TRI In The News
School Distributes Sexually Graphic Survey to Students
6/20/2011
TRI IN THE NEWS: SCHOOL DISTRIBUTES SEXUALLY GRAPHIC SURVEY TO STUDENTS
From Personal Liberty Digest
Original article available here.
Parents are outraged at Massachusetts school officials, after middle school students were forced to take a survey that included graphic questions about sex — without parental knowledge or consent.
Arlene Tessitore, who has retained the services of civil liberties organization The Rutherford Institute, claims her daughters were deeply disturbed by the content of a Youth Risk Behavior Study they were forced to take at Memorial Middle School in Fitchburg, Mass.
"Kids were actually told to sit down and take them," John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, told Fox News Radio. "One of the questions is, 'have you ever had oral sex.' You're talking about kids who probably don't even know what oral sex is."
Principal Fran Thomas confirmed to Fox News Radio that students had taken the graphic survey, but claims the school was required to administer it in order to receive a grant funded by a social services agency in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"I can take no responsibility for what's on that survey," Thomas told the news outlet. "It's not generated by the school system."
"It was a case of the school telling parents what they were going to do," Whitehead said. "If parents want their kids to answer these kinds of questions as federal law requires, they should give written consent. But if they don't give consent, I don't think public officials should be asking children such questions."
