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Show Teen pregnancy survey shouldn't be labeled 'Adults Only' the editor's column . . By MARC If II HADDOCK .way people are acting around here you'd think sex was a four-letter four-letter word - and that the Alpine School District had never learned how to count. It started when the district was criticized over a proposed policy to deal with students or employees who haveAIDS (none do rightnow). When the policy was first proposed, the criticism came from people who said it was too strict, would isolate AIDS victims from other students, and was not in line with current medical information about the disease. The district took the criticism to heart, and last week when board members finally approved the policy, it represented a complete turn-about in direction. Then they were criticized because the policy was too lenient, would mix ATDS victims with other students, and was not in line with current medical information about the disease - which the critics contend is limited anyway. That's the way things happen when you get involved in a situation you cannot win because both sides are seriously convinced that they are right and everybody else is wrong. In the midst of this brouhaha --even --even as board members worried over the wording and direction of the several revisions. Some school boards have decided not 'to cooperate with the task force at all, 'on the basis that just asking questions about sex would turn teenagers teen-agers into raving sex fiends. "Some of those questions are explicit in regards to sex," said the superintendent of one school board which has turned down the survey. "The board felt it would arouse curiosity and stimulate the students." That's pretty suggestive language. In fact, the questionnaire (at least the copy the school board gave me) looks like a pretty tame instrument designed to find out how kids learn about human sexuality, how much influence their parents' feelings about sex have on theirs, and the dating habits of local teen-agers. The questionnaire asks about peer pressure and sex, and then, at question 60, asks the big one: "Have you ever had sexual intercourse." If the kid answers "No," he is told to stop taking the survey. If the answer is "Yes," then he gets to go on to the other 20 questions. It seems to me that here is one of the main failings of the survey. How many kids will answer yes, just so they can find out what the other 20 questions are? The remaining questions discuss student's state ol m, first sexual- expc-S W evolved, fri1 A fluent ..sexual a. knowledge about fitted diseases ? pregnancy prevention oneathesemethodsareusd" Sure, they are era,:, J"' they eeiainXft; hey don't give the kids t formats. The violate the poiicy cancellation of the AlDSiecv i example. , The point is, you canUi,,. to solve the teen pregnaw ,,;; until you understand it-' a " more complicated than mar, , 1 would have you believe, J The survey is an altof; v.l derstand how teens feel fay I important aspect of theirte"! " - information that might tbe't' i. used to help prevent a I pregnancies among teen jjini The Alpine District's ip;ffi.: K that if parents have no object:! i their kids taking the suraV 3 should beallowedtolakeit. 1 It is a healthy approach k 1 that makes you realm itn pre Alpine School District isn'isn rev afraid of this delicate ski1 otj recent news coverage m:: a jsi you to believe. t j revi ! nriv regarding the teaching of sex education, Alpine School District officials decreed that the U professor could deliver the lecture only if she didn't discuss the sex act or contraceptives. The professor decided that any effective discussion of AIDS requires discussing these topics. Rather than violate the policy or shortchange the students in the lecture, she cancelled the lecture altogether - and in the process made the district look foolish. It was an unfair characterization, since the district was forced to abide by a policy which was approved before AIDS was a national health concern. The wheels of bureaucracy move slowly, and surely the district will someday update that policy to reflect the changing needs of society and the students. But in this case, it wasn't the school board's fault the district was caught with its pants down, so to speak. Now the district is on the verge of what could be another controversy -also involving sex. Alpine is one of 13 school districts in Utah asked to cooperate in a survey to help state officials get a handle on a very serious problem -teen pregnancy. A task force appointed by Gov. Bangerter and headed by State Senator Steven J. Rees has developed the questionnaire to help "determine the extent, trends and patterns of teenage pregnancy: in Utah and its impact on the 'individuals 'in-dividuals and the . . . well-being of the citizens of our state." Plans are to select one high school (American Fork High in the case of Alpine District), and select 120 students at random from the studentbody. The students will be invited, by letter, to participate in the survey. Parents have to sign a waiver for the kids to take the survey. Parents can get a copy of the survey from the school district offices of-fices prior to the survey, if they aren't sure about the questions. Alpine is taking a kind of hands-off approach to the survey, telling the task force they will provide the list of students and the rooms for the survey, but the rest is up to task force workers. Under most circumstances, that's a pretty safe position. But this is sex in Utah Valley, and there ain't nothing safe about it as a topic for discussion. From the furor this survey has generated, you'd think the task force members were a bunch of lechers with nothing better to do than ask kids questions about sex. The survey itself has undergone AIDS policy - another controversy was brewing over a proposed AIDS lecture at an Orem High School. An instructor had scheduled a University of Utah professor to talk to a group of high school seniors about AIDS. The lecture was optional, op-tional, and parental consent was required. But because of an existing policy |
