Survey's Sexuality Questions Anger Elementary Parents

By Darcia Harris Bowman

A survey given to a handful of students at a California elementary school has prompted angry protests from parents who learned the poll included several probing questions about sexuality.

In a 54-question "Trauma Symptom List for Children," four 3rd graders and five 5th graders at the 1,000-student Mesquite Elementary School in Palmdale were asked last month if they were "thinking about having sex," "touching my private parts too much," and "thinking about touching other people's private parts."

In all, nine of the survey questions asked about sex. Pupils answered the questions with "never," "sometimes," "lots of times," or "almost...