St. Eleanors, PEI. At its recent annual meeting here, the PEI Federation of Home and School Associations called for AIDS education programs to emphasize abstinence as the only authentic protection, and to promote high moral standards and positive ideals for young people.

 

The meeting resolved to challenge Health and Welfare Canada (which is heavily involved in producing and disseminating AIDS education materials), to produce more accurate, less ambivalent material.

 

Parent Power

 

It all came about because a small group of committed parents, whose children attend Charlottetown Rural High School, became well informed, expressed their views and demanded change.

 

A year ago there was no Home and School at ‘The Rural’. Parents had to form one.

 

The first president was Catherine Mullally, mother of six, high articulate, a part time instructor at the University of Prince Edward Island. Long a fighter for parents’ rights, Mrs. Mullally felt that the sex education battle in this province had been virtually lost and it was time to focus on other areas of education.

 

Subsequent developments were something of surprise.

 

In early fall, at the principal’s request, the committee previewed two new AIDS videos: AIDS & Youth: A Documentary for Parents, prepared by Health and Welfare Canada and promoted by the national Federation of Home and School Associations and Live!. a program for youth promoted by the national Association of the Principals.

 

Both stress the ‘safe sex’ approach to AIDS prevention by means of condoms.

 

Finding them highly objectionable, the committee immediately sought alternatives. The full 15-member Executive also found AIDS & Youth offensive, but endorsed an alternative video, AIDS: Learn and Live, which stresses abstinence.

 

Strong letter were written to the Minister of Education, and to the President of the provincial Federation of Home and Schools.

 

Home and School resolutions

 

Federation leaders were nonplussed. They had previously endorsed AIDS & Youth, and had distributed it to all schools in the province. They had even contracted an employee to assist with promotion.

 

During the following weeks, the Executive of ‘The Rural’ Home and School began educating neighbouring Associates, feeding them materials, airing concerns, and generally raising awareness of problem areas.

 

They frequently encountered the objection ‘but this is information for the parents, not the children’. Regarding it more as a desensitizing and softening up process, Mrs. Mullally would reply, “Parents should be given the whole truth. These Materials do not do that.”

 

When the time came, the Charlottetown Rural submitted five resolutions to the provincial annual general meeting (AGM). Each dealt with and aspect of their concerns about the AIDS & Youth video that had been endorsed and disseminated by both the national and provincial Federations.

 

Carefully prepared

 

On April 27, five carefully prepared Charlottetown Rural delegates attended the provincial AGM. Their arguments were documented and timed to conform to the strict limits on presentations.

 

The first resolutions argued that the point of view in the Home and School-endorsed video ran counter to the province’s own guiding principles for Family Life Education. Furthermore, because it exaggerated the protection offered by condoms, it was unsuitable for public health education. They called on the Federation to dissociate itself from both ‘safe sex’ and ‘safer sex’ programs.

 

Both resolutions were defeated – probably because promotion of this video had been encouraged by the National Federation, and because many of the other delegates had been directly involved in that promotion.

 

“Still, each time we argued for a resolution, we gave the listeners additional important information. And the increasing number of abstentions indicated the increasing impact on the listeners,” says Mrs. Mullally.

 

First victory

 

Strong support for ‘The Rural’s’ third resolution came from a former Provincial President, Marion Murphy (now an MLA). She urged delegates to consider carefully the message they would give by negative vote. As a result, the meeting supported the resolution that all AIDS education programs give the greatest time and emphasis to abstinence as the only authentic protection against AIDs. (emphasis added)

 

It was then easier to win approval of the next resolution. It acknowledged and affirmed the ability of young people to exercise self-control and called on educators to promote high moral standards and positive ideals for young people.

 

The final resolution called on Health and Welfare Canada to produce and distribute clear, factual AIDS material that provides positive guidance rather than emphasizing a child’s freedom to choose. It was accepted on a 53-0 vote.

 

Though not fully satisfied the delegates from CRHS were pleased to have accomplished so much, especially in their first season.

 

“We didn’t establish our Home and School chapter for this specific purpose, but to address the problem of extreme over-crowding. But when the opportunity came along, we were happy to be able to alert the parents to the myths and misinformation that are being disseminated, and to demonstrate, that parents to need not buckle under or go with the flow,” Mrs. Mullally observed.

 

Parents can regain control

 

She feels this experience demonstrates that active involvement in Home and School or PTA is one of the ways parents can regain or maintain some control of education.

 

Charlottetown Rural Home and School will sponsor a public meeting in the near future to enable more parents and other interested persons to view both the offensive and their suggested alternative.

 

A panel, including a doctor and the province’s coordinator of the Family Life Education program, will comment on the two approaches to controlling AIDS: ‘safer sex’ vs. abstinence. It will be chaired by Wayne Collins, host of the local CBC Radio morning show, whose children attend ‘The Rural’,

 

The Canadian Federation of Home and School Associations will hold is AGM in Charlottetown May 28 to June 2. One feature of the national meeting a workshop on AIDS. Charlottetown Rural will send parents to this workshop express their concerns about the ‘safe sex’ approach. They also hope to raise questions about the role of Health and Welfare Canada in providing this type of material.