It all began last week, when Scott Groff, a second-year health instructor at
Wolcott School in Thornton Illinois, gave his 8th-graders "sexually explicit"
question and answer sheets downloaded from a British charity that fights HIV
and AIDS. These salacious study aides included information about how to
masturbate, find the g-spot and perform oral sex, along with vivid descriptions
and helpful tips which students then read aloud.
Not surprisingly, this level of "in-depth" tutelage aroused anger among some
parents who began to complain. As one mother adroitly pointed out, "[t]his is
not Porn 101. This is school." Another father called the incident "gross
negligence," claiming it "opened a Pandora's box, for parents" (presumably
referring to the Greek myth).
In response, administrators issued a resounding condemnation of Groff's
judgment, canceling all sex-ed studies and even "offering counseling" to
parents and students who may have been traumatized by the handout. In the
meantime, Mr. Groff, who was characterized in Tuesday night's packed meeting as
a promising teacher who made a serious mistake, will be placed on paid leave,
and his contract will not be renewed.
Though this outcome may come as a relief to some, Walcott now finds itself in
the unique situation of having neither a teacher nor a curriculum with which to
educate their adolescent pupils about the most fundamental function of life.
Would it be accurate to infer from this that the school board believes it is
safer to have no sex-ed then to have too much sex-ed? If not, administrators
now must answer the same daunting question as young couples hooking up for the
first time: How far should we go?
On one hand, some might argue that 8th-graders are too young to learn anything
more than abstinence, AIDS and human development. Others might think America
would be a lot happier if we started studying the intimate intricacies of
sexual relations at a young age rather than spending a lifetime trying to
figure it out (not to mention a mint on sex therapists). Clearly it is a
complex issue, eliciting more opinions than positions in the Kama Sutra;
therefore, I put it forward to you, the reader: What, if any, is the
appropriate way for schools to educate 13 and 14-year-olds about sex? And
please, try to keep your answers clean. If not for my sake, then for that of
the children.
