Sex Education Update with Net in Mind

Needham Public Schools (NPS) is updating its sex education curriculum to help students handle issues arising from new social networking and technology. A Health Advisory Council subcommittee, which developed the proposed program over the past two years, will present the curriculum to the School Committee at the end of January.

In the lead-up, NPS Wellness Program Director Kathy Pinkham has briefed parents about the lessons, and she hopes to have a website parents can peruse online before the winter break. "We really looked at this as a relationship with parents," she said. Ongoing information sessions also are planned after the break.

Under the proposal, homework assignments involving parental discussion around a series of questions would be expanded from fifth grade, where they have been successful, to other grades, Pinkham said. Materials from sex education classes would be taken home for students' parents, encouraging their involvement.

The curriculum aims to help students develop mature attitudes about sex in the Internet era, in which sexual encounters may begin with texting, Pinkham said.

"The culture has changed," Pinkham said. "It used to be people got married at 18, 19, 20 or 21. Now it's later and later. We will put it into context of what they want in life and their goals." In addition to anatomy, STD and abstinence components, the curriculum focuses on delaying sex and giving students the tools needed for healthy sex and relationships when they are adults, she said.

One theme will be the importance of face-to-face as opposed to electronic interactions, which can cloud decision-making. "Sometimes people end up with someone else because of happenstance," Pinkham said. "We will emphasize the importance of face-to-face communication, and that spending time together is important."

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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