California: Sex Questions Found Not to Violate Parents' Rights

Yesterday in San Francisco, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 that parents' rights were not violated when a Los Angeles County elementary school conducted a student psychological survey that included questions about sexual feelings and masturbation. While the judges refrained from commenting on "the wisdom of… some of the particular questions" asked of students in the first, third and fifth grades in the Palmdale School District, they said parents' have no constitutional right to control what children are taught in school or what questions they are asked.

"Parents have a right to inform their children when and as they wish on the subject of sex," said Judge Stephen Reinhardt. "They have no constitutional right, however, to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise." Reinhardt wrote, "Schools cannot be expected to accommodate the personal, moral or religious concerns of every parent."

Tammany Fields, one of four parents who filed the suit, said she was dismayed by the ruling. "It gives the schools more control and the parents less control. I believe it should truly be the parents' decision to educate a child on appropriate questions about sex."

One day in 2001, Fields said her then fifth-grade son came home and told her some of the survey questions he had been asked. The survey, designed by a district counselor who was studying for a master's degree in psychology, asked 79 questions intended to measure children's exposure to early trauma. Parents had consented to the survey after being told of its general nature but were not informed of specific questions. Ten of the questions addressed sex, including how much the students thought about sex and whether they were "touching… private parts too much." After parents complained, the survey was discontinued.

Attorney Dennis Walsh, who represented the district, said school officials eventually "recognized the inappropriateness of some of the questions." Walsh said the court rightly noted that school curriculum is controlled by school boards, which are subject to limitations of state law. California allows parents to remove their children from sex education classes.

Back to other news for November 3, 2005