Raleigh, NC Schools Ask 6th Graders About Sex

Raleigh, NC Schools Survey 6th Graders About Sex

Updated 16 Oct 2006

Leaders defend school survey as fitting for 6th-graders

Some parents object to questions on sex, contraception

By TODD SILBERMAN, Staff Writer

     RALEIGH, NC [12/2/99] -- Wake school and community leaders stood behind a survey on student behavior and attitudes that has raised eyebrows among parents of middle school students across the county.
     Backers of the survey said Wednesday that in order to build on the strengths of the county's children and teenagers, the community must also have an accurate picture of their weaknesses.
     "This is an opportunity for us as a community to be able to identify what kids need to protect themselves and to thrive in a unique manner," said Ron Anderson, a Wake schools administrator who helped coordinate the survey being given to about 20,000 students.
     "Evidence from other communities that have used this survey has been very positive in terms of programs and awareness for children," Anderson said. "This helps us restore our community commitment to children."
     The survey, developed by a Minneapolis-based organization active in child and adolescent issues, is the initiative locally of an ad hoc character education group that is trying to spur community involvement in youth development. The cost of the study, estimated at $33,000, is being paid from the school system's local budget, which is funded from county revenues.
     It is not part of a $2.7 million federally funded Safe Schools/Healthy Students program, which Anderson directs, as was reported incorrectly Tuesday in The News & Observer.
     While it is being given in school, officials said it is part of a community effort that reaches beyond the schools. Three Wake towns -- Cary, Holly Springs and Wake Forest -- have organized their own efforts aimed at youth development and have asked for the survey.
     Proponents of the survey defended sensitive questions about suicide, drug use and sexual activity as being necessary, even when those questions are posed to 11-year-old students. The survey is being given this week to sixth- and eighth-graders and was given to 11th-graders before the Thanksgiving holiday. Students use a class period to answer the 156 written questions. Their answers are anonymous.
     "If you look at all the questions and what leads up to them, then they are appropriate," said Jim Surratt, superintendent of Wake schools.
     A question asking students whether they've had sexual intercourse, for example, precedes another question about whether they use contraceptives. If students answer "never" to the first of the two questions, they're instructed to skip the second.
     "We've been involved with surveys in past years that asked more explicit questions than this," Surratt said.
     Parents and students, he said, were given the opportunity to opt out of the survey altogether if they chose to. Letters were sent home informing parents about the questionnaire, and allowing them to sign a form refusing participation for their child, Surratt said.
     Still, some parents said they never received the letter. Others said the notice failed to adequately disclose the nature of the questions that were being asked.
     Judy Hoffman, a school board member who helped launch the county's character education push several years ago, said she supports the survey but also said communications with parents about it might be improved.
     "Maybe we need to learn that the letter [home] needs to be more complete," Hoffman said. "But that's different from whether the survey is a valuable tool."
     Several educators and community leaders active in character education efforts said the survey would help boost community awareness and provide additional support for children, particularly when they reach the vulnerable teen years.
     "In trying to build a community-wide and community-based program for character education, you need to measure where your kids are -- what assets do they have, what strengths does the community have," said Barbara Freedman, a member of the county's Character Education Community Involvement Committee.
     Freedman said she would not have objected to her children's completing the questionnaire when they were of middle school age.
     "We can't be naive and think that sixth-graders are not exposed to some of these issues and ideas," Freedman said. "We might like to think they are innocent about sex and drugs, but it's not true. I don't think it's inherently harmful to ask children in the sixth grade these questions."
     Anderson said the survey, purchased from the Search Institute in Minneapolis, is based on a proven theory that students with positive "assets" are better protected from behavior such as drug and alcohol abuse or sexual activity. The Search Institute has identified 40 assets that it considers critical to healthy growth and development.
     They include support from family and community, a sense of safety and security, constructive use of time and a commitment to education and learning.
     "The more assets you have, the more likely you are to succeed in school and the less likely you are to engage in risk-taking behavior," Anderson said. "The kids who have few assets are more likely to take risks."
     "What the survey does is allows us to figure out what our kids need," he said. "What are the things that we can do in our community to help these kids?"

Staff writer Todd Silberman can be reached at 829-4531 or todds@nando.com