Richfield, Minnesota parents and citizens have reported for duty, standing up to inappropriate and overly explicit content in their school system's sex ed curriculum. At this week's school board meeting speakers were civil, clear, and strong in their rejection of Advocate for Youth's 3Rs curriculum for their community, which is a notorious sex education curriculum that teaches children how to become sexually active.
As we observed in our new FRC publication, Advocates for Youth is an example of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). Comprehensive sexuality education programs seek to change society by changing sexual and gender norms and teaching youth to advocate for their sexual rights. Most CSE programs promote acceptance of diverse sexual identities and orientations and have an almost obsessive focus on sexual pleasure, instructing children and youth at the earliest ages on how to obtain sexual pleasure in a variety of ways.
In Minnesota, parents were objecting to role playing assignments where students negotiated with each other for sex. Students are assigned partners in scenarios where sexual activity is discussed and the students decide whether or not they will have hypothetical sex. Disguised as a lesson on giving "consent" for sexual activity these kinds of situations are awkward for students and teachers, inappropriate for educational settings, and demeaning to participants.
To add insult to injury, studies have proven these programs fail to reduce unprotected sex or delay sexual debut, which are a few of the primary reasons for implementing sex education in schools. As reported in Alpha News: "Programs like 3Rs are not effective," said Julie Quist, a Child Protection League board member.
"The Institute for Research and Evaluation conducted a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of programs such as this," she told the Richfield School Board. "Out of 60 school-based studies, no credible evidence of effectiveness was found for sustained reductions in teen pregnancy or STDs. There was no evidence of effectiveness for increasing consistent condom use. Failure rates included 88% failure to delay teen sexual initiation and 94% failure to reduce unprotected sex. 12% of these programs found significant negative effects on adolescent sexual health and/or risk behavior."
"Claims that explicit sex education has been proven effective are not supported by the evidence," Quist concluded.
This didn't stop the school board chairman from defending 3Rs while admitting the school board didn't know what was in the program. Like so many other school systems, elected officials rely on health education experts in the district to recommend programs. Frustration with this attitude and blame shifting is leading more and more parents to consider running for school board themselves. FRC Action has helpful information for those interested in serving the families of their communities this way. Visit www.frcaction.org/schools for our School Board Boot Camp video and other materials on engaging your local school board. To report troubling curricula on sex education or other subjects, email tipline@frc.org. Read more on schools here. America's school children deserve our very best!
