By CHRISTINA DeNARDO
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Palm Beach County sixth-graders will be taught how contraceptives work under a new sex education curriculum beginning in April.The
move by the school district came in response to health department
concerns that sex education classes for elementary and middle school
students didn't go far enough.
"Florida is the sixth-highest in the nation for pregnant
teens, and that tells us we need to get information to our students"
well before they enter their teenage years, said Judy Klinek, who
oversees health education for the district.
Previously, students in sixth grade - typically 11- and
12-year-olds - learned about sexually transmitted diseases and how to
resist pressure to have sex by focusing on goals to help them remain
abstinent. But details about diseases were scant, and there was no
mention of condoms. Now students will get more detailed lessons about
how contraceptives help prevent disease and pregnancy.
One of the lessons for seventh-graders gives tips on how to
store and use condoms and encourages teachers to invite a medical
professional to demonstrate their use. Students also will be told where
to get more information on contraceptives. Students will have the
choice to opt out of the class.
In December, the St. Lucie County School Board approved a
new sex education curriculum that included more information about
contraceptives, including a video on condoms. It had proposed including
more sexually explicit content, hands-on condom demonstrations,
descriptions of sexual activities and an exercise in which students
would have been asked to purchase condoms at a drugstore - but that was
taken out after opponents criticized it.
The changes to Palm Beach County's sex education curriculum
come four years after the county health department began pushing for a
more comprehensive program to decrease alarming statistics of teen
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
The number of births by mothers 19 or younger in the county
increased from 462 in 2004 to 506 in 2006, according to the health
department. There are 327 cases of HIV or AIDS among people 19 or
younger.
Nearly a year ago, Dr. Jean Malecki, the department's
director, criticized the district's sex education program because it
did not go far enough and asked the district to add more information on
preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in the lower
grades.
"We are just beginning to scratch the surface, but this is
a critical piece," said Marsha Fishbane, the health department's
director for school health. "We need to get the facts out."
So far, at least, there's been no controversy about the
planned changes, which were discussed at a school board meeting
Wednesday. Board members voiced support for the changes.
While the middle school content will get the biggest
overhaul, the district is adding comprehensive sex education to
elementary schools, though the content will be geared toward
self-esteem, respect and character education.
In middle and high school, the classes will be taught
mainly by science teachers, though Superintendent Art Johnson and
others say they are not always the best suited to teach the lessons.
There has been concern that teachers may inject their
values into lessons or not have the expertise to handle such a delicate
subject.
A University of Florida study released in November shows
the concern expressed by sex education teachers. The majority of
teachers surveyed said sex education was afforded little time, occurred
late in the students' lives and varied from teacher to teacher.
In some Florida schools, teachers have asked Planned
Parenthood educators to come in and discuss contraceptives and sexually
transmitted diseases to avoid giving inaccurate information. In Palm
Beach County, Planned Parenthood does work with teenagers, but only
after they've become pregnant.
To ensure that lessons are standard, the district is
requiring teachers to attend five training workshops and has created
PowerPoint presentations to use in class. The presentations could also
serve as a syllabus to show parents what to expect.
This year, discussion of revamping sex education has begun
on the state level. Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, is sponsoring
legislation that would require public schools that get state funding to
provide comprehensive sex education, citing studies that show parents
and teachers feel schools aren't doing enough to prevent teen pregnancy
and sexually transmitted diseases.
Across the country, abstinence-only education programs are in jeopardy. Fifteen states have rejected federal funding for it.
Florida received the second-largest share of the funding in
the nation, but it still has the second-highest annual HIV infection
rate and the sixth-highest teen pregnancy rate.
Nationwide, studies show the programs may not be working.
Last year a Mathematica Policy Research study found that
abstinence-only programs don't reduce teen sexual activity or
unprotected sex, and a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention showed that the teen sex rate had remain unchanged over
five years.
