About 1,200 Students Take Sex Survey

About half of the 2,400 students at Santa Monica High School filled out a detailed sex questionnaire administered by RAND Corp. on Tuesday, despite efforts by a small group of parents to block it from being given.

The exact number of students who took the survey was unavailable, but as of last Saturday, RAND had received 1,362 written consent forms from parents allowing their children to participate, said Sandra Berry, director of survey research at RAND. In addition, an undetermined number brought signed consent forms with them to school.

A vocal group of about 30 parents began their protest three weeks ago with a news conference that preceded a board meeting of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Friday, a Santa Monica Superior Court judge denied a request by parents to issue a temporary restraining order that would have kept RAND from giving the survey.

Parent Robin Trento, a plaintiff in the case, said the group’s efforts were not wasted.

“I hope that this whole controversy has made parents aware that there may be things kids are being taught, or aren’t being taught, in school that may be undermining the values they are trying to raise their families with,” she said.

RAND officials and school administrators said the survey will help researchers gauge the effectiveness of a condom distribution program at the high school, and will provide some insights into whether exposing students to sex education arms them against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, or encourages them to engage in sexual behavior.

The officials also said the study should help educators across the nation shape effective health education programs.

The $213,958 research project is funded by grants from the California Wellness Foundation, the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR), the Brotman Foundation of California, the UCLA/RAND Clinical Scholars Program and RAND Corp.

The 69-question survey queried students on family life, personal ambitions, and sexual attitudes and behaviors. Parents mainly objected to the explicitly worded questions on sexual behavior, which described acts of oral and anal sex and homosexuality and asked students how many times they had engaged in them during the past year.

Parents argued that RAND and district officials had failed to properly inform them of the graphic nature of the survey. They also contended that completed surveys could be traced back to individual students, which is especially disturbing because of possibly self-incriminating questions about illegal drug use and stealing.

Tuesday’s survey was a follow-up to a similar one conducted before the condom program was launched last spring. A few parents raised similar objections at that time. This year, the protest reignited when Santa Monica pediatrician Robert Hamilton distributed copies of the survey about three weeks ago.

Hamilton was unavailable for comment this week. Before leaving on vacation, he said he wanted to distance himself from the protest, saying it was not centered around him or his widely known conservative religious beliefs.

In recent weeks, numerous parents, apparently with a wide variety of religious views, have joined in the debate on local talk radio shows, most recently KCRW’s “Which Way L.A.”

Their efforts appear to have contributed to the low participation in the survey compared with last year, when 2,000 students took part. Officials said another factor was the change from a passive consent procedure, which required a response only if the parent did not want a child to take the survey, to an active system in which parents had to specifically approve a child’s participation.

According to researcher Berry, RAND will be able to complete the study despite the lower turnout. Last year’s results will provide a strong baseline of data that will strengthen the analysis of this year’s results.

“Our overall objectives will still be reached,” she said.

Survey results should be ready by December. They will be presented to the school district and published in professional journals.

Despite the advance commotion, Principal Nardy Samuels said Tuesday turned out to be a relatively normal day at Santa Monica High School. Samuels refused to allow reporters or TV crews on campus, so some of them scrambled for student interviews outside school gates.

“It’s been very quiet today, thank goodness,” he said.

The surveys were administered in English classes throughout the day. RAND workers walked down aisles during the classes distributing envelopes containing the surveys--Manila for girls, blue for boys and white for an alternate survey. The alternate survey, in which questions about sex were deleted, was given to students who either did not have parent permission or who themselves had decided not to participate in the sex survey.

Cristy Castillas, a senior, was one student who found the detailed questions about sex offensive. She said younger students especially should not be exposed to such graphic questions.

“(Some students) have really innocent minds. When you’re reading this stuff, you get ideas. Some people don’t know about these things and you learn about sex by reading it.”

Senior Brian Joyce disagreed, saying the survey was justified in asking explicit questions in order to get accurate answers. Parents cannot supply the information, he said. Only students can.

“I don’t think it was that graphic. You talk that way with your friends anyway,” he said.

Other students took the survey lightly. Judson Yaker said it was fun being presented with sexually graphic questions because most surveys are boring in comparison.

Others said it was a waste of time, especially with just a few weeks left in the school year. Alex Aravanis, a senior who chose to take the alternate survey, said the atmosphere in his class was so lively that he was able to read questions off the regular survey and talk with other students.

“Lots of them put down the most lascivious answers possible,” he said. “They were drinking five times a week and popping acid five times a week.”

But most students interviewed during lunch break Tuesday supported the survey, saying they gave questions serious consideration and answered honestly.

“The goal is important,” said senior Brian Dracup. “It will help society in the long run.”