Berkeley County School District adds abstinence curriculum option for sex education

After unanimously passing a second reading by the Berkeley County Board of Education at the end of March, Heritage Keepers Abstinence Education, a new reproductive health education curriculum, has been added to the list of options for schools in the district to choose from.

As is required by South Carolina state law, each high school must offer 750 minutes of sex education to every student, explained Tammy Bryant, a representative for Heritage Community Services, the organization behind Heritage Keepers. If a principal was to decide to implement this program, which counts for 450 minutes, parents would be able to decide if they wanted their students to take part.

“If a principal decides to add this as one of the options, it requires that parents be notified any time sex education is taught,” said Bryant. “Letters will get sent home from the school district and parents have the option to have their child opt out.”

Although the motion to add the curricula was approved, Heritage Keepers is currently in the process of finding funding, added Bryant. Because sex education is an unfunded but required state mandate, districts oftentimes have to find funding themselves.

“My organization is called Heritage Community Services and we are in the process of trying to apply for grants so that it wouldn’t cost the district or schools anything,” said Bryant. “We’re looking for those grant opportunities and once we find one, we will work with the district to see if we can make it work.”

According to Bryant, the curriculum for the program is very thorough, covering topics ranging from sexual abuse, reproductive systems, STDs, refraining from sexual activity and risky behaviors, setting boundaries, building relationships, setting goals and more. Also notable, Heritage Keepers is the only “A-H consistent abstinence-outside-of-marriage program in the nation that meets the federal criteria for being listed by the US Department of Health and Human Services as one of 44 evidence-based (proven-effective) teen pregnancy prevention programs,” their website states.

“It’s a really big deal that it is proven effective,” said Bryant. “That’s one of the things that Berkeley County looked at. They want to make sure that if they are going to be using valuable class time, that it should be for something that is effective. They chose our program because it is proven effective to work with adolescents. It was proven effective in SC. We know it will work.”

Resident, mother and Philip Simmons Middle School PTA President Lisa Kerns, who has been in support of the curriculum since it first was presented to the board, echoed Bryant’s remarks.

“The reason I got involved with this was because I truly support this program because it is proven effective,” said Kerns. “It’s a message that every child and every student can benefit from…”

Although the curriculum unanimously passed through the appointed Health Education Advisory Committee and Berkeley County School Board of Education, some parents with children who attend schools throughout the district felt that they were left out of the loop during the process.

Mom and Philip Simmons Elementary School PTA President Jackie Clarke, who has knowledge in public health education, reported that she heard about the policy via other parents on social media.

“Since hearing via other parents via social media that this was being presented I have reached out to the policy makers only to find that Abstinence Only is a done deal and this is what we have,” said Clarke. “…I had no prior knowledge of this policy being formally up for review and would have like to have been involved in the conversation. I am an invested parent that actually has training in this field, both at a BS degree in Public Health Education as well as a MPH from Emory with training through experts in the field alongside the CDC in this very matter.”

“Abstinence only programs are consistently ineffective as proven though rigorous research and in fact show no positive health indicators, but rather have an increased rate of risk factors,” said Clarke. “But the most concerning by-products of the abstinence only programs are the fact that they teach fear, shame and distort facts and even blend religious and science to muddle the information…Kids do not respond to the abstinence approach in our Google-friendly world, and if we don’t teach them fact, Google and their best and various friends will.”

While seemingly opposed to an abstinence-only curriculum, Clarke emphasized that she is not against such topics being taught, just to it being taught in the classroom.

“I’m not opposed to Abstinence Only programming and think it is very effective in the right milieu,” said Clarke. “I think it is unfair to ask our school system to be responsible for this programming and it would be completely supported and endorsed with the right skilled and theologically trained staff. I am a spiritual person and plan on using my faith community to enforce some of these very ideals in an effective way with my kids and help them to navigate healthy relationships.”

To read more about Heritage Keepers or to view their various curricula, visit http://www.heritageservices.org/curriculum/.