The requirements of this code, outlined below, set the stage for balanced instruction and healthy decision making:
Age-Appropriate InformationNon-Judgment and Non-Bias
Medically Accurate, Objective Facts
Inclusive, Accessible Instruction
Support for Communication with Parents and Guardians
Respect for Marriage and Committed Relationships
Age-Appropriate Information
All the information we present to students is age-appropriate according to the guidelines of both Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the Sexuality Information Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). These guidelines cover the teaching of puberty, sexuality, sexual abuse, relationships, and sexual decision making. We take students’ ages and maturity into account, as well as their levels of understanding, previous sex ed, and personal experience.Non-Judgment and Non-Bias
All workshops are facilitated in a way that promotes respect for diversity, tolerance, and the values of youth and their families. Our educators refrain from making judgments or allowing bias, and they disallow judgments and bias to be made by workshop participants. These values are held up in the classroom at all times: respect for all human beings, respect for the diversity of experience, and support for all individuals to make healthy choices for themselves.
Medically Accurate, Objective Facts
All our resources and information about anatomy, physiology, pregnancy, human development, and pubertal changes are objective and medically accurate. We follow the latest research from these and other respected organizations:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- ETR
- Rutgers
- SIECUS
- HIV/STD Training Center
- Center for Health Training
- Advocates for Youth
- PPFA
Inclusive, Accessible Instruction
- Gender: We avoid gender stereotyping or bias, discuss gender roles in society, use gender-neutral language, and include people born intersex.
- Sexual Orientation: We make no assumption about students’ sexual orientation; describe heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual identities; and include all families and ways in which people start families.
- Culture, Ethnicity, and Language: Our educators understand and respect the different attitudes, practices, and beliefs that shape sexual and reproductive behaviors in the Bay Area’s many cultures. We have both linguistic and cultural competence to deal with these differences in the classroom. We ask school administrators about the needs of English language learners, provide translated handouts and information, and request translators, when needed.
- Physical, Developmental, and Cognitive Abilities: We ask school administrators about students’ needs and provide activities and information that meet learners at their levels. Special curricula serve developmentally disabled youth. We especially emphasize communication, boundary setting, and support for learners who are disabled or challenged since they may be at higher risk for sexual abuse, coercion, or misinformation.
Support for Communication with Parents and Guardians
Throughout our workshops, we encourage youth to communicate with parents, guardians, and trusted adults to get answers and learn important values related to bodies, boundaries, sexuality, and decision making. We ask students to brainstorm about the adults in their lives with whom they can discuss these topics. We also help students strategize ways to start conversations or ask questions.
Respect for Marriage and Committed Relationships
Our discussions of pregnancy and families always include language that shows respect for committed relationships and marriage. Students reach the understanding that causing a pregnancy and starting a family are large responsibilities. We emphasize the benefits of having a partner’s support and commitment to help carry the weight of responsibility as well as offer love and care to the family.
Also in compliance with EC 51933, our instruction and materials:
- do not teach or promote religious doctrine.
- do not reflect or promote bias against any person on the basis of any category protected by California Education Code Section 220 (disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic contained in the definition of hate crimes).
