$800,000 pilot program under fire...good

[Frank]

thanks midnight, you have read my post exactly "if McDermott is correct"...sex ed is very important! i question the need for the "PILOT PROGRAM" part at a cost of $800k...what happen to the sex ed program that was in place? after years of being in place, was it not adequate? or just not explicate enough?

[VancouverIslander]

Those are some good questions, Frank. I expect that all the materials that would be used in a full implementation had to be developed in order for the pilot to proceed, but it would be hard to understand how that would cost $800k. How big are the take home booklets the kids get? I couldn't imagine them being more than $20 each no matter how much information was in them. Do they hire specialist Nurses or other health care providers to be guest speakers? I sure hope it wasn't to fund hundreds of committee meetings to waste time arguing about tiny details.

[csgray]

This was a scientifically valid study done for several years that involved some schools "piloting" the curriculum and others doing whatever they had already been doing in the past. Students were then surveyed to measure how much they had learned in each situation over the two years. This allowed the piloted materials to be evaluated for effectiveness and tweaked if necessary. This is a research based curriculum which means it is studied to make sure it works, instead of just being whatever the health teacher puts together. It is expensive to develop, implement, and test a curriculum; there was a large team of researchers involved in just tracking the results, plus it takes time to write up a scientifically accurate curriculum. The costs involved go far beyond creating "take home booklets." The steps were: develop initial curriculum, train trainers to train the teachers who piloted the program, fly the teachers to Oahu for trainings, including food and lodging as well as a stipend, develop surveys to measure what students had learned, send trained researchers to give the students surveys (both those who were taught the curriculum and those who were the control groups) and compile the data and then use the data to improve the curriculum if needed.

As you can imagine this is not a cheap process, there were probably at least 4 or 5 full time people working on this for several years, this investment will be pennies per student once it is amortized across years of using it with thousands of students, but the up front initial costs are what that $800,000 paid for.

I didn't teach the curriculum, but my health class was one of the control groups, so I know something about what went into making it all happen.

Carol

edited to fix a minor spelling mistake

[Guest]

Imagine the cost to society of ONE unplanned teen pregnancy.

Generally, the girl who becomes Mom will drop out of school. And generally, a teen boy is not going to share is lawn mowing allowance with anybody!

And guess what?

We have not even started to discuss the baby yet!

Imagine one of those teen moms having a "distressed pregnancy" as AOL's buffoon Chairman recently said.

And all at the hands of a "lack of education" verses a "complete and total education." Graphic and all!

[unknownjulie]

My son was given 2 ten dollar gift cards to participate in the long range survey. (if I remember right). It's a regular teacher that teaches the class, not a health professional (if I also remember that right).

[Delta9r]

Isn't it the responsibility of the parent to teach their offspring the accepted morals of their communities?
I know that when I had sex ed classes in the early 1970's (6th grade?) that I already knew what was being taught in the class.
I had already been given the "birds & the bees" talk, knew about contraception and prophylactics, as well as the consequences of unprotected sexual activity.

What's next, reversible sterilization at birth, to be restored upon successfully demonstrating the wherewithal to properly raise and nurture a child?

"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."

[csgray]

Delta9r,
See comments farther back in this thread about the difference between what parents "ought" to do and what many of them really do. I'm not going to bother to repeat what has already been stated, except to say that for many kids there is a huge gulf between the two.

Julie,
You are right, the regular classroom health teacher is trained in the curriculum and then delivers it, other schools not participating in this curriculum bring in outside speakers from places like the Bay clinic.

Carol

[Guest]

quote:

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Originally posted by Delta9r

What's next, reversible sterilization at birth, to be restored upon successfully demonstrating the wherewithal to properly raise and nurture a child?

"Life is labor, and all that is good in life comes from that labor..."

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At what point ever can two - 15 year old stupid sexually uneducated hormone crazed teenagers ever become parents who can demonstrate any wherewithal to properly raise and nurture a child?