Mar 13, 2008 7:29 pm US/Pacific
Fremont Reviews Sex Ed. After CBS 5 Investigation
FREMONT (CBS 5) ―
A CBS 5 investigation in February discovered the sex education in Fremont public schools may violate California state law. On Thursday, Fremont's sexual education curriculum met to discuss the fate of a program that may be giving inaccurate and misleading information to teenagers that could put health at risk.
Two members of the committee told CBS 5 they agree that something is wrong with sex education in Fremont schools.
Sex education committee member Cynthia Fong says Fremont has a problem, "...that the curriculum is not compliant with the California law." Fong said for two years, she's suspected that the committee and school officials were being misled by Angela Griffiths, an outside consultant who designed the sex education course for Fremont's junior high schools.
Then in February, CBS 5 Investigates revealed that Fremont's curriculum may violate California law - because it appears to be teaching something called "Abstinence-only"-- a program that purports to teach teens to avoid sex until they get married.
The program includes learning materials that contain misleading information, such as a contraception chart created by Griffiths, a chart that statistics experts say are inaccurate.
When Fong saw CBS 5's report, she said, "Well the first thing I said to myself was, 'Oh gosh! This is exactly what I knew!'"
Dr. Lucienne Bouvier, the newest member of Fremont's sex education committee is also a gynecologist and a sexual health expert.
"I think Angela Griffiths has tried to hide the fact that she comes from an abstinence-only background," Bouvier said. "It's pretty clear that she wants to promote abstinence-only as the only way of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among teens."
But California requires something different, a method known as comprehensive sex education which teaches the facts of life in almost blushing detail.
The program is being taught at Garfield Charter School in Redwood City. While the class urges students to abstain from sex as the only sure way to prevent pregnancy and disease, it also gives students medically accurate information about how to use condoms and other forms of protection.
But Dr. Bouvier confirmed to CBS 5 that's not what's happening in Fremont, because the curriculum gives students inaccurate information about contraception. Bouvier said of Griffiths, "She is skewing the information to make it look as if contraceptive methods don't work well. And the purpose is to scare kids into not having sex."
After six months of trying to interview Angela Griffiths, CBS 5 Investigates caught up with her last week and asked about the critics who say her curriculum is misleading and inaccurate.
"And I can tell you right now, that the people that have been quoting you statistics aren't following California's state education code. They're giving you efficacy rates, not effectiveness rates," Griffiths responded.
Efficacy versus efficiency?
"I think its gobbledygook," Bouvier said, laughing. "I doubt that she even did any research. Because a minimum of research shows you that this stuff is inaccurate."
CBS 5 Investigates also wanted to ask Griffiths about how her organization has been accepting millions of dollars from the Bush Administration to promote abstinence-only education.
That was new to Dr. Bouvier.
"At the last meeting I asked her where her funding came from, and she mentioned nothing about the federal government. It's pretty clear there's a huge conflict of interest," Bouvier said.
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