Condom Demonstration Approved For Health Classes

Nov. 22, 2002

The Board of Education has approved recommendations to demonstrate condom use in 10th grade Health classes. The change will be integrated to the curriculum over the course of multiple school years.

"The need to provide more detailed information to students is controversial," MCPS staff wrote in a document detailing the recommendations by the Citizen's Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development. In the end, the committee and the Board sided with public health officials, who recommend instruction on condom use and awareness of varying sexual orientation. The possibly controversial decision took place one week after elections that changed the makeup of the Board. The Board voted 5 to 1, with 2 absent Board members not voting.

Montgomery County Health teachers will, in future years, demonstrate latex condom use during the Human Sexual Behavior unit. The committee voted 9 to 1 in favor of condom demonstration. This was due to the "considerable risks that Sexually Transmitted Diseases, including AIDS, present to the health of young people, the high rates of adolescent sexual activity, and the ability of condoms to greatly reduce the risk of contracting STD's," Superintendent Dr. Weast wrote in a report to the Board.

Research has indicated that teenagers have "significant misconceptions" about correct condom use. "These misconceptions could be clarified through appropriate instruction," Weast wrote. The demonstration will likely take place through the form of a short video.

Some county health teachers disagree with the Board's decision. In a letter to BOE president Reginald Felton, DHS teacher Mrs. Stone argued against condom demonstration. "Consider this," she wrote. "Most parents don't want their children engaged in sexual activity. Most parents don't want their children doing drugs, either. Will we next consider demonstrating to our young people how to tell a 'good, untainted' ecstasy pill from one laced with cocaine or heroin?" Mrs. Stone also points out that school nurses are already permitted to demonstrate condom use to students who ask; so why present the information to students who have no intention of engaging in sexual activity?

The Board also approved a recommendation to allow Health teachers to discuss various sexual orientations in Health class. At the present time, "direct questions from students regarding sexual variation may be briefly and objectively answered with no solicitation of discussion." By deleting this sentence in the current procedures, teachers will be permitted to address homosexuality, bisexuality, and other sexual variations.