Reasons for Opposing Comprehensive Sex Education Mandate HF 615/3731 (Walker) and SF 588/3349 (Pappas) & added to SF 3001 Miscellaneous Education Provisions (Wiger)     1) New state sex education mandate for all Minnesota public school districts is a new curricula mandate.  The provision would mandate all public schools teach children grades 7 through 12 "[comprehensive] responsible family life and sexuality education” Section 1, Subdivision 2.  Takes control over curriculum from parents and local districts.   2) Mandates "education about the use of protection and contraception" and will mean only giving lip service to abstinence education.  A Heritage Foundation study of nine comprehensive sex education curricula and nine abstinence-until-marriage curricula revealed that comprehensive sex ed curriculum spent less than 5% of their time on abstinence versus over 50% of time in true abstinence curricula; 0% on marriage versus 17% in true abstinence curricula.  Over 28% of the comprehensive sex education curricula time was devoted to contraceptives, nearly six times more than was devoted to abstinence.    3) Comprehensive sex education curriculum is notorious for being extremely sexually explicit and graphic.  According to a review of comprehensive sex education guidelines established by SEICUS -- the foremost national advocate for comprehensive sex education -- masturbation, sexual intercourse, cohabitation, oral and anal sex, homosexuality and more are all part of their recommendations.  A look at existing comprehensive curricula currently taught in Minnesota public schools verifies these materials are part of comprehensive sex education.   4) Promotes acceptance of unhealthy sex practices and alternative lifestyles.   The bill would encourage the state to promote comprehensive sex education.  Section 1, subd. 4  The state is authorized to provide instructional materials "that do not … promote bias against any person on the basis of any category protected under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, chapter 363A."  Chapter 363A.27 gives discrimination protection to bisexual, homosexual, and transgender persons.  The latter includes individuals who had sex changes, transvestite and cross dressers.  These sexual lifestyles and the accompanying sexual behaviors, e.g. anal and oral sex, could not be “discriminated” against, which means they will be affirmatively presented.    5) Contraceptives don't prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.  Condoms have a 15% failure rate for pregnancy prevention.  For STDs it's even worse because many STDs are spread through non-intercourse sexual activity.  One study reported on in the New England Journal of Medical in June 2006, found that with regular condom use for one year, 37% of the women still became infected with HPV; the STI primarily responsible for cervical cancer.    6) Will add "fuel to the fire" for sexual promiscuity.   Currently, one in four teenage girls have an STD.  The predominate sex education message during the growth of this epidemic has been comprehensive sex education; over 2/3s of kids are taught the comprehensive sex education approach.  The bill mandates more of what has already failed.  Sending young people a pro-condom, and the invariable accompanying “use them”, message is the wrong message for kids already confronting sex-saturated messages in the popular culture.  Comprehensive sex ed with its focus on encouraging contraceptive use will only add fuel to the fire and encourage more sexual experimentation.   7) Does a grave disservice to our kids who need and desire to hear a true abstinence message.  A survey of teens, who had already been sexually active, found that two-thirds regret they didn't wait to have sex.  The message of comprehensive sex education advocates is to encourage kids to use condoms, not to wait until they are married.  The presumption is kids will be sexually active.  The emotional and psychological scars for too many kids are deep and long lasting.  Studies show that sexually active kids are more likely to suffer from depression, consider suicide and engage in drug and alcohol abuse than kids who aren’t sexually active. _______________________________________________________________________________   Minnesota Family Council, 2855 Anthony Lane S, Suite 150,Minneapolis, MN 55418 1-612-789-8811  www.mfc.org Copyright © 2008, Minnesota Family Council