Be willing to refine Pono Choices

The state Department of Education should seriously consider the complaints of parents who say that a sex-education curriculum being piloted in Hawaii public schools is too explicit for 11-year-olds and downplays the health risks of certain sexual acts.

While it is easy to dismiss criticism of the inclusive Pono Choices curriculum as homophobia in the wake of a state law legalizing same-sex marriage, that knee-jerk reaction would be a mistake. It is gay youths, males in particular, who could suffer the most from an unduly politically correct point of view.

The Department of Education is putting together a working group of educators, medical and public health professionals, parents and community leaders to review the 10-lesson curriculum, which has been piloted among 11- to 13-year-olds in 12 public middle schools so far, and is intended to reduce the incidence of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections in Hawaii.

It is essential to consult students as part of this process, to gain their unfiltered viewpoints. Above all, the work of this group must be beyond reproach, hearing all points of view on a subject that is of vital interest to families and to community health overall.

The DOE’s internal review of the program when complaints first arose was seen as a rubber stamp in some quarters — Pono Choices was put on hold for two weeks before being reinstated in December — and this second review must be more open, if families are to trust the department.

The program in question — Pono Choices: A Culturally Responsive Teen Pregnancy and STI Prevention Program — was developed with funding from the federal Office of Adolescent Health through the University of Hawaii’s Center on Disability Studies, aided by curriculum developers from ALU LIKE Inc. and Planned Parenthood of Hawaii.

It is the first such curriculum developed exclusively for Hawaii youths, and its usage likely will expand throughout the state, if it is deemed successful.

But the only way it can be successful is if families don’t opt their children out — which is an option some families are taking.

The onus is on the DOE’s working group, then, to accept feedback from families and refine Pono Choices as necessary to ensure that the broadest number of families are comfortable with the curriculum. That’s the best way to ensure students actually receive the sex-ed they need to maintain good health as they grow older, and, as state law and DOE policy promote, abstain from sexual activity.

In a perfect world, of course, it would be parents who would shoulder this responsibility, rather than the schools. It’s evident from Hawaii’s health statistics, however, that many young people need this advice. Although the percentage of Hawaii high schoolers who have ever had sex is lower than the national average (37 percent versus 47 percent in 2011), the teen pregnancy rate is higher, as is the incidence of chlamydia. Condom use is among the lowest in the nation. Successful sex-ed programs help solve these problems.

Two complaints about Pono Choices are that it teaches children about vaginal, oral and anal sex in an explicit manner that treats each sex act as typical, and that it minimizes the health risks of anal sex. Only 5 percent of Hawaii youth have engaged in sexual intercourse by age 13, which means that 95 percent haven’t — so it’s not a stretch to imagine that this information is overwhelming for some prepubescent 11-year-olds, even in the Internet age.

Advocates counter that sex-ed is most effective in deterring young people from unhealthy behavior if it is delivered before they become sexually active.

The second point is clearer: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that gay males are disproportionately affected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS; that infection rates are rising, especially among males ages 13 to 24; and that risky sexual behavior accounts for most new infections. By the advocates’ own argument, it seems that Pono Choices misses an opportunity to more powerfully deliver this message just when it would do the most good.

It is our hope that the working group can rise above the controversy to refine Pono Choices into a relevant, effective curriculum that helps students, as it was created and intended to do.