The group at the center of the controversy surrounding a graphic sex-education presentation at Kahuku High & Intermediate School accepts blame for the strong negative reaction there but hopes the importance of the message won't be lost.

Emmanuel Kintu, executive director for the Kalihi-Palama Health Center, said its play "It Can Happen to You" was created about 10 years ago to help educate teens about AIDS and the risks associated with sex.

"We're still grappling with the whole AIDS epidemic," Kintu said. "It's still here today, so we can't relax."

Earlier this month, several Kahuku parents expressed outrage over a sex-education skit that was supposed to teach students about reducing teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs. The skit included the use of dildos and condom demonstrations.

Kintu said graphic material, especially the condom demonstration, can be eliminated from a presentation upon request. He said that several cautionary steps usually taken to prevent that kind of reaction from Kahuku parents were not taken.

"The day the play was performed at Kahuku, it was (also) performed at a parochial school," Kintu said. "At the parochial school, the responses of the people who watched it were very good."

The graphic segment about how to use a condom was left out of the play at the parochial school, he said.

At Kahuku, the play coordinator didn't fully explain to school officials about the segment demonstrating condoms. The school requested the play based on a recommendation from someone outside the school and trusted that person's judgment, Kintu said.

"On our part as the folks who sponsored the play, we failed to really disclose the content of the play effectively enough to give the school officials the information they needed to make an appropriate decision," he said.

The health center is taking steps to keep the problem from happening again, including presenting the information to all district superintendents, Kintu said.

Every year, thousands of public school students in Hawai'i hear sex-education presentations from outside groups that come into their gymnasiums and classrooms. The programs have been around for years, and are considered important to help prevent teen pregnancy and educate students about such issues as HIV and AIDS.

The need is evident, experts say, with Hawai'i having the sixth-highest rate nationally of chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted disease, and the 12th-highest rate of teen pregnancy.

PARENTS APPALLED

Typically, these presentations pass with little notice among parents. But complaints that followed the presentation at Kahuku High & Intermediate School and another at Kalani High School this month have focused new attention on the programs, especially the use of sex toys, demonstrations about how to use male and female condoms and discussions of oral sex.

The state's Board of Education requires public schools to follow an abstinence-based education policy, promoting it in health classes as the "surest and most responsible way" to prevent unintended pregnancy, STDs and emotional distress. However, the schools also are expected to teach other forms of protection from the fifth grade on.

Parents at both schools said the presentations in question went too far and were too graphic, including demonstrating on a fake penis how to use a condom.

"I think sex education should be what it was when I went to school and that's more anatomical, talking about the physical anatomy of the man ... and woman," said John Iervolino, a Kalani High School parent who attended a sexual diversity class with his son at the school. "If they want to leave out the part that a man should only be with a woman ... I'd be willing to leave that out."

Iervolino was appalled to hear a presenter talk at Kalani about finger sex as a means to avoid contracting diseases and give a demonstration on how to put a condom on using a dildo.

The Life Foundation is one of two groups that participated in the presentation at Kalani.

"We don't use dildos; we don't use condoms demonstrations," said Melanie Moore, communication director for the foundation, which works to stop the spread of HIV and helps people afflicted with it and AIDS. "It's very age-appropriate and we're just a little worried that this press might make parents afraid to send their kids to our HIV 101 education, which is alarming because more than half of the new HIV infections do occur in people under the age of 25."

Moore urged concerned parents to call the foundation for information.

The state Department of Education maintains oversight of such programs, but teachers and principals are ultimately responsible for reviewing all content of presentations coming into the schools, said Pat Hamamoto, DOE superintendent. Parents also must be given the option to excuse their students from any presentation.

The DOE works with several groups that provide information on an array of subjects, Hamamoto said, but the DOE doesn't promote, support or endorse any of them.

"We work with certain groups more often, so we know of them," Hamamoto said. "We wouldn't recommend (a group) but we would say this is a list of people who we know have good stuff."

PREVENTIVE STEPS TAKEN

Kahuku and Kalani high school principals said they have taken steps to prevent students from viewing the objectionable material.

The DOE provides healthy-sexuality training for its teachers and, if requested, will review a presentation for content to be sure it meets the standards and is age-appropriate, said Dave Randall, education specialist for coordinated school health.

The state Department of Health funds some of the school programs, including the Kalihi-Palama play, and it reviews all material for accuracy and age-appropriateness for the programs it funds, said Loretta Fuddy, family health division chief.

Increased funding of sex-education programs and abstinence-based education has led to a reduction in teen pregnancy, but Hawai'i still has a high rate of pregnancies, Fuddy said.

School is a safe place for kids to receive sex education, she said. "That way we have some control over the information because other than that it's word of mouth."

The importance of education can't be understated, said Peter Whiticar, chief for the Health Department's STD and AIDS prevention branch. Chlamydia, which he calls a young people's disease, is gaining in the Islands. The problem with the disease is it sometimes has no symptoms and, if left unchecked, could result in infertility in women, Whiticar said.

"When you have sexually transmitted disease and you come in contact with HIV, the chances of getting HIV are greater," he said.

Randall said the DOE has received data from the Health Department that say compared to the rest of the nation, fewer Hawai'i teenagers are reporting that they are sexually active.

"But we also know that of our students who are sexually active, very few use any kind of protection, which speaks to the reason why we have such high teen pregnancy rates and high sexually transmitted disease rates in our state," he said.

"Even though we don't have a lot of kids who are initiating sexual activity, the ones that do aren't doing it safely. Maybe there's a place for more education there."