Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Proposal renews sex-education debate in N.Va. Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 17:26:45 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;SPECIAL REPORT \HD Proposal renews sex-education debate in N.Va. \BY Maria Koklanaris \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES The ghost of sex-education battles past spooked Prince William County recently when a local group pushed to liberalize the county's teachings on homosexuality, the family, abortion, masturbation, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. Four years ago, the county and other Northern Virginia jurisdictions finished the long and often bitter task of complying with a 1987 state mandate to implement a Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum dealing with sex, substance abuse and family issues. But the recent, brief challenge to Prince William's program illustrated again that sex education is a subject that can send parents into an uproar. While battles over sex education are rare these days, furor over FLE was routine in the late 1980s. When a Fairfax County committee convened to recommend a curriculum to the School Board, nine of the 47 members denounced their colleagues as too liberal and submitted a minority report. Members of a similar committee in Prince William did the same. "They thought we were telling [students] that homosexuality was right, that we were encouraging sexual intercourse, that if you get pregnant, go get an abortion," said Lisa Langley, a health teacher at W.T. Woodson High School and an author of Fairfax's curriculum. "There was a lot of misconception." Opponents, many of them conservative Christian parents, warned that the FLE curriculum gave educators a role that should belong only to parents. People would opt out of FLE in droves, they predicted. They were wrong. Fewer than 2 percent of students in Fairfax, Prince William, Arlington and Alexandria opt out. Advisory curriculum committees have been disbanded and every jurisdiction uses take-home assignments for parents and students to do together, giving parents a firsthand look at FLE. "The number of calls I get concerned with FLE I could count on one hand," said J. Zuill Bailey, supervisor of instruction for Prince William public schools. The calm was broken Sept. 2 when Gail Szantko, representing the Prince William Area Forum, appeared before the county School Board to urge changes to FLE, which was developed under state guidelines by a 52-member team of parents, community leaders and school officials. Ms. Szantko's group is a coalition of organizations including the county chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League, the Prince William Gay and Lesbian Alliance, and the Health and Safety Services Division of the American Red Cross. She said the county's teachings on six topics - homosexuality, the family, abortion, masturbation, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases - resulted from "an archconservative perspective that is inconsistent with the views of mainstream citizens." "The practical effect has been to perpetuate stereotypes, to tacitly encourage discrimination, [and] to build social and sexual taboos," Ms. Szantko said before giving the board specific changes her group wants in the FLE curriculum. For example, Prince William teacher guidelines say, "Homosexuality should not be taught as an acceptable lifestyle, as homosexual acts are a violation of state law." The Prince William Area Forum suggested: "Students should understand that homosexuality refers to the sexual orientation of an individual, and that is determined principally by genetics, biology and other factors. A useful analogy is that a person may be homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual the same way people have blue eyes, brown eyes or green eyes. Homosexuality is not a 'lifestyle' that individuals arbitrarily choose or reject." The county's conservative Christian community immediately went on the offensive. Ads in local newspapers urged parents to speak against the changes at the Oct. 7 School Board meeting. "Homosexuals Push for Sex-Ed Changes," warned an ad from the Paraclete Ministries. "Would you want your child counseled to have an abortion without your knowledge or permission?" asked another. About 200 people showed up for the School Board meeting, but the matter was not on the agenda. School Board officials said they had no intention of changing the FLE curriculum. Mr. Bailey said the flap surprised some Prince William officials because they had not heard strong complaints about FLE for several years. "Until [the recent incident], everything has been extremely smooth," he said. 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