Santa Monica High School Sex Survey

The flap over the RAND Corp. sex survey at Santa Monica High School misses the most critical problems with the test.

First, the problem isn’t what some might call “offensive” questions; it is the non-judgmental nature of those questions. To appease (or perhaps promote) those segments of society whose sex and moral beliefs deviate from long-standing concepts of virtuous behavior such as chastity, the test promotes moral relativity. While this educational approach does not necessarily endorse specific behavior, for many of our children whose home environments lack a values focus, moral relativism destroys their ability to think critically about values. Our schools, fearful of accusations of indoctrination, have for some time contributed to increased teen-age violent crime, pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease by implementing non-judgmental sex and “values clarification” courses.

Second, the Santa Monica High School student body consists of a very large number of students from poor families. Many parents of these students are not themselves well-educated. By spending all this time and resources on sex education and on programs to prevent teen suicide and promote girls’ self-esteem, student rights, multicultural programs and racial balance, we deprive these children of time to acquire specific knowledge and skills that will enable them to rise above the circumstances and environment in which they are raised. Yet, when these programs don’t work, teachers like Joanna Chase and “leaders” like school board members Pam Brady and Patricia Hoffman and Mayor Judy Abdo tell us only that we need more of them.

Meanwhile, parents primarily interested in their children’s educational opportunity increasingly look to private schools for their children’s education instead of social welfare institutions such as Santa Monica High School. Low-income parents, of course, remain forcibly wedded to a problem posing as a solution.

KIP DELLINGER

Santa Monica