Could Teaching Sex Become a Crime?

A Herriman, Utah middle-school teacher was recently suspended for answering students’ questions about sex, despite state policy mandating abstinence-only education. In response to parents’ outrage, state representative Carl Wimmer is considering a bill that would make deviating from the abstinence-only curricula a crime.

A Controversy Erupts

On May 30, 2008 the Salt Lake Tribune reported that a health teacher at Fort Herriman Middle School factually answered her seventh- and eighth-grade students’ questions about sexual topics forbidden by Utah’s sex education policy.

Utah receives funding from the federal government to teach abstinence-only sex education, and federal guidelines prohibit classroom discussion of homosexuality and “advocating” contraception, abortion, masturbation or other practices. Clear explanation of sexually-transmitted diseases is often limited. In fact, curricula must teach that “a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity.”

The teacher, who has not been identified in the press, was put on paid administrative leave after parents learned of the discussed topics and alerted the Jordan School District.

The next morning, students raised signs at the school defending their teacher, claiming “we were the ones asking the questions.” But some students’ parents have formed an organization to make sure the school district deals with the controversy fairly and takes responsibility for deviating from the abstinence curriculum.

Sex Ed a Crime?

The parents’ group is also working with Representative Carl Wimmer (R-Herriman) to draft legislation to criminalize teaching comprehensive sex ed. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that he will introduce a bill in January that would enact criminal penalties for teachers who stray from the abstinence course, as well as create a registry of the offenders, presumably to prevent them from gaining other teaching positions in the district.

Currently, Wimmer said, “the only repercussion is administrative”—a teacher can be placed on leave or fired, but not prosecuted. His proposed bill would make that possible. Any penalties would be misdemeanors, he said, which would not result in jail time.

Critics Weigh In

Planned Parenthood Association of Utah condemned Wimmer’s plan and predicted it would result in confusion in the classroom. The boundary between appropriate and inappropriate sexual topics is often blurry, and individual teachers may lack the training to discern the difference, they said. State health official Frank Wojtech added, “The challenge is trying to erase the fears of teachers…They are sometimes fearful that what they say or do will be misrepresented.”

A Tribune editorial agreed with the critics, favoring factual, comprehensive sex education over abstinence-only. “Obviously, sexual abstinence outside of marriage and fidelity within it are the best guarantees against infection…[but] it's also obvious that many young people have sex, and they need to know how to protect themselves from disease.”

A solution will likely not be decided until Wimmer’s bill is introduced in January. In the meantime, health teachers in Utah are required to teach the facts, just the facts—but as seen in the Herriman case, even the facts can be debated.

Sources:

Roxana Orellana, “Teacher’s Sex Ed Talk Riles Parents,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 30, 2008.

Ben Fulton, “Teaching the Birds and Bees: Instructors Can Get Stung,” Salt Lake Tribune, June 8, 2008.

Quit fiddling: Young Utahns need accurate information on STDs, Editorial, Salt Lake Tribune, June 6, 2008.

Utah parents object to these in the classroom.

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