The media has almost universally dismissed McCain's charge that Obama voted for a bill that allowed explicit sex education content for kindergarteners. The bill does include such content, however, although it requires that all content be "age and developmentally appropriate." (See Illinois SB0099). The content the bill would have required and whether the age-appropriate qualification sufficiently excludes inappropriate content from elementary classrooms will be explored.
The content required includes "instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV." Discussions of how to avoid sexually transmitted infections could include any subject from abstinence, to the use of condoms, to the avoidance of high-risk sexual behavior such as anal intercourse. The bill's scope on content is wide open. The only restriction on content, it seems, is the requirement that discussion be "age and developmentally appropriate."
Upon examining Illinois statutes and case law, it appears that the responsibility for determining what is age-appropriate in education rests with the school. This is a reasonable conclusion because when the legislature applies the age-appropriate standard it sometimes adds to that requirement by stating specifically what it wants. In other words, it will sometimes apply the age-appropriate standard while at the same time instructing schools exactly what to do. (See e.g., AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2512, paragraph 2, lines 10-19). One is left to conclude, therefore, that if the legislature does not instruct the school exactly what to do in applying the age-appropriate standard, the school has the discretion to do what it wants.
The McCain charge that Obama voted for a bill that allowed for the presentation of explicit sexual education content to kindergarteners appears to be factually true. The bill specifically includes content that will lead to explicit sexual discussions. The bill provides only one restraint on content, the age-appropriate standard as interpreted by the schools. Because it is reasonable to assume that some educators will include explicit sexual content, particularly because the bill includes it, it is reasonable to assume that such content will find its way to elementary students.
While the Obama campaign can argue that no reasonable educator would provide explicit sexual education to elementary students in the exercise of their discretion that the bill provides them with, the McCain campaign has a strong counterargument. Certainly state legislators should foresee that irresponsible educators exist, or that some educators, and perhaps a large number, believe that elementary students should receive explicit sexual education. By expressly including all elementary students from K-6 in this bill, the legislature opened at least some of them up to explicit sexual content.
Finally, it is important to note that the legislature apparently debated whether to apply this law to K-5 students or not. This is apparent because the original draft of the bill applied only to 6-12 students. Grade 6 was stricken and replaced with grade K. That a debate occurred at all demonstrates that the sexual content contemplated by the legislature hovered over a questionable line.
The media did not do its homework on this bill. Rather, it reflexively dismissed it as ridiculous, including the "fact check" websites like politifact.com and factcheck.org. This utter failure on their part reinforces the already dominant perception that the media is hopelessly biased for Obama.
The Ref | 9/16/08 | Permalink