Jonathan Zimmerman: Sex Ed in New York’s Schools? Fine, but Respect Religious Parents Who Want to Opt Out

Zimmerman teaches history at NYU. He is the author of Small Wonder: The Little Red Schoolhouse in History and Memory.

Suppose someone comes up to you on the street and says we should require prayer in the public schools. “Kids aren’t getting religion at home anymore,” he explains, “so schools need to teach it.”

If you’re a liberal New Yorker, like I am, you may tell him to be fruitful and multiply — but in less gentle words. Religion is a private matter, you’ll say, and he has no business trying to impose his beliefs on others.

But when it comes to sex education, liberals seem to think such compulsion is perfectly fine, because, the logic goes, lessons on condoms and the like make kids act in more responsible ways. Alas, there is no definite proof of that. So we need to show much more solicitude toward parents who oppose it.

Witness the current kerfuffle in New York, where public schools are requiring sex education for the first time in nearly two decades. Starting this fall, schools must teach the subject in sixth or seventh grade and again in ninth or 10th grade.

There’s no mandatory curriculum, but officials suggest that schools use HealthSmart and Reducing the Risk. These programs aim to delay the initiation of sexual intercourse and increase contraceptive use among teens who choose to engage in it.

It’s the latter goal, especially, that has angered some parents. They hear a mixed message: Put off sex, but put on a condom if you have it. And it violates their most deeply held beliefs, every bit as much as a required prayer might violSex ate yours....