‘The majority of people in North County want their children to get the information New Image is offering.’ : Sex-Education Theater Raises a Furor

With teen-age substance abuse and pregnancy increasing virtually everywhere, Vista High School principal Don Phillips two years ago eagerly approved a school counselors’ plan to invite an award-winning San Diego teen-theater troupe to present programs on such disturbing problems.

Phillips believed the best way he could protect his pupils was to give them knowledge so they wouldn’t be fooled by the countless myths and misconceptions that cloak the dangers of drug abuse and unprotected sex.

When the invitation was extended to New Image Teen Theater to perform on the school campus, Phillips thought parents would welcome the troupe, which has received national honors for excellence in children’s programming and kudos from educators for its innovative, instructional performances based on the philosophy that “teens listen to teens.”

But, instead, Phillips received call after call from irate parents and religious leaders who opposed the scheduled performance.

Phillips recalls that many opponents supported discussing the information New Image offered, but opposed the scheduled performance because of the theater troupe’s sponsor: Planned Parenthood, a family planning organization and pro-choice advocate.

After a highly-publicized, emotional, 6-hour debate at a Vista School Board meeting, it was decided that New Image would not perform at Vista High.

Although during its 8-year existence the critically acclaimed theater troupe has performed more than 300 live shows countywide before nearly 60,000 people, New Image has been banned by other school districts as well, said Cynthia Burdyshaw, the troupe’s founder.

Coincidentally, the opposition has come solely from North County schools.

“There seem to be better-organized church groups or there are these conservative pockets of people that are very small, but very vocal, who oppose sex education in North County,” Burdyshaw said.

In addition to Vista, school boards in Carlsbad and San Marcos witnessed heated debates between New Image advocates and those who accuse the troupe of promoting sexual promiscuity.

But banning New Image from delivering its messages or opposing the troupe solely because of its sponsor’s politics will cause more harm in the end, supporters say.

“It’s often said that North County is the meth (methamphetamine) capital of the world,” Burdyshaw said. “There are a lot of drugs there and there’s a high rate of teen pregnancy. A few years ago, San Marcos had the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the county. It’s a concern because, basically, the people who need it (information) the most aren’t getting it.”

New Image advocates say the troupe can effectively help teen-agers cope with the problems that arise during the difficult years of adolescence.

More important, the group’s performances allow teen-agers to discuss today’s complex social problems that otherwise go unaddressed.

Lack of knowledge about substance abuse, date-rape, reproduction and sexually transmitted diseases such as acquired immune deficiency syndrome--topics that parents are often reluctant to discuss with their children--could handicap teen-agers for the rest of their lives, says Lenore Lowe, the organization’s community affairs director.

And closing channels of information like New Image concerns educators who are constantly confronted with disturbing national statistics showing that 1.1-million teen-agers becoming pregnant each year, with 50% of those pregnancies ending in abortions; or that four of 10 sexually active teen-agers will contract a sexually transmitted disease.

Since the Vista High School controversy, Lowe says New Image has faced other vocal adversaries and silent opposition from groups that hesitate to invite the troupe because of its Planned Parenthood ties.

But New Image’s performances that deliver well-crafted, educational messages are slowly silencing critics and have become a favorite tool among San Diego County’s parents and teachers.

In fact, a few months after New Image’s show at Vista High School was canceled, parents who supported the troupe re-invited the teen-age actors for a community performance, which was held in a local park. After an initial protest in Carlsbad, school officials allowed the group to perform, and in San Marcos, New Image has used school facilities for evening shows.

In addition, New Image has performed at other school districts in the county, including Sweetwater Union High, San Dieguito Union High and Poway Unified.

“The majority of people in North County want their children to get the information New Image is offering,” Burdyshaw said. “But it’s the minority that is . . . doing cruel things like calling our supporters and saying that they’re not Christian.”

The troupe has won local Emmy Awards, and their video performances have received national honors from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. On January 10, New Image’s “Mark and Joey”--a poignant drama that tells a story about one family’s experience with AIDS--will be broadcast by San Diego’s KPBS. At a later date, it will be made available to other PBS stations.

Troupe members say they have been swamped with friends’ questions.

Each May as many as 70 teen-agers, between the ages of 13-19, audition to become troupe members, said Burdyshaw, who founded New Image and served as its producer for 8 years. But only 10--five girls and five boys--are accepted into the group that Burdyshaw and a professional director make certain has a diverse, ethnic representation to reflect the San Diego community.

activity.

Once selected, the troupe members enroll in an 8-week, 40-hour summer program during which they learned about modern social problems. The teen-agers then select the topics they would like to discuss and develop skit ideas to present them. The actors are given a $200 stipend for the season’s 60 shows.

With a director’s assistance, troupe members write their own scripts, Burdyshaw said. Stocked with a collection of 12-15 skits, New Image actors rehearse weekly.

This year’s collection of skits includes a spoof of The Wizard of Oz, in which “Dotty” and her dog “Dodo,” on the way to “the Clinic,” are introduced to different contraceptives. But the skit’s most important message is delivered when Dotty repeats the enchanted phrase to return home: “There’s no word like NO.”

New Image’s programs are now well received by many county educators because the performances fit nicely into schools’ health and sex education curriculums.

Ed Fletcher, director of health services for the San Diego Unified School District, said he understands parents’ desire to restrict their children from talking about such topics. But he advises parents that teen-agers discuss sexuality and listen to each other. Instead of allowing them to spread myths and misconceptions, he believes teen-agers should be used as an effective vehicle to distribute accurate information about the risks of reckless sex and drug abuse.

But many have a lesser opinion of New Image and even greater grievances with its sponsor, Planned Parenthood.

Helen Rocha, mother of a son and daughter, 21 and 16, respectively, was one of many parents who packed the Vista School Board meeting two years ago to oppose New Image’s scheduled performance.

Rocha said she supports classroom discussion of social problems, but argues that New Image fails to emphasize the importance of abstinence and criticizes it for readily condoning premarital sex.

“I know there are those who will have sex, but if you teach them the right values I don’t believe as many will be active,” Rocha said. “We need to go back to what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong.”

For example, Rocha said it is wrong to have sex before marriage.

“It is only right when you are married,” she said. “And that’s what you should teach. Fewer people will do it if it is not condoned.”

Even if New Image’s messages were appropriate, Rocha said she would object to their performances because of its sponsor. She says Planned Parenthood does a disservice to youth.

But Phillips, Vista Unified’s associate superintendent, believes students should have access to New Image.

“Parents sometimes have an Ozzie and Harriet mind-set because they want to shelter their children from the world’s problems,” Phillips said. “But my personal philosophy is to expose kids to good theater or literature, even if it’s controversial. I don’t think these programs impose values on teens. On the contrary, I think it forces them to grapple with human dilemmas, and helps them understand what their values are.”

For 8 years now Burdyshaw, New Image’s founder, has watched the theater program grow. But of New Image’s many accomplishments, she is most pleased with witnessing the growth of her troupe members.

“The youth are the future . . . ,” she said. “A lot of people say that, but most of them don’t want anything to do with teen-agers. That’s why I believe New Image is so important, because it shows that if you give teen-agers some hope and give them something concrete to do . . . well, they can do wonderful things.”