Sex ed rules

A Fresno Superior Court judge recently ruled that abstinence-only sex education in schools violates California law and that providing comprehensive sex ed is an important public right.

Judge Donald Black's ruling, which was a victory for the parents of Clovis Unified School District students, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, ends a protracted legal battle over whether the district's sex ed curriculum complied with the 2004 Comprehensive Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention Education law, according to The Fresno Bee. The law requires that middle and high schools teach students how to prevent HIV/AIDS, and if they choose to provide additional sexual health information, it must be age-appropriate, unbiased, medically accurate information about abstinence, sexually transmitted infections and contraception.

The plaintiffs claimed that the district used inaccurate and biased educational videos, engaged outside agencies that presented outdated information, and adopted textbooks that failed to mention condoms and other contraception.