After a lengthy discussion, the Osseo School Board voted 4-2 to give students and parents a choice between the standard sex education classes currently being offered and a new course which emphasizes the importance of being sexually abstinent until marriage. The school will select materials for the course this year, and the new program should be implemented next fall.

Osseo parent Jeri Gort, who served on the parent’s advisory committee which proposed the two-track system, explains, "The abstinence until marriage curriculum says you need to abstain from sex until you are married. The other curriculum says you should remain abstinent until you’re more mature, or until you’re ready. The other curriculum also teaches the how-to of birth control. The new curriculum will discuss birth control, but will discuss its failures and emphasize that it’s not 100 percent effective."

The Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting (MOAPPP) sent a letter to the Board opposing the two-track system, saying that children need to receive information "from many sources" to help them "postpone sexual activity."

A letter Patricia Lawler of the National Coalition for Abstinence Educatino (NCAE) disagreed, saying, "What teenagers really want and need are clear messages." Lawler added, "Comprehensive sexuality education (‘be abstinent, but if you can’t, use a condom’) is a confusing dual message." Another letter from Dr. Richard Tompkins, director of education and research for the Medical Institute for Sexual Health added, "There is good evidence about successful abstinence programs and most research on ‘safe sex’ programs is generally quite disappointing."

"This is really something that’s leading edge," says Peter Brandt, a spokesman for Focus on the Family who also works with the National Coalition for Abstinence Education (NCAE). "This has national significance. To date what you’ve had is either mandatory sexuality education, or you’ve been able to opt out, or in some cases you’ve had to opt in. But the idea of having two tracks is really an exciting new idea. It’s unique, and we think it’s marvelous."

Brandt emphasizes that the battle in Osseo is not over yet. "I believe this new program will be subject to a tremendous amount of attack in the future. There is an entire public health buraucracy in America predicated on the idea that kids are going to have sex. The attack will be couched in health terms, but it’s really about money and power. It’s about whose ideology and perspective on life will be presented to children. But this is a wonderful choice for parents and children in Osseo."

Brandt adds that the idea of abstinence until marriage must be reinforced outside of the classroom. "What we’re dealing with here is more than just a curriculum in school," he concludes. "It must be a dedication by an entire community to those lifestyle choices which are most healthy for our children. I think Christian parents in Osseo can take the lead on that in attempting to build support and encouragement in the entire community, and to educate the entire community on why it is so important for children to choose an abstinence lifestyle. If it is just limited to a schoolroom curriculum, it will not be enough. Parents need to communicate their values to kids on these issues at home, clearly and often."

Changes in Osseo’s curriculum were driven by a community survey which found that 92 percent of parents believed the school should help the students appreciate the benefits of abstinence before marriage, and 95 percent believed it should help students appreciate the value of fidelity within marriage. The school board also agreed to delay teaching reproduction until grade four, and to continue teaching boys and girls separately when sex education is presented in lower grades.