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ACLU Hails Rhode Island Department of Education Efforts to Stop the Use of Harmful "Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage" Curriculum in Public Schools (3/22/2006)
FOR
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
Contact: Lorraine Kenny, Nat'l ACLU, 212-549-2634;
Steven Brown, RI ACLU, 401-831-7171
PROVIDENCE, RI -- Responding to a complaint filed by the Rhode Island
American Civil Liberties Union last September, the state's Department of
Education (DOE) issued an advisory to all school districts last week,
instructing them to stop using a federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage
curriculum in the public schools. Today the ACLU hailed the development,
arguing that the curriculum had raised serious privacy and discrimination
concerns and needed to be stopped.
"We are very pleased with the state's
response to the inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars to support discriminatory
and religious teachings in public schools," said Steven Brown, Rhode Island ACLU
Executive Director. "Students deserve facts, not sexism, in their sex ed
classes."
The curriculum, developed by Heritage of Rhode Island and called
"Right Time, Right Place," was offered in Pawtucket and Woonsocket public
schools last year. In letters sent to the DOE Commissioner Peter McWalters, the
ACLU argued that the program, run by a private organization, promoted sexist
stereotypes, ignored the state's comprehensive sex education standards, invaded
students' privacy rights and endorsed particular religious views. The DOE said
in its advisory that after review by the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education, the Heritage of Rhode Island curriculum had been "determined to be
NOT consistent with the Rhode Island Health Education Standards."
In addition
to abstinence-only-until-marriage programs in Rhode Island, federal dollars
support Heritage curricula, a product of the South Carolina-based Heritage
Community Services organization, in Georgia, Kentucky, Maine and South
Carolina.
After obtaining documents relating to the program, the ACLU pointed
out to the Commissioner that, among other things, the curriculum: taught
students that "girls have a responsibility to wear modest clothing that doesn't
invite lustful thoughts," and that a man is "strong" and "courageous," while a
"real woman" is "caring"; included a video whose host explains how abstinence
helped him to "honor my relationship with Jesus"; and required students to
complete a survey, while providing identifying information about themselves,
that asked a series of personal questions, including "When was the last time you
had sex?"
Arguing that this curriculum appeared to "undermine or contradict
- rather than supplement - statewide anti-discrimination policies or
comprehensive sex education mandates," the ACLU called on the DOE to determine
how and where the curriculum was being used elsewhere in Rhode Island, and to
advise school officials of its illegality. The two-page advisory sent by the
Commissioner last week makes clear that "Right Time, Right Place" is not
appropriate for use as part of public school health curricula. The advisory also
requires all school districts in the state to submit a copy of their school
health education curriculum for the Department's review.
"Programs like
Heritage of Rhode Island subject students to an abstinence-only-until-marriage
curriculum that is both ineffective and harmful," said Jennifer
McAllister-Nevins, State Strategies Attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom
Project. "Teens need information on how to protect themselves from unintended
pregnancy and STDs - they don't need sex education riddled with inaccuracies and
gender stereotypes."
The Rhode Island ACLU's efforts to stop the misuse of
public dollars to fund ineffective, medically inaccurate, and discriminatory
abstinence-only-until marriage sex ed programs in their state is part of a
national ACLU campaign, Not in My State. In September 2005, ACLU affiliates in
18 states called on local officials to keep unsafe
abstinence-only-until-marriage programs out of public schools' classrooms. The
campaign encourages officials to select health and life-skills curricula that
present medically accurate, age-appropriate, and unbiased information about sex
and sexuality. For more information, go to: www.takeissuetakecharge.org
Since
1997, the federal government has spent nearly a billion dollars on
abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. Yet research indicates that many such
programs do not help teens delay having sex, and some studies show that these
programs actually deter teens from protecting themselves from unintended
pregnancy or disease when they start having sex.
The full text of the
DOE's advisory can be found at: www.riaclu.org/documents/DOEHeritageadvisory.pdf
The Rhode Island ACLU's letter sent to the DOE in September 2005 can be
found at: www.riaclu.org/documents/sex_ed_letter.pdf
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