PARENTS: SEX CLASS ONE-SIDED COMPLAINT ALLEGES ABSTINENCE-ONLY TEACHING.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- A complaint from the ACLU has prompted the Hart school district to investigate its sex education classes and speakers.

Bringing a nationwide debate to Santa Clarita, a group of parents asked the American Civil Liberties Union to step in and change what they say is an abstinence-only sex education curriculum in the area's high schools.

Some students in the William S. HartUnion High School District have been rewarded for signing abstinence pledge cards and vowing to wait until marriage, according to a letter sent last week from the ACLU to the district. They also have received incorrect information about contraceptives, the letter said.

``We are looking into the specifics in the letter,'' said Leslie Crunelle, the district's assistant superintendent of educational services in charge of curriculum.

``We were not anticipating this; it was a surprise.''

Crunelle said the Hart district has no comprehensive sex education program.

According to the state Department of Education, high schools and junior high schools are not required to teach sex education, but if they do they are required to make the information ``comprehensive.''

In October 2003, the state changed it's legislation on sex education for schools.

The state now describes comprehensive sexual education as age appropriate and medically accurate information free of bias and appropriate for use with students of all races, genders and sexual orientations. The education should promote communication between students and their parents on issues of sexuality and a respect for marriage and committed relationships but must not promote any religious doctrines.

Abstinence needs to be included in sex education classes, the state policy says, and described as the only 100 percent effective method of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. But it must be taught in conjunction with information on the benefits and failures of contraception.

By law, state schools also must provide AIDS/HIV prevention classes once in high school and once in junior high, which the Hart district does, Crunelle said.

Crunelle also said the district is in the process of investigating why schools brought abstinence-only programs, such as Positively Waiting and the Santa Clarita city-sponsored A- TEAM to the classrooms and for what educational purposes.

At the junior high level, AIDS/HIV prevention is taught in various classes, including physical education classes, science and/or teen issues classes, Crunelle added.

``We certainly intend to be in compliance with the law, and if we are doing anything out of compliance with the law, we will do whatever we need to correct it,'' she said.

In May, the district was accused of favoring abstinence-only speakers when a woman, who organized a parent's meeting in conjunction with Planned Parenthood, was denied permission to give out her fliers for students to take home.

``Regardless of my personal views, there would have been some issues with some parents about their students bringing home something sponsored by Planned Parenthood,'' Crunelle said.

In December 2004, the House of Representative conducted an investigation of federally funded abstinence-only education programs.

In fiscal year 2005, the federal government spent about $170 million on abstinence-only education programs, the report said -- more than double what was spent in 2001.

The report found that 80 percent of abstinence-only programs contained false, misleading or distorted information about reproductive health including contraception.

Karen Kropf, founding director of Positively Waiting, said while she doesn't receive any federal money, the increase in funding has allowed other abstinence-only programs to focus on getting medically accurate information.

Kropf, who said her program should not be considered abstinence-only, goes to public schools to supplement teen issues classes.

``I don't by any means say I am going to teach you about sexually transmitted diseases and contraception and I don't talk about HIV. I talk about how being sexually active as a teenager lead to prominent consequences in my life,'' Kropf said.

Kropf added that her intention is not to scare kids away from sex.

``Sex is great, but there are consequences to adolescent sexual activity,'' Kropf said.

The ACLU letter said programs that advise students to wait until marriage to have sex discriminate against gays. Kropf said that isn't true.

``When you practice sexual self control you learn how to resist temptation and you learn about delayed gratification. Because someone has decided their attraction is to someone of the same sex, I don't think they should be robbed of those benefits.''

Kropf does not believe abstinence and contraception should be given equal weight in sex education.

``I object to the idea that you would tell a child using protection gives them the same level of safety physically and emotionally as abstinence,'' she said.

Amy Reichbach, health educator at the student health center at California State University, Northridge, has worked with teens and sexuality issues for at least 18 years.

Reichbach believes that comprehensive sex education programs give children the tools to keep themselves safe.

``You teach your children how to put their seat belt on even if you are not anticipating the car to crash. Shouldn't we teach them how to protect themselves?''

The preference toward abstinence-only programs, Reichbach said, allows parents, raised with the idea that sex is bad, to leave sex education to the schools. Then when the schools don't talk about it, it allows the parents not to talk about it.

``Abstinence really is the best form of contraception; it's just not realistic.''

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