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Court says parents not sole providers of kids' sex education

A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit by elementary school parents who were outraged that the Palmdale School District had surveyed students about sex.

While the surveys asked students how often they thought about sex, among other questions, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that parents of public school children have no "fundamental right" to be the exclusive provider of sexual information to their children.

The parents maintained they had the sole right "to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex."

The plaintiffs had sought unspecified monetary damages.

In upholding a lower court that had also ruled against the parents, a three-judge panel of the appeals court here dismissed the case, ruling unanimously that "parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on that subject to their students in any forum or manner they select."

Judge Stephen Reinhardt, writing for the San Francisco-based panel, added that "no such specific right can be found in the deep roots of the nation's history and tradition or implied in the concept of ordered liberty."

The appellate panel noted that other courts have upheld similar issues, including mandatory health classes, a school district's condom distribution program and a district's compulsory sex education program.

An attorney for the parents, Erik Gunderson, said he was exploring appellate options. The district's attorney, Dennis Walsh, said the survey was not to sexually exploit children but instead was part of a legitimate program to help students.

The district, located in Los Angeles County, had dropped the survey in 2002 amid complaints from parents. The poll was given to children in the first, third and fifth grades.

It was part of a program to gauge exposure to early trauma and to assist in designing a program for children to overcome barriers to learning, according to the district.

Parents whose students took the survey signed consent forms, however the forms never mentioned sex would be a topic. Questions the children answered included whether they thought about having sex, thought about touching other people's "private parts" and whether they could "stop thinking about having sex."

The case is Fields v. Palmdale School District, 03-56499.

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Again the courts are taking parents rights from them.