Curriculum A State Capitals Roundup

Researcher’s Report Faults Ohio Abstinence Lessons

By Christina A. Samuels — June 14, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Ohio’s abstinence-until-marriage curricula taught in Ohio contain medically inaccurate and misleading information, asserts a new report by a public-health researcher at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Dr. Scott H. Frank, the director of the division of public health for the university, writes in the report that the programs “are required to teach that sexual activity before marriage is likely to cause psychological and physical harm.” He adds, “There’s just no question that it’s not medically accurate to say that sex outside of marriage is likely to lead to physical harm.”

The programs are also required to teach that sex within the bonds of marriage is the expected standard, which ignores teenagers who are sexually active, Dr. Frank said.

The Ohio Department of Health oversees the programs and plans to launch its own study of them this fall, said Valerie Hubert, the manager of abstinence education for the agency, who disputes Dr. Frank’s conclusions.

Related Tags:

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Teaching Webinar
Empowering Students Using Computational Thinking Skills
Empower your students with computational thinking. Learn how to integrate these skills into your teaching and boost student engagement.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
IT Infrastructure & Management Webinar
The Reality of Change: How Embracing and Planning for Change Can Shape Your Edtech Strategy
Promethean edtech experts delve into the reality of tech change and explore how embracing and planning for it can be your most powerful strategy for maximizing ROI.
Content provided by Promethean
Reading & Literacy K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction Across Content Disciplines
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts implementing innovative strategies in reading across different subjects.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Curriculum Inside the Effort to Shed Light on Districts' Curriculum Choices
Few states make the information easily searchable.
4 min read
Image of a U.S. map with conceptual data points.
iStock/Getty
Curriculum Texas Students May Soon Be Reading Bible Stories in English Classes
The state has advanced a controversial curriculum that includes Christian teachings in K-5 lessons.
5 min read
A Texas flag is displayed in an elementary school in Murphy, Texas, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020.
A Texas flag is displayed in an elementary school in Murphy, Texas, in 2020.
LM Otero/AP
Curriculum Holy Excrement! How Poop and Other Kid Fascinations Can Ignite a Passion for STEM
Here's how teachers can incorporate students' existing interests into the curriculum.
6 min read
STEM
Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
Curriculum Opinion There’s a Better Way to Teach Digital Citizenship
Many popular resources for digital-citizenship education only focus on good online behavior. That’s a problem.
Alexandra Thrall & T. Philip Nichols
5 min read
digital citizenship computer phone 1271520062
solarseven/iStock/Getty