I would like to know more about the abstinence program. It seems irresponsible to me not to stress abstinence. The failure to persuade teens to avoid pre- marital sex leads, in my view as a father of multiple teens, both boys and girls, to serious consequences for society - out-of wedlock births, absent fathers, single mothers, loss or delay of career advancement, reduction of ability to enter into and maintain healthy and long-term relationships, anti-female sexist stereotypes; the list goes on and on. I could not tell from the story what exactly was the problem with the program, but if that particular one did not work, another should be implemented immediately, in my opinion.

As a pediatrician and as a mother of teens myself, I couldn't agree more that discussing abstinence and giving youth much needed skills to negotiate sexual descion making is critical to their health. However, The Heritage curriculum is rife with mis-information and out right lies about sexuality, sexual orientation, the "expected" submissive role of girls and "expected" dominance of boys. It is shame and fear based. But much more critcally, in my view, it does not help young people understand sexuality and how it fits into their lives, nor does it offer any help to keep young people safe from unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases if and when they eventually do become sexually active. In fact it does quite the opposite, leaving young people with the notion that condoms don't work and that people who have sexual relations are dirty, immoral and bad. As parents, I believe we want our children to be healthy, we want them to grow into healthy young adults, this includes being sexually healthy, understanding their own sexuality, being able to make healthy, well-informed descions regarding their behavior. Comprehensive sexuality education that includes astinence but also include accurate information about contraception and std prevention is far more effective that scare and shame tactics.

Ahhhhhhhh, yes...Our wonderful, common-sense friends at the ACLU strike again. No, no -- Don't teach kids to abstain from sex !! Instead, make condoms available to second-graders and teach them how to use them in Show-and-Tell, simulating a penis with a banana. And, as always, God (Oops! Sorry -- Can't use that word!!) forbid that anyone - especially a child - have to divulge the name of a sex partner, seeing as to how children in grammar school have the Constitutional right to have sex with whomever, whenever and however they want -- and it's no one else's business!! Let's forget alllllllll about Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmetic -- what they really need to know is how to use a condom!

Thanks Pat Flanagan for putting it so eloquently. To Mr. Raskin,I am a parent of a student who went through 1/2 of this program before I brought concerns to the school, (and subsequently the ACLU) and the program was asked not to return. This particular program fails to provide kids with anything beyond a "Just Say No" message. 450 minutes of precious time is absorbed that could be better spent teaching the benefits of abstinence in addition to providing factual, medically accurate information about STD's and prevention, pregnancy and prevention, and relationship skills, and tolerance. The costs of correcting the misinformation that Heritage promotes, if that is done, are enormous. If it is not done - that is a huge injustice. Telling girls "they should dress modestly so as not to invite boys' lustful thoughts" places rape blame on the wrong party. Giving false failure rates for condoms invites a "why bother," potentially life-threatening situation. Programs that invite people to become "recycled" or "secondary" virgins conveys a message of being dirty. After all, it's our trash that we recycle. Surveys that invade privacy, and in fact violate the law, should give rise for concern as well. Repeatedly, I have read that Heritage claims the survey they used was voluntary, and yet something can only be voluntary if we are told we have a right NOT to participate. This was not the case. Heritage RI promotes their view of a "norm" that may not be relevent, or a reality for many. The list of what is wrong with the program could go on and on. It may also be important for people to know that a large portion of the curriculum is provided by Focus on the Family and other like-minded groups. Their mission is clear and can be found on their web-site. Superintendent Dr. Dellith stated that he believed their purpose was to "promulgate religion", and that Pawtucket Schools felt they were "duped" by Heritage RI about what would (or would not) be taught. I agree with that. In addition to what they do teach, the saddest part, and one that could be changed, is in what these programs fail to teach. The kids need the respect and trust of being given information, and therefore the responsability of making their own decisions. Where is the logic in thinking that if we teach prevention and protection we are advocating teen sex?