The Ithaca City School District, an overall excellent school system, has adopted, as a PART of its sex education curriuculm for eighth graders in the system to use an abstinence only curriculum offered by Mothers and Babies in Owego, NY. On the surface, given that an abstinence only curriculum is being offered in the context of a larger, more comprehensive sex ed curriculum, it might seem like a tempest in a teacup to be worried about this. But read beyond the flip for why this should represent a line in the sand for parents and educators who care about keeping theologically driven agendas out of our public schools.
On Monday of last week, eighth grade students in Dewitt Middle School in Ithaca, NY brought home a permission slip to go on a trip to a Teen Summit offered by Mothers and Babies in Owego New York. Here is the link to that group's summit:
http://www.mothersandbabies.org/Pages/Worth%20the%20Wait.htm
The permission slip indicated that it needed to be returned right away or the child would not be able to go, and also indicated that kids who did not have the permission slip would spend a day in school doing alternate activities. The slips stressed how fun it would be to play games described on the website.
One game, the maze, is designed so that 60% of the kids playing it "contract" an STD or "get pregnant" on a date, and do not graduate from high school.
In another game, "Wildfire," kids are taught how everyone in the room can contract an STD as their names are written on people's sheets of paper.
I have no problem with abstinence education. What I DO have a problem with, is using tax dollars to fund (through faith based initiatives) the Abstinence Only curricula. By definition, to receive this funding, a group must agree NOT to discuss ABORTION, HOMOSEXUALITY or CONTRACEPTION. In effect, an abstinence only curriculum is a gag order on our educational system. There are implications of religious curricula with theological agendas being introduced into public education. But there is also the problem with a curriculum which is forbidden to tell the whole story.
The program the Mothers and Babies network is using is called Worth the Wait. It is founded in Texas (surprise). Here is their link:
http://www.worththewait.org
Of interest is that the direct link between sex and heterosexual marriage is unapologetic and up-front. Its Worth the Wait till marriage of a man and a woman.
Parents on the PTA list site are starting to raise questions about this. They are concerned that while on the surface the program is free, they are having to pay tax dollars for school buses to take the kids to the town of Owego. But the chatter in the religious right's websites in teh area also indicate that they are worried they are going to lsoe another battle, after having lost the fight to get an abstinence only curriculum into the Lansing Schools last year. That program was to be offered by the Ithaca Pregnancy Center, but was rejected by parents. Here is their link:
http://www.ithacapregnancy.com/index.php
In their newsletter (which I get), they track how many women have received the gospel as part of their training.
The ACLU has a campaign to fight Abstinence Only education curricula. It is called NOT IN MY STATE. The press release can be found here:
http://www.aclu.org/ReproductiveRights/ReproductiveRights.cfm?ID=19106&c=30
I urge parents who care about their local curricula to do what I have done too late:
Contact your school board and curriculum office and ask to see the sex ed curriculum. See if it includes an abstinence ONLY curriculum as any part of the curriculum. Ask how these decisions are made. And if you are really tough, offer to be on the curriculum committee. It is a labor of love.