|
WASHINGTON Abstinence Education in Washington In the state of Washington, legislation was passed last year which requires all schools who teach sex education, that they must teach abstinence but not to the exclusion of contraceptive education. School districts are required to follow guidelines established by the Office of Superintendent Public Instruction (OSPI) which require schools to use curriculum that has been approved by the State DOH who have verified that the material is medically accurate. OSPI is also looking to see if curriculums provide information on contraceptives and do not alienate students based on sexual orientation. At this point, they are telling schools that they can use different groups to teach the various components. But schools are not allowed to teach sex ed if they don’t meet the guidelines. The WATE coalition group is meeting this month to determine how best to respond. Some curriculums have been submitted but school districts while others have not. So far we have heard of one program declined, one that has passed the medical accuracy screening, and now is the OSPI office. Others are reviewing their materials to update and edit to insure their references are current and come from reliable sources that will pass the scrutiny of the DOH office. Organizations are getting a team of local medical physicians to be a review board and sign off on anything that gets turned in to the state DOH. There is discussion of legal action against OSPI or DOH if they decide to play hardball. Recent attacks There has mostly been press releases indicating that abstinence education does not work with very little supporting abstinence. There is a strong Planned Parenthood and NARAL group in Seattle who are on a mission to remove all abstinence education from the public school system in our state. To counter this, letters to the editor and letters/calls/emails/faxes to legislators have been made along with visits to legislator’s offices. Democrats hold both Senate and House in our state so it is very difficult to get anyone to split from party line. We are seeing some schools drop the abstinence program until they see where things settle. Other schools insist they will have our programs with or without the approval. The best-case scenario will be abstinence programs who get through the screening process and then work along side contraceptive instruction groups. The worst-case scenario is that the “gate-keepers” at DOH and OSPI will tie things up forever and keep abstinence programs out of the schools indefinitely. We’ve got a lot of backing from our schools in certain parts of the state and believe we can and will fight this thing through with a belief we’ll maintain a place in the school system. Submitted by Jim Grenfell 5/8/08 Washington Sexuality Education Law and Policy School districts in Washington are not required to implement comprehensive sexuality education; however, they are required to teach sexually transmitted disease -(STD) and HIV/AIDS-prevention education and emphasize abstinence as a prevention method. This instruction must be given at least once each school year beginning in the fifth grade and must “teach that condoms and other artificial means of birth control are not a certain means of preventing the spread of the AIDS virus and reliance on condoms puts a person at risk for exposure to the disease.” Information must be current and medically accurate. In order to verify medical accuracy, the state Department of Health must review and approve all HIV curricula and supporting materials. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Department of Health developed voluntary guidelines titled the Guidelines for Sexual Health and Disease Prevention. These Guidelines promote broad, comprehensive, positive sexuality education programs that provide information about both abstinence and contraception, and are consistent with characteristics of programs that have been rigorously evaluated using quantitative research and have shown to be effective in reducing risk-taking behaviors. Washington also provides a voluntary curriculum, KNOW HIV/STD Prevention Curriculum, for use in grades five through twelve. Parents or guardians may remove their children from HIV/AIDS-prevention education if they have attended one information session about the HIV/AIDS curriculum and presentation. If a school district chooses to provide sexuality education, parents may also remove their children from the class with written notification. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy. Parents for Truth Member Organizations in Washington Teen-Aid Other Organizations Providing Abstinence Education in Washington Care Net Pregnancy Center of Shelton Sheri Boboth i-PULSE CareNet PRC of Kittitas Tri-Cities Pregnancy Network Crossroads Resource Center Life Services of Spokane CPC of Pierce County Life Choices Yakima CWFA AWARE - Vancouver Barbara & Brad Henning Bob Higley AWARE Yakima Families Northwest Tri Cities Pregnancy Center Tammy Ludlow Maria Lancaster Lower Valley Pregnancy Center Carenet of the Lower Valley Pregnancy Center Care Net Pregnancy Center of Okanogan Life Choices SHARE Program Teen Esteem CareNet PC Kittitas Co. James Powell American Academy of Medical Ethics Future Impact |