CRAHD Report Leads to CBS-5 Sex Ed
Investigation
A formal curriculum
review for compliance with state education code conducted by CRAHD research
scientist Petra Jerman and PHI vice president Carmen Nevarez has spurred an
investigation by San Francisco’s CBS-5 TV News – and a change in policy by the
Freemont Unified School District. Dr. Jerman appears in the first video
story below, along with parent sex education activist and Bay Area Communities
for Health Education (BACHE) leader Renee Walker, and her son.
Inappropriate
Sex Ed. In Calif. Public Schools?
February
8, 2008.
Anna Werner reporting
FREMONT (CBS 5) ―
Renee Walker wants the best for her son Jesse, so when his Concord middle
school offered a sex education program, she was eager to sign the consent form.
…
For text summary and to
view full video, go to: http://cbs5.com/local/California.sex.education.2.649014.html
Fremont Reviews Sex Ed.
After CBS 5 Investigation
March
13, 2008
Anna Werner reporting
FREMONT (CBS 5) ―
A CBS 5 investigation in February discovered the sex education in Fremont
public schools may violate California state law. On Thursday, Fremont's sexual
education curriculum met to discuss the fate of a program that may be giving
inaccurate and misleading information to teenagers that could put health at
risk. …
For text summary and to
view full video, go to:
http://cbs5.com/investigates/Fremont.sex.education.2.676878.html
Palin
Renews Debate Over Abstinence-Only Sex Ed.
September
4, 2008.
Anna Werner reporting
FREMONT (CBS 5) ― In the week since John McCain announced his choice of running mate, much
has been learned a lot about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's beliefs. She
endorses drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. Palin supports teaching creationism, alongside evolution, in
schools. And she believes in abstinence-only education, though she hasn't tried
to enact legislation reflecting that position.
…
For text summary and to
view full video, go to:
http://cbs5.com/investigates/palin.sex.education.2.810633.html
Fremont
Board Agrees to Comply with State on Sex Education
Contra
Costa Times
June
12, 2008
The Fremont Unified School District Board voted on June 11 to change its junior
high sex education curriculum to comply with a state law requiring
comprehensive, medically accurate information. Since 2001, Fremont has taught
the abstinence-until-marriage program "Health and Relationships in the New
Millennium" developed by Await & Find. The state law requiring
medically accurate comprehensive sex education became effective in 2004.
A 2006 Public Health Institute
review found that the
Health and Relationships program inflated condom failure rates, made unfounded
claims, and relied on fear and shame in delivering its abstinence message.
"I recognize that
we've been out of compliance, but for whatever reason, we were not aware of
this" until this year, said Trustee Nina Moore. Students have not been
receiving the abstinence-only program exclusively, Moore added: They also have
an opportunity to watch the Kaiser Permanente play "Secrets," which
discusses sex, condom use, and STDs.
The board asked the sex
education advisory committee to recommend a new junior high sex education
curriculum that meets state standards. The board hopes there will be enough
time to adopt a program by January and roll it out in time for spring, when the
courses are usually taught.
In addition, the
committee was tasked with reviewing a ninth-grade health textbook, which committee
member Cynthia Fong believes discusses abstinence without mentioning
contraceptives. Board members also approved the inclusion of Kaiser's
"Nightmare on Puberty Street" as supplementary material for junior
high students. A community screening of the video is planned for June 26.
Fremont
board agrees to comply with state on sex education
Current
curriculum improperly stresses abstinence, officials say
By
Linh Tat
Inside Bay Area: The Argus
June
12, 2008
FREMONT — In response to findings that its 7-year-old junior high school sex
education curriculum is an abstinence-only program that violates state law, the
Fremont school board this week instructed the district's health and sex
education advisory committee to recommend a new, comprehensive curriculum by
January.
The new curriculum
should provide unbiased and medically accurate information about sex,
contraceptives and sexually transmitted diseases, as well as a discussion about
abstinence, the board decided.
The district's current
curriculum, "Health and Relationships in the New Millennium,"
promotes an abstinence-until-marriage curriculum, according to a 2006 review of
the program by the Public Health Institute.
The institute's report
found that the curriculum misleads students by inflating the failure rate of
condoms from about 2 percent to 12 to 16 percent and by making unfounded
claims, such as assertions that "children of unmarried teens have more
health problems."
The report also said
that the curriculum employs fear and shame to discourage premarital sex.
According to a report
earlier this year by KPIX Channel 5, the developer of the curriculum, a
nonprofit organization called Await & Find, has received millions of
dollars in federal funding to emphasize abstinence programs.
The school board adopted
the curriculum in 2001 — before Senate Bill 71, which outlines current
standards for sex education — took effect in 2004. On Wednesday, school board
members all agreed that the district must provide a comprehensive curriculum
that's compliant with the latest state education codes.
"I recognize that
we've been out of compliance, but for whatever reason, we were not aware of
this (until this year)," Trustee Nina Moore said. "While our
curriculum may not meet standards, (students) are not being taught (abstinence
only)," she added.
Students in Fremont do
have an opportunity to watch the Kaiser Permanente play "Secrets," in
which the actors talk frankly about sex, condom use and sexually transmitted
diseases.
To ensure that students
are receiving a comprehensive curriculum next year, the board hopes to adopt a
new curriculum by January. Junior high students are scheduled to study sex
education in the spring.
Susan O'Neil, a member
of the health and sex education advisory committee who said she was speaking
for herself, not the panel, said Thursday that the current curriculum is
several years old and certain sections could be updated, but that doesn't mean
the entire curriculum should be scrapped.
"It's a very
positive approach to the information that has to be given," she said.
She said she believes
any curriculum should be comprehensive, but students also should know that the
only fool-proof way to protect oneself against sexually transmitted diseases is
through abstinence.
"Kids need to be
taught we have an urge to merge. We have a lot of physiological urges that we
don't have a lot of control over. We breathe, we blink ... But sexual urges,
you don't have to act on them," O'Neil said. "Just because I have an
urge to wring your neck doesn't mean I'm going to do it."
Cynthia Fong, another
member of the health and sex education advisory committee who also was speaking
for herself, said she's pleased that the junior high curriculum will change.
But she said she continues to have concerns about the ninth-grade health
textbook, which, she understands, includes a chapter that only discusses
abstinence and doesn't mention contraceptives.
The committee will
review the ninth-grade textbook. In addition to directing health sex education
committee members to review new curricula for junior high students, the board
on Wednesday approved the Kaiser Permanente play "Nightmare on Puberty
Street" as a supplementary teaching tool for junior high students.
Board President Ivy Wu
was the only one to vote against it. The district will offer a screening of the
play June 26 to community members, and Wu wanted to wait until after the
showing to take a vote