| Windsor Tribune - Windsor, Colorado |
| RE: Consideration of WAIT - Abstinence-only Until
Marriage Sex Education Curriculum |
| By Peggy Loonan |
| November 7, 2005 |
|
| At the request of a very concerned parent in
the Windsor School District, I attended a parent's meeting at
Windsor Middle School Shelly Donahue presented an overview of
the WAIT (Why Am I Tempted) abstinence-only until marriage sex
education curriculum. |
|
| I'm a mother of two girls, 19 and 15, and a member
of the Poudre School District Health Curriculum Advisory Board
(HCAB), which spent fifteen months choosing a 10th grade sex
education curriculum that our board of education approved in
June. |
|
| We rejected all formal curriculums on the market,
including WAIT. We rejected WAIT because it was controversial,
contained objectionable material like a "mock wedding" activity,
an unrealistic, incomplete portrayal of marriage, stereotyping
of gender roles and medically inaccurate information. |
|
| I'm deeply concerned about the process middle
school Principal Englert and the Parent Advisory Committee are
employing to consider a new sex education curriculum. |
|
| I'm equally concerned about the medically inaccurate
information WAIT developers know are in the curriculum and refuse
to correct, particularly as it concerns the effectiveness of
condoms and transmission of HIV. |
|
| A fair good-faith process legitimizes the outcome
but this process doesn't reflect those characteristics. I believe
a small group of pro-WAIT parents and an apparent pro-WAIT principal
are trying to ram this curriculum through. Parents opposed to
WAIT are angry and frustrated because they believe the process
has been too one-sided and their deeply held concerns about
WAIT haven't been addressed. |
|
| Englert has unilaterally decided the time for
input is over. He's placed roadblocks to the presentation of
material to the PAC which questions the appropriateness and
accuracy of material in WAIT as well as an introduction of an
abstinence-based comprehensive curriculum for equal consideration.
|
|
| An illegitimate process and WAIT's deliberate
use of medically inaccurate information that places the health
of students at risk could leave the Windsor School District
open to a lawsuit. |
|
| In contrast Poudre Board of Education bent over
backwards to ensure that ample time was available to consider
curriculum from both sides of this philosophical debate. |
|
| Poudre's initial search for a sex education curriculum
began in October 2001. I complained about a comment made in
my daughter's 10th grade health class by abstinence-only until
marriage curriculum presenters from the Alpha Center. They said,
"Condoms are meant to protect you from pregnancy not HIV." |
|
| After eighteen months, the first incarnation of
HCAB presented Reducing the Risk and Sex Can Wait for piloting.
But some members of our board of education felt HCAB's make-up
wasn't diverse enough or included enough members to produce
an outcome the community would deem legitimate. They believed
HCAB needed an outside facilitator to help bring about a trust
within our group capable of producing consensus and success.
|
|
| Community members, parents, and clergy, with backgrounds
in psychology, law enforcement, social work, health care, and
business, and representing both philosophical views make up
HCAB. |
|
| After four years in the making we now have a curriculum
accepted by nearly all in our community because it was legitimized
by a legitimate review process. In the end, with district curriculum
specialists, we wrote our own 10-lesson abstinence-based comprehensive
curriculum. |
|
| I urge the Windsor Board of Education to take
control of the sex education curriculum selection process. Ensuring
a fair good-faith process will serve the Windsor Board of Education
and district students well. |
|
| I urge the Windsor community to attend the PAC
meeting, Monday November 14, 6:30pm at the Middle School, contact
Principal Englert, denglert@windsor.k12.co.us, Superintendent
Karbula, jkarbula@windsor.k12.co.us and your school board member
to voice your opinion. |
|
| Read about the very serious problems with WAIT
at www.lifeandlibertyforwomen.org, click on Sex Education. |
|
Peggy Loonan,
Fort Collins
peggy@lifeandlibertyforwomen.org |
