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State issues guidelines on the birds and the bees

DEBBY ABE; The News Tribune
Last updated: January 14th, 2005 12:01 AM

Don’t do it.
(But if you do do it, do it responsibly.)

That’s the kind of advice students might hear under guidelines issued by the state Thursday that recommend sex education programs provide information on both abstinence and contraception.

Evidence suggests that programs offering both types of information delay teens from starting to have sex, and that once they do become sexually active, reduce their number of sexual partners and increase their use of contraceptives, according to the guidelines.

The state Department of Health and the state superintendent of public instruction developed the recommendations to help schools provide medically and scientifically accurate sex education to students, the superintendent’s office said.

“The Guidelines for Sexual Health Information and Disease Prevention” are voluntary, and there’s no requirement that schools teach sex education. But at least one lawmaker plans to introduce a bill next week that would require schools that do teach it to follow the guidelines.

The guidelines say the goal of sex education is safe and healthy people who express love and intimacy in appropriate ways, and before sexual activity occurs discuss with their partner sexual limits, contraception and their relationship.

Planned Parenthood Affiliates of Washington, one of the health and education groups that pushed for the recommendations, praised them as a step toward standardizing sex education.

“It’s really crucial our youth have reliable health information to avoid unintended pregnancy or, worse yet, a sexually transmitted disease,” said Robert Harkins, the affiliates’ executive director.

But groups that advocate sexual abstinence and family relationships are concerned, said Jeff Kemp, president of Bellevue-based Families Northwest, which supports preparation and strengthening of marriage and families.

While it’s wise to teach scientifically accurate information to students, Kemp was troubled that the guidelines made no mention of marriage. He feared that would lead schools to squeeze out discussion of abstinence.

“There’s a higher relationship to success in marriage and less divorces when people haven’t been actively, sexually involved before marriage,” he said.

Washington state previously had no standards for sexual health information, said Rep. Shay Schual-Berke (D-Normandy Park).

The two state departments wrote the guidelines at the request of more than 40 state legislators, after her bill that sought such guidelines passed in the House but died in the Senate last session, she said.

“We’re very pleased with the guidelines,” she said. “They’re very balanced, and achieve the goal to inform and help our children remain safe and healthy.”

Schual-Berke said she will introduce a bill Monday that would reaffirm that teaching of sex education is voluntary, but would require schools that offer sex education programs to follow the guidelines. She recalled students who testified to the House Health Care Committee last year about the misinformation they heard in school sex education classes, often taught by consultants.

“Students testified they were told that condoms don’t protect from HIV; that’s simply not medically accurate and it’s a dangerous piece of misinformation,” said Schual-Berke, a physician. “They were told that premarital sex led to infertility. We had testimony where students said they were told victims of rape could not get pregnant.”

The state estimates that most districts offer some form of sex education in middle or high school, said Pam Tollefsen, school health programs coordinator in the state superintendent’s office. Some teach what’s recommended in the guidelines, but many schools offer little of what’s suggested, she said.

The superintendent’s office “is not looking at a mandate,” she said. “We’re hoping these guidelines will provide an opportunity for districts to consider if what they’re providing is what’s needed for students to protect themselves and be healthy.”

The Tacoma School District’s sex education programs already fit within the guidelines, said Gaye Lantz, executive director of the district’s curriculum and instruction. Though fifth-graders learn about changes in the body, lessons about reproduction start in the seventh grade. The district’s required high school health courses include more detailed discussion of responsibility, anatomy, contraception, abstinence and other aspects of sex education.

“Abstinence is our byline,” Lantz said. “Abstinence is what we teach kids is the best approach to sex education.” Sex ed guidelines

Some characteristics of effective sex education programs outlined in the state’s new guidelines:

• Stress that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid pregnancy and reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

• Use information and materials that are medically and scientifically accurate and objective.

• Encourage and improve communication with parents, guardians and other trusted adults.

• Provide accurate information about the effectiveness and safety of all FDA-approved contraceptive methods.

• Provide age- and culturally appropriate information.

• Provide accurate information about sexually transmitted disease, including how they are and are not transmitted and effectiveness of FDA-approved methods of reducing the risk of contracting them.