Education can change the world and even save lives. That's why Cleveland City Schools' move to expand sex education so that it spans from kindergarten through twelfth grade is a good idea, though it could use revision.
Cleveland seems to be in dire need of expanded sexual education. The teen birth rate there is about 40 out of every 1,000 girls, ages 15 to 19, and chlamydia cases are up 30 percent over the last five years. Worse, a third of all Ohio HIV/AIDS cases are in Cleveland. Clearly, something is needed and the school system and city government should be applauded for taking a proactive stance.
But the education for the youngest students could use revision. The grade K-3 curriculum calls for students to learn about appropriate and inappropriate touching ' which cannot be learned too early, especially among children most vulnerable to sexual abuse ' and also, oddly enough, about how viruses work.
Why the school system thinks it is practical to try to teach children who are still mastering skills like reading short stories, tying their shoes and simple math about how viruses are contracted is not clear and the school system would be better off saving that lesson until the students are a little bit older and more mature.
Still, the Cleveland City Schools are encouraging and fostering an atmosphere where students can learn about sex, and that outweighs any small blunders the schools will make in the implementation of this program. Certainly it trumps those schools whose message on sex consists of the rather unrealistic Don't do it message. Cleveland City Schools should be commended for this refreshing approach to an age-old topic.
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[B]Cleveland public schools address personal health, safety issues with new sexual education[/B]
