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December 18, 2006

ACLU still critical of abstinence sex-ed program

An abstinence-only sex education program which the state Department of Education reviewed before approving for use in public schools "continues to have serious flaws," charged the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union today.

In March, Education Commissioner Peter McWalters advised schools not to use the program, developed by the nonprofit group Heritage of Rhode Island, after the ACLU claimed it isolated gay students and provided misleading contraceptive information.

McWalters’ advisory noted that the Heritage program, which was being used in Woonsocket at the time, was "NOT consistent with the Rhode Island Health Education Standards’’ nor had it been reviewed first, as required, by the department.

During the summer Education Department staff "encouraged Heritage to work with a consultant that would help them design a program so that it met all state regulations, and they did so,’’ said department spokesman Elliot Krieger.

Earlier this month, McWalters approved the federally-funded program for use, one of many sex-education programs school districts can choose from, said Krieger.

But the ACLU today said the program -- which is not currently being used by any Rhode Island schools -- still has several problems.

"For example,’’ the ACLU said, "the materials suggests that condoms only protect against chlamydia and gonorrhea 50 percent of the time, contradicting findings from the Centers for Disease Control and [the] World Health Organization that speak to the effectiveness of condoms’’ in protecting against sexually transmitted diseases.

Moreover, the ACLU claims, the Heritage curriculum "persists in isolating gay and lesbian youth and students in non-traditional families by suggesting that marriage is responsible for better health, lower rates of injury and illness, lower rates of depression and an increased `likelihood that fathers and mothers have good relationships with their children.’ ’’

Krieger said the department has no intention of intervening again. "It’s been reviewed,’’ he said.

-- Journal staff writer Tom Mooney

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 7:00 PM | Permalink

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