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Doing It & Doing It Well: NYC Schools Must Teach Kids How To Put On Condoms
By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Aug 10, 2011
Modified Aug 10, 2011
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By
Jamie Feldmar
Published Aug 10, 2011
Modified Aug 10, 2011
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Students across the city will soon be giggling over condom application demonstrations in the classroom, now that the city is requiring public middle and high schoolers to take sex-ed classes covering more aspects of the birds and the bees.
The new mandate, announced last night by Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, is part of the Bloomberg administration's efforts to improve the lives of minority teens, who city data shows are at a higher risk for STDs and unplanned pregnancies. "While many of our schools have already voluntarily taken steps to include sex education in their curriculum, some have not, leaving us with an uneven system that I believe does not serve our students well...We have students who are having sex before the age of 13; students who have had multiple sexual partners; and students who aren't protecting themselves against sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS," wrote Walcott in an email to school principals.
Under the new system, schools will be required to teach students a semester of sex education in 6th or 7th grade, and again in 9th or 10th grade, covering topics like how to put on a condom and encouraging children to wait until they're older to become sexually active. There will also be an opt-out option for parents who are not comfortable with the lessons on birth control, though they cannot opt out of lessons on anatomy, HIV, pregnancy and STDs. The lessons will be integrated into current health curriculum, so that schools will not have to hire more teachers.
Planned Parenthood officials expressed support for the decision: “As long-time sex educators, we are pleased to see the city finally taking action on this important issue,” said Joan Malin, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of New York City. “For far too long, too many of New York’s young people have been missing out on this vital information.”
Parents had mixed reactions: One Bronx mother, Mona Davids, told the Daily News, "As a Muslim, I'm not comfortable with it. They're encroaching on our responsibilities as parents. They're encroaching on our rights." But Mariana Sanoh, a Brooklyn parent with a 12-year-old daughter, was all for it, saying, "Girls who are younger and younger are getting pregnant. I've seen the boyfriends, the kissing and the drama. I want my daughter to know right from wrong. The more knowledge the better."
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condoms
dennis walcott
education
health
mayor bloomberg
planned parenthood
schools
sex
sex ed
Jamie Feldmar
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