Extry, Extry, CRC Likes Video

I guess this is the man-bites-dog of the sex-ed world. From The Post:

The Montgomery County public school system's new condom video is getting positive reviews from some unexpected quarters.

Members of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, one of two groups that sued to block the original condom video from being shown to 10th-graders in Maryland's largest school system, say they are pleased with a new version that they think takes a more "clinical approach" to condom instruction.

The Montgomery County public school system's new condom video is getting positive reviews from some unexpected quarters.

Members of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, one of two groups that sued to block the original condom video from being shown to 10th-graders in Maryland's largest school system, say they are pleased with a new version that they think takes a more "clinical approach" to condom instruction. Foe of Condom Video Praises Revision: Group Sued Montgomery

This word "clinical." I'm hearing that to describe the new video. Is that a good thing?

I understand that they don't want to glamorize teen sex, nobody wants to promote it or encourage it. But is that the reason for the video? -- to "not promote" something?

"You don't have a cute little blonde and a cucumber," said Michelle Turner, president of CRC. "It's not MTV. It's very factual and clinical. There are no frills or fluff."

So we are understanding that CRC likes what's not in the video. No blonde, no vegetables, no MTV, no frills, no fluff.

I think when she says it's "very factual" she means something like, there is "nothing but facts" in it. Not that there are "a lot of facts" in it, which, I admit, I would prefer.

In the original eight-minute video, a blond female health education teacher spoke about proper condom use, then used a cucumber to demonstrate the correct way to put on a prophylactic.

In the new version, a wooden penis replaces the vegetable. Only a pair of hands is shown putting the condom on it, and an off-screen narrator describes the details. In both versions of the video, the narrator emphasizes that abstinence is the most effective way to avoid pregnancy and the contraction of a sexually transmitted disease.

Off-screen narrator. Hmm, funny, I assumed the guy whose hands you saw was talking. I guess it doesn't need to be.

And ... a little correction here. He does not say "abstinence is the most effective way to avoid" risks, he says it's "the only way."

And that's wrong.

Yes, she called me, too:

"It's very impersonal," said Jim Kennedy, a member of the citizens advisory committee working with the school system on the curriculum rewrite. "This is a starting point. I'm sure the committee may want to make some changes."

(Do I talk like that? Do I say "I'm sure" about things that "may" happen? Well, I guess I do sometimes.)(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

Here's how the school district is seeing it:

The previous video was "more of an entertainment style," said Betsy Brown, director of the school system's department of curriculum and instruction. The new video "is about life-and-death matters, and the tone is very much how a health practitioner might approach this."

OK, that explains the "clinical" style. They were trying to make it sound like a doctor. Or, at least, like a doctor with his head cut off. Or a doctor with a PowerPoint slide show. Or a mortician, maybe... OK, I'll quit.

The proposed video, part of a 45-minute lesson, comes with a 37-page guide -- essentially a script -- to what teachers should tell students and includes worksheets for students. A draft of the lesson plan includes this statement in bold type: "Under no circumstances are teachers permitted to bring in or use resources other than those provided for this lesson." And it says, "This lesson is scripted and should be read and followed in its entirety."

I don't know how good I feel about that. Montgomery County has some really good teachers, it seems like a shame to make them read a script for this. What does that tell the kids? The teacher's scared to speak honestly? The school district's scared to let her?

Brian Edwards, spokesman for the Montgomery school system, said board members are scheduled to vote on the new materials in January. The three 45-minute lessons, part of a semester-long health education class, will then be used as a pilot program in a limited number of middle and high schools. Depending on the outcome of the pilot effort, the board would make a final decision about the curriculum in June.

And there you have the plan. We all hope it moves along at a good clip.