Sex Survey in School

Continuing on the "schools suck" theme...

I keep posting examples of how the education system and those running it have been engaged in bad judgement, poor service and a host of other issues. The responses tend to claim that each example is an isolated incident and not indicitive of the broken education system (protected by the teacher's union).

Here is another example.

"What do you think caused your heterosexuality?"

"If you have never slept with someone of your same gender, then how do you know you wouldn't prefer it?"

Questions from an underground sex survey from the 1950s? Try from last month. School administrators at Port Washington High School in Port Washington, Wisconsin, have promised to take action after angry parents complained about a "Heterosexual Questionnaire" that was approved by two teachers and distributed to hundreds of students in an attempt to give them a sense of how gay/lesbian students feel, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

About 400 of the school's 930 students received the survey on April 25, the day before the national Day of Silence, an annual event co-sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (see "Day Of Silence Staged To Combat Gay-Student Discrimination"). They were told to submit written answers to the survey and discuss it in class.

The 10-question survey included queries such as "Your heterosexuality doesn't offend me as long as you don't try to come on to me, but why do so many heterosexuals try to seduce others to their orientation?," "Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex?," and "Considering the battering, abuse and divorce rate associated with heterosexual coupling, why would you want to enter into that kind of relationship?" It was distributed by a student organization and was used in a full-class-period discussion, according to the paper, which said the school's principal, Duane Woelfel, did not approve its distribution.

I understand what the purpose of the survey was. It was to substitute "heterosexual" with "homosexual" in some (insipid) questions. The lesson, I'm certain, was to demonstrate how stupid the questions are.

The problem is not the hetero vs homo. The problem is that this survey (regardless of "heterosexual" or "homosexual" being used) is not appropriate in the high school. The teachers that approved this should be reprimanded.

Now, with that said I think the point of the questions is unnecessary. Why? Because the questions are not offensive (regardless of "hetero-" or "homo-"). The point of the questionnaire was to reverse the 'oppressive nature' of these questions. But they are not offensive. There is nothing hateful about these questions. They are not bigotted. So the need to reverse them is not there.

The questions are not offensive, but they are inappropriate to in the schools. Those teachers need to be disciplined.