TRI In The News
Mom: Two Girls Forced to Take Survey on Sex
6/20/2011
TRI IN THE NEWS: MOM: TWO GIRLS FORCED TO TAKE SURVEY ON SEX
From The Boston Herald
Original article available here.
A Fitchburg mother has lodged a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education claiming public middle school officials forced her two daughters to take sex surveys that asked if they'd ever had oral sex and how may people they've had sex with.
The Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based civil liberties organization, filed the complaint earlier this month on behalf of Arlene Tessitore, whose seventh- and eighth-grade daughters attend the Memorial Middle School in Fitchburg.
The complaint says Tessitore didn't know school officials were administering the surveys and she didn't — or wouldn't — give her daughters permission to take them.
The first survey, handed out in February, asked students if they ever tried to commit suicide, had sniffed glue and how many sex partners they'd had.
"Both girls were deeply disturbed by the content of the survey and the fact that they were effectively coerced to participate in it," the complaint said.
School officials, according to the complaint, said the Youth Risk Behavior Survey was given to students to "satisfy grant requirements." According to the complaint, it was administered by LUK Inc., a social services agency, under a federal grant program.
In March, after Tessitore had expressed her concerns to school officials, her older daughter was asked to take another survey that asked students to answer true or false to questions, including, "I have had oral sex at some point in my life," according to the complaint.
John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, said the federal protection of pupil rights amendment is very clear.
"The law requires written parental consent," said Whitehead, who has been practicing constitutional law for 30 years. "The schools have to follow the law — that's their job."
The complaint alleges Fitchburg children are "being exploited for data by social services agencies in a quest for federal funds that violates both specific federal statutes and more general constitutional protections of parental rights and personal privacy."
Memorial Middle School principal Francis Thomas and LUK CEO Gordon Benson didn't return calls yesterday.
Tessitore wasn't available for comment.
Whitehead said the Fitchburg mother had contacted the institute and she's "very upset."
