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AT THE STATE HOUSE - Debate Heats Up Over Health Education Bill

Posted on: Thursday, 2 February 2006, 18:01 CST

By BROOKE DONALD Associated Press

The measure would add health education to the list of key subjects that students should learn starting in kindergarten.

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BOSTON - Parents, health advocates and people on both sides of the abortion debate sparred yesterday over a bill that would make health education, including classes on sex, part of the core curriculum in the state's public schools.

Joint Education Committee chairwoman Rep. Patricia Haddad, D- Somerset, frequently had to stop the hearing because of outbursts from the standing-room-only crowd. Supporters and opponents -- standing side-by-side in the stuffy room -- used leaflets to fan themselves, and State House security warned the hundreds of visitors, who spilled out into the hallway, to keep their voices down.

The other subjects already listed in state law include math, science, English, history, foreign languages and the arts.

Melanie Winklosky, chief of staff at the Department of Education, said adding health education to the core curriculum won't require that it be taught, nor will it have a part in defining what subject areas to be covered. She said it was puzzling that the bill has caused such a stir.

"Local districts ultimately decide what's required. This simply requires that guidelines on teaching health education be drawn up by the state. And we've already done that," Winklosky said.

In 1999, the state Board of Education approved standards for teaching health education. The 102-page document provides guidelines for teaching nutrition, mental health, violence protection, as well as sex education. It's unclear how many districts use the guidelines, Winklosky said.

Some parents and others worry, however, that the legislation would mean teachers would start relying on the suggested curriculum, which includes teaching about homosexuality and sex. Many opponents who came to the State House yesterday wore stickers that read "Parents' Rights" and argued that the legislature is meddling in issues best taught at home.

"The psyches of our children are not anyone's playground," said David Parker, a Lexington parent who was arrested for trespassing last year after allegedly refusing to leave a meeting with school officials where he demanded that they notify him in advance when his son's kindergarten class planned to discuss homosexuality.

The bill also angers groups that oppose same-sex marriage and abortion, who say the approved curriculum doesn't put enough emphasis on sexual abstinence.

"We have nothing against mandatory health education. We think it's a valid topic that should be part of the curriculum," said Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which opposes gay marriage. "But this is a Trojan horse to bring a very radical sexual curriculum into the schools."

But health advocates say adding the subject to the core curriculum is a good idea amid rising concerns of childhood obesity, sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy. They said it will give an incentive to districts to include it in their lesson plans.

Rep. Alice Wolf, D-Cambridge, said students are already being influenced by their peers, as well as television, billboards and movies, and proper education is the only way they can make responsible choices.

"This doesn't define a day-to-day plan. It just enables all kids to have access to health education," she said.

Sarah Leonard, a 17-year-old senior at Natick High School, told lawmakers her school's health classes have given her reliable information about depression, eating disorders, sex and other topics that are often difficult to talk with parents about.

"We have been lucky to be armed with solid facts," she said. Leonard urged lawmakers to pass the bill and give other students who may not have the opportunity to take health education classes access to them.

The bill's debate comes at a time when Governor Romney is considering a bid for president. He has promoted abstinence education in schools, but his office had no comment on the pending legislation.

Source: Providence Journal

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