http://usa.net/gazette

Group campaigns for school to pass policy on student sexual conduct

By Wendy Lawton

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The same group that brought the issue of gay rights all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court is back with a new cause - the sexual conduct of students.

Colorado for Family Values wants the Colorado Springs School District 11 board to adopt a policy which promotes abstinence, affirms traditional marriage and discourages promiscuity in ''every aspect of student life.''

The proposal comes in response to a months-long controversy over articles about homosexuality published in a high school news paper.

While the school board has tried to keep the public focused on freedom of the press, the debate has ranged from family values to homophobia to separation of church and state. The CFV proposal puts the spotlight on another element - the sweeping issue of teens and sex.

CFV has mounted a massive campaign. Will Perkins, chairman of the CFV board, said the group has printed 130,000 postcards calling on the school board to pass the student conduct policy.

Perkins said about 100 local churches are behind the effort, distributing the pre-printed cards to members. Focus on the Family, the Christian publishing ministry headquartered in the city, is also behind the campaign.

For the first time, Focus pre-empted its national radio broadcast in Colorado Springs on Tuesday and devoted 30 minutes to the issue. Founder James Dobson urged listeners on four local stations to write the school board in support of the policy.

Perkins said backers are trying to get thousands of people to show up at a school board meeting Jan. 15. Expecting a crowd, District 11 officials have moved the 6 p.m. meeting, traditionally held in an administration building board room, to the Wasson High School auditorium. The auditorium seats 1,100.

What triggered all this were two articles in the Oct. 24 edition of The Lever, the Palmer High School newspaper. One article was a front-page story detailing the troubles faced by gay teens. Another was an editorial defending same-sex marriages. Both were written by Palmer students.

At the time, the stories didn't cause much of a stir. But after a few complaints and a lot of publicity, that changed. Within a week, the D-11 school board decided to rethink its policy covering student publications. More than a 100 people packed a board meeting in November, mostly to support The Lever articles.

Then, in an unusual move, board members asked the public to weigh in on the publications policy. The latest draft still gives student editors the right to decide the content of school newspapers.

As it stands now, the school board will hold a two-hour hearing Wednesday on the publication proposal. It's unknown how the CFV measure will fit into the debate, but it has the potential to expand it well beyond what students put in their newspapers.

Perkins acknowledges that the policy is designed to cover just what it says - ''every aspect of student life.'' That means what students discuss and what teachers teach in class about sex and marriage, he said.

For Perkins, the heart of the matter is giving kids moral guidance about sex.

''There is so much empirical evidence out there about the dangers of promiscuity - sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy,'' Perkins said. ''Kids need to know that. They need guidance.''

For Frank Whitworth, head of the gay rights group Ground Zero, the real issue is repression of homosexual teens.

''The deeper, underlying thing is about denying gay and lesbian teens protection from physical and verbal abuse,'' he said. ''People want to stop homosexuals from being who they are.''

Said school board member Lyman Kaiser: ''People are coming at this from all different directions. It's all based on their moral and political beliefs.''

Yet there is some agreement among a broad range of people interviewed this week.

Everyone - from school board members to religious leaders to local activists - said abstinence is the best policy when it comes to kids and sex. That's already the tack District 11 takes in its sex ed courses.

So can this three-month controversy end in consensus?

Megan Day, director of Citizens Project, said all parties could find common ground - if the rhetoric and political posturing subside.

''Oftentimes, we have the same goals. We all want to reduce teen pregnancy.

And who would promote promiscuity?'' Day said. ''It's just that our means are different. If we didn't focus on our perceived differences, and instead focused on what we have in common, we could get somewhere.''