Proposed
new
standards
for
developing
health
and
sex
education
curricula
for
the
District
of
Columbia
Public
Schools
call
for
teaching
eighth
grade
students
that
some
“feel
romantically
and/or
sexually
attracted”
to
people
of
the
same
gender.
The
43-page
draft
document,
Health
Learning
Standards,
also
calls
for
teaching
sixth
grade
students
that
“people,
regardless
of
biological
sex,
gender,
ability,
sexual
orientation,
gender
identity
and
culture,
have
sexual
feeling
and
the
need
for
love,
affection
and
physical
intimacy.”
But
the
proposed
standards
stop
short
of
giving
D.C.
public
school
teachers
permission
to
inform
students
that
the
American
Psychiatric
and
Psychological
associations
and
the
medical
establishment
consider
homosexuality
to
be
a
normal
variation
of
human
sexuality.
Last
month,
Montgomery
County,
Md.,
public
school
officials
gave
final
approval
to
a
controversial,
gay-inclusive
sex
education
program
that
allows
teachers
to
tell
students
who
ask
that
homosexuality
is
not
a
psychiatric
disorder
or
mental
illness.
The
proposed
D.C.
school
standards
cover
a
wide
range
of
health-related
issues
aimed
at
students
from
kindergarten
to
grade
10,
with
specific
gay-related
topics
starting
in
the
sixth
grade.
School
officials
said
the
proposed
standards
arenot
the
same
as
a
school
curriculum
and
that
a
new
sex
education
and
health
curriculum
would
be
developed
in
the
near
future
based
on
parameters
set
by
the
standards.
The
standards
include
instruction
on
“disease
prevention
and
treatment”
that
cover
AIDS
and
other
sexually
transmitted
diseases.
Sexual
abstinence
is
recommended,
but
the
standards
also
call
for
informing
students
in
upper
grades
that
the
use
of
condoms
is
important
for
those
who
are
sexually
active.
“Reflecting
a
strong
consensus
among
educators,
these
standards
establish
high
expectations
for
all
students,”
states
an
introduction
to
the
draft
document.
“They
detail
the
knowledge
and
skills
that
students
need
to
maintain
and
improve
their
health
and
wellness,
prevent
disease
and
reduce
health-related
risk
behaviors.”
The
name
of
the
school
system’s
newly
appointed
chancellor,
Michelle
Rhee,
appears
on
the
document’s
cover
page.
The
D.C.
Healthy
Youth
Coalition,
an
alliance
of
32
local
groups
working
on
youth-related
health
issues,
including
the
Whitman-Walker
Clinic
and
the
Sexual
Minority
Youth
Assistance
League,
expressed
general
support
for
the
proposed
standards
while
calling
for
some
changes.
The
coalition
noted
that
the
D.C.
Public
School
System
recently
posted
the
proposed
standards
on
the
school
system’s
web
site
after
school
officials
released
the
document
on
July
2
and
received
“little
public
feedback.”
School
officials
had
been
working
on
the
proposed
standards
for
more
than
a
year.
The
draft
was
completed
shortly
after
D.C.
Council
voted
to
approve
Mayor
Adrian
Fenty’s
request
to
transfer
full
control
of
the
schools
from
an
elected
school
board
to
the
Office
of
the
Mayor.
“The
posted
draft
health
learning
standards
have
addressed
almost
all
the
recommendations
that
our
coalition
made
back
in
March,”
said
Jeremy
Ogusky,
deputy
director
of
Metro
Teen
AIDS,
a
D.C.
group
that
provides
HIV
prevention
services
to
gay
youth.
“In
my
view,
and
that
of
a
number
of
national
health
and
sex
education
experts,
these
new
standards
are
well
written,
complete
and
strongly
based
in
comprehensive
sex
education,”
Ogusky
said
in
an
e-mail
message
sent
to
members
of
the
Healthy
Youth
Coalition.
Ogusky
said
coalition
officials
arranged
for
four
nationally
recognized
experts
on
school
sex
education
curricula
and
teen
health
issues
to
review
the
proposed
standards
and
make
recommendations
on
possible
changes.
The
experts,
led
by
Douglas
Kirby,
senior
research
scientist
for
the
California-based
ETR
Associates,
a
non-profit
group
that
specializes
in
sex
education
programs,
issued
a
three-page
document
outlining
their
recommendations.
Among
them
is
a
call
for
including
in
the
standards
an
assertion
that
sexual
orientation
is
a
variation
of
human
sexuality
and
homosexuality
is
not
a
mental
illness.
Metro
Teen
AIDS
director
Adam
Tenner
said
the
Healthy
Teen
Coalition
is
reviewing
the
recommendations
and
will
decide
soon
which
ones
to
submit
to
public
school
officials
as
the
coalition’s
official
recommendations.
The
proposed
standards
state
that
an
eighth
grade
lesson
on
“Sexuality,
Reproduction
and
Health”
should
“compare
and
contrast
the
theories
about
what
determines
sexual
orientation,
including
genetics;
prenatal,
social
and
cultural
influences;
psychosocial
factors;
and
a
combination
of
all
of
these.”
According
to
the
proposed
standards,
the
eighth
grade
lesson
also
should
“define
sexual
orientation,
using
correct
terminology,
and
explain
that
as
people
grow
and
develop
they
may
begin
to
feel
romantically
and/or
sexually
attracted
to
people
of
a
different
gender
and/or
to
people
of
the
same
gender.”
“Kudos
for
having
this
here
and
having
it
in
the
8th
grade,”
the
Healthy
Youth
Coalition’s
recommendations
state.
The
coalition’s
recommendations
call
for
going
“where
Montgomery
County
went
and
SPECIFY
under
the
discussion
of
theories
that
sexual
orientation
variation
is
NOT
a
mental
illness
or
necessarily
problematic.”
The
Healthy
Youth
Coalition
recommendations
call
for
these
additional
changes
or
additions:
•
Add
more
information
about
transgender
issues
in
a
separate
lesson
for
ninth
grade
students.
•
Add
information
on
the
“skills
related
to
saying
no
to
unwanted,
unintended
or
unprotected
sex”
and
on
“insisting
on
using
condoms
or
other
forms
of
contraception.”
•
Add
information
about
masturbation,
which
is
not
included
in
the
standards,
and
on
“the
range
of
sexual
behaviors
that
are
open
to
young
people
other
than
intercourse.”
•
Add
specific
instructional
information
on
how
to
use
condoms
effectively
and
...
