Parents in Fitchburg, Mass., are furious over a survey that was given to their 7th graders at Memorial Middle School. It was a Risk Behavior Assessment and parents say their children were “forced” to answer questions that are far too graphic for kids their age. Sources say the survey asked students if they'd ever had oral sex and what method of protection they used during their last sexual encounter.
A civil liberties organization called The Rutherford Institute has filed a complaint with the federal Department of Education on the parents' behalf.
“It goes down a whole list, including birth control pills, condoms and one of the answers is ‘withdraw,’” said John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “Adults know what this is, but kids have to imagine or go online to find out what it means.”
Did you consider the notion that maybe that's the problem, John?
Principal Fran Thomas told Fox News Radio the school did conduct the survey. He says it was a requirement for a federal grant funded by LUK, Inc., a local social services agency, in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC, however, claims the questions were optional.
Whitehead says the problem isn't so much the fact that the survey was administered but that the school distributed adult material to children without parental consent.
We're down with the idea that parents should have been notified, but if they had, would they have allowed it? Judging by how upset they are about the survey, we're guessing not. And with the rate at which the age of teen moms is dropping (Britain's youngest mom is 11!), that's really a shame.
A civil liberties organization called The Rutherford Institute has filed a complaint with the federal Department of Education on the parents' behalf.
“It goes down a whole list, including birth control pills, condoms and one of the answers is ‘withdraw,’” said John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “Adults know what this is, but kids have to imagine or go online to find out what it means.”
Did you consider the notion that maybe that's the problem, John?
Principal Fran Thomas told Fox News Radio the school did conduct the survey. He says it was a requirement for a federal grant funded by LUK, Inc., a local social services agency, in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC, however, claims the questions were optional.
Whitehead says the problem isn't so much the fact that the survey was administered but that the school distributed adult material to children without parental consent.
We're down with the idea that parents should have been notified, but if they had, would they have allowed it? Judging by how upset they are about the survey, we're guessing not. And with the rate at which the age of teen moms is dropping (Britain's youngest mom is 11!), that's really a shame.
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