Parents balk at sex education curriculum for fourth graders

When Lisa Wei rushed through traffic to join a group of 200 concerned parents in Fremont, California opposed to a controversial sex education curriculum, she figured it would be at most a two-hour exercise in democracy.

She didn't return home, however, until around 1:30 the next morning after participating in a mini protest at a Board of Education meeting.

Wei arrived at 5 pm last Wednesday at the Fremont Unified School District office, where a board meeting was scheduled to start at 6. She walked with attendees who were against the adoption of the curriculum for pupils in grades 4-6, chanting slogans such as "too much, too early", "don't sexualize our children" and "involve parents."

The curriculum that caused heated debate is actually a series of lessons, titled Health, Puberty and Sexuality, that the school district had planned to launch in April with the adoption of a sexuality-education curriculum called Rights, Respect, Responsibility (3R's).

The school district organized several grade-level parent information nights at which a curriculum instructional coach explained to parents and answered questions, provided an online review of teaching materials and offered an "opt-out" option for parents who do not want their children exposed to specific content.

In a March letter to parents, the Fremont Unified School District said its "Board of Education and elementary school faculty understand that students in grades four through six are assuming more responsibility for their own health and well-being. Our students will benefit from instruction that fosters the development of positive health behaviors and prevention of negative unhealthy behaviors."

Moreover, it iterates that "the curriculum focuses on essential information that is imperative for students' well-being. This course of study will conform strictly to the guidelines provided by the California State Education Code 51933 and the California Healthy Youth Act."

In response to parents' questions on how the curriculum was determined, informational coach Katy Carter said on March 5 that there are limited options on the market when it comes to sex education curriculums, and 3R's complies with all aspects of the California Healthy Youth Act.

However, many don't believe the adoption of the 3R's curriculum is legitimate. It's graphic and sexually explicit to many parents, especially because it begins with fourth graders, said Ivy Wu, a former school board member and a Fremont resident.

The California Education Code Section 51934 requires only that each public school district offer comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education once in junior high /middle school and once in high school. But Fremont offers sexuality health every year from the fourth through ninth grades.

"This is excessive and not necessary," said Maggie Luo, a mom of two boys in Fremont.

In an online petition calling for the suspension of the curriculum, parents called the lessons "highly inappropriate."

The California Health Curriculum Framework sets forth six health-content areas for a comprehensive health curriculum, but 3R's focuses only on sexuality education.

"Our children need to learn total health, which should also include the other five content areas - nutrition and physical activity; injury prevention and safety; alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; mental, emotional and social health; (and) personal and community health," said the petition with 5,000 local supporters.

Teaching such an unbalanced health curriculum with excessive sexual language is sexualizing children and will subject them to undue influence and unnecessary harm, the petition said.

"I became even more confused after attending the informational seminar," said Fann Le. "They wanted to teach a fourth grader how to have intercourse. They wanted to do a gender-inclusive instruction in a whole-group setting.

"They wanted to emphasize a wide range of relationships are normal and they would use role-play with peers to better understand some same-gender sex scenarios. Why did they want to teach this to young children? "

The school district and parents are now at a standstill. The next board meeting will convene soon. The fight is on, said Wei.

Contact the writer at junechang@chinadailyusa.com