COSTA MESA / NEWPORT BEACH : Sex-Education Videos OKd by Board

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District board has voted to approve two new sex-education videos for teen-agers, despite objections from board and community members who said the program does not focus enough on abstinence and condom use.

The vote was 5 to 2, with board members Wendy Leece and Edward H. Decker voting against “What About Sex? Teens Speak Out About Parents, Peers & Personal Responsibility” and “Love in the Dark Ages.” They will be used in seventh- to 12th-grade health classes and ninth- to 12th-grade family life and peer counseling classes. All the classes require parental approval before students may enroll.

“What About Sex?” shows a teen round-table discussion in which the students talk about value systems, misconceptions about sex, ways to approach parents to discuss sex and decision-making about sexual activity. “Dark Ages” is about a teen who contracts a sexually transmitted disease from her boyfriend and its effects on her health and outlook.

“Newport-Mesa’s motto is ‘Excellence in Education,’ ” Decker said. “I find both of these less than excellent.”

Leece said the first video is outdated, “too casual” about abstinence, condom failure and disease rates, and “puts down parents” by ranking their advice as no more valuable than that of peers. Parents’ advice is more credible, she said, “because of their natural love for their children and concern for their future.”

Board member Jim de Boom came down on the other side of the issue. “I don’t think we watched the same video,” he said, noting that his daughter, a high school junior, saw the program with him.

A seven-point discussion of moral values and how to live by them was particularly helpful, de Boom said, and encourages students and teachers to discuss delicate issues.

“These are just tools, and they’re not the only tools at our disposal,” board member James M. Ferryman said. “They do serve a purpose, and that is to create dialogue.”