously at the material, it's a joke to say that the focus is on abstinence. They say that because they know that makes the parents feel better," she said. "I have no problem with teaching the biology party of [reproduction]," said Mark Peludat, the father of two daughters. "But some of this material introduces information too early for the kids to comprehend. We want to teach our kids on our timeline, not the school's," he said.

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