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Memphis City Schools (MCS) have
changed their consent policy on sex education, denying access to students who
do not have signed permission slips from home. For more than a decade, parents
who did not want their children to receive instruction could opt out by signing
a refusal form. Under the change, exclusion now will be the default. Only
students with signed forms requesting sex education, including HIV/AIDS
instruction, will be permitted in classes.
Critics claim the “opt-in” policy
creates another hurdle for students, especially African-American students who
already face staggering teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD)
rates. Teenagers in general have higher rates of STDs, and the rates are
particularly high in the South. Memphis is among the top five cities with the
highest number of new HIV/AIDS cases, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Monica Rodriguez, president of the
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, commented
that changing to an opt-in policy puts Memphis in the slim minority of school
districts; almost every other district has an opt-out policy.
An MCS administrator who spoke off
the record last week said the district had not made a final decision on
changing the policy. Three weeks ago, MCS communications staff told The
Commercial Appeal (Memphis) that no policy change had been made, but on October
2, MCS spokeswoman Staci Franklin said administrators were meeting October 3 to
discuss the issue and that things would probably change after that meeting.
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.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
