STUDENTS COMPLETE 1ST YEAR OF SEX ED

Every student at Schultz School last year got to use a new book, "Me, My World, My Future." They learned about self-worth, communication and human sexuality.

It was the first year seventh-graders in Cape Girardeau public schools talked about intercourse, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy in a classroom setting. Before, health classes only covered the physical changes of adolescence.

There were some giggles and blushes, teachers said, but most children paid close attention. They are different from generations past in that many of them already are sexually active, and STDs and teen pregnancy are very real dangers to them.

A year ago this month the Board of Education voted to go with abstinence-based sexual education in schools, and it was to begin in seventh grade. The new curriculum also added another health course, including sex education, to be completed during high school.

School officials say it is too early to determine any results. The latest statistics on teen pregnancy in Cape Girardeau County are from 1993, when three girls under 15, 29 girls ages 15-17 and 75 girls ages 18 and 19 were pregnant. It was about average with state levels.

"We have not made an impact in decreasing teen pregnancy," said Charlotte Craig, director of the Cape County Health Department. "The numbers have been fairly consistent."

School board members hoped the abstinence-based education would cause a change. Dr. James Fletcher, a member of a school-board-appointed committee that made the recommendation, pointed to statistics showing safe-sex education wasn't successful.

He said two schools who used the "Me, My World, My Future" program saw dramatic drops in teen pregnancy one or two years after initiating it.

Fletcher also said that sex education is best done at home, but many times isn't in this day and age.

School nurse Linda Goodwin, who works at Schultz and Central junior and senior high schools, agreed with the doctor. In her 10 years at Schultz, she has known two pregnant seventh-graders. The average child at Schultz is 12.

"I'm sure we have kids here who are very sexually active," Goodwin said. "And they are definitely not able to handle a lasting relationship. There is more to it than just the sex act; there are a lot of emotional, physical and all kinds of considerations."

But even now, sex education teachers at Schultz are ready to claim a limited amount of success. They ran into some difficulty getting the material covered since health class meets every other day and there was only a semester to get "Me, My World, My Future" and another book covered.

Physical-education teacher Mark Springer was one of three instructors at Schultz who handled health instruction. A teacher with the school system for 33 years, Springer said the time has come for sex education in Cape Girardeau's schools.

"Kids don't think anything bad is going to happen to them," Springer said. "If we can get it together, I think things should change. Most of the kids took sex ed seriously this year, and we got some questions answered."