As teen pregnancy rate rises, state grapples with sex education

SALT LAKE CITY — Melinda LeCheminant was shocked as she sat with her 10-year-old daughter and watched the fifth-grade sex education presentation at Layton Elementary School recently.

Like other parents, LeCheminant had taken the school up on the offer to accompany her daughter to the presentation — officially known as the maturation program — during the day in the school's library. She couldn't believe what she saw.

"The slides came up, and literally, there was an 'oh' throughout the whole room," LeCheminant said. "I would have just liked an opportunity to know what she was going to see."

LeCheminant said if she would have known the presentation for the girls included showing a diagram of the male sex organs — and how it all works — she wouldn't have allowed her daughter to be there.

"If I would have known, I would have prepared my daughter for that or I would have opted her out since I feel, at this age, for my daughter, it's inappropriate — more information than she needs right now," LeCheminant said.

Whether it's the maturation lesson for younger students or sex education at the high school level, keeping all parents comfortable while giving children the straight facts may be an impossible task for Utah's education officials.

"People have widely divergent views about sex and sexuality," said Annabel Sheinberg, education director for Planned Parenthood of Utah.

As Utah's teen pregnancy rate continues to creep skyward, the key to prevention may be education — but how to get the message across in Utah schools is a continuous journey for education leaders.

The State Office of Education is working to produce a PowerPoint sex education presentation. It is something teachers can show to high school students and feel comfortable knowing all the information has been approved by state officials.

An ongoing complaint from students, parents and lawmakers is that teachers in Utah are afraid of being accused of advocating sex so they are therefore erring on the side of caution by eliminating important information. The State Office presentation is intended to rectify this situation.

Meanwhile, the teen pregnancy rate continues to rise in Utah, increasing gradually since 2004, according to the Utah Department of Health.

In 2004, Utah's pregnancy rate was 35.8 per 1,000 females, ages 15 to 19. In 2008, the number was 39.8.