Illinois Sex-Ed or 'Porn 101?'
How Much Information is too Much Information?
With students rallying outside and parents debating within, a Suburban Chicago school board decided to remove a teacher whose sex-ed class was a little too spicy for some members of the community to stomach.
It all began last week, when Scott Groff, a second-year health instructor at Wolcott School in Thornton Illinois, gave his 8th-graders "sexually explicit" question and answer sheets downloaded from a British charity that fights HIV and AIDS. These salacious study aides included information about how to masturbate, find the g-spot and perform oral sex, along with vivid descriptions and helpful tips which students then read aloud.
Not surprisingly, this level of "in-depth" tutelage aroused anger among some parents who began to complain. As one mother adroitly pointed out, "[t]his is not Porn 101. This is school." Another father called the incident "gross negligence," claiming it "opened a Pandora's box, for parents" (presumably referring to the Greek myth).
In response, administrators issued a resounding condemnation of Groff's judgment, canceling all sex-ed studies and even "offering counseling" to parents and students who may have been traumatized by the handout. In the meantime, Mr. Groff, who was characterized in Tuesday night's packed meeting as a promising teacher who made a serious mistake, will be placed on paid leave, and his contract will not be renewed.
Though this outcome may come as a relief to some, Walcott now finds itself in the unique situation of having neither a teacher nor a curriculum with which to educate their adolescent pupils about the most fundamental function of life. Would it be accurate to infer from this that the school board believes it is safer to have no sex-ed then to have too much sex-ed? If not, administrators now must answer the same daunting question as young couples hooking up for the first time: How far should we go?
On one hand, some might argue that 8th-graders are too young to learn anything more than abstinence, AIDS and human development. Others might think America would be a lot happier if we started studying the intimate intricacies of sexual relations at a young age rather than spending a lifetime trying to figure them out (not to mention a mint on sex therapists). Clearly it is a complex issue, eliciting more opinions than positions in the Kama Sutra; therefore, I put it forward to you, the reader: What, if any, is the appropriate way for schools to educate 13 and 14-year-olds about sex? And please, try to keep your answers clean. If not for my sake, then for that of the children.
By Emil Steiner | March 14, 2007; 11:18 AM ET | Category: OFF/beat Politics
Posted by: SoMD | March 14, 2007 10:28 AM
wow, definately sex ed should be reformulated. I disagree with the school board firing Mr. Groff. Students know about these things anyway and it cannot hurt to brush up on g-spotting.
Posted by: Kimmy | March 14, 2007 10:28 AM
How much more sex-scared can we make kids. God forbid kids learn about the clitoris. Sheesh.
Posted by: Andy Wibbels | March 14, 2007 10:56 AM
It could only help to know what a clitoris is and how to find it. For most guys that takes years of embarrassing failure and for most women years of embarassing frustration. Liberate the clit
Posted by: Erica Cooper | March 14, 2007 11:13 AM
If you idiots actually took the time to read what was on the handout you would be singing a different tune. There was detailed info about anal sex, and different disgusting positions. No 13 year old girl or boy should be forced to discuss anal lubricant during health class.
I feel embarrassed writing about it and I am an adult. The board did the right thing by removing Mr. Groff. In my opinion they would have been justified in charging him with a crime. What he did was boarderline child abuse.
Posted by: TP | March 14, 2007 11:53 AM
I love some of the parents who say this kind of stuff should be taught at home. HA! If you tried to teach your kids about how to french kiss you'd be locked up for child abuse.
What do people think? That kids are all virgins who fall in love one day marry and lose their virginity on the honeymoon in a perfectly fulfilling moment of conception and symultanious orgams? WAKE UP! That is fantasy.
Many people lead sadly unfulfilling sex lives because they are too afraid of their own bodies and were never taught about how to enjoy it. I wish there had been a Groff teaching me in 8th grade! College would have been a lot smoother.
Posted by: Kevin D. | March 14, 2007 12:23 PM
Since parents are the ones paying taxes they should have some say over the kids curriculum. It would be nice if they took such an active interest in other less salacious subjects like math, or history but they do have a right to control to some extent what their youngsters learn. Because of that if they agree clitorises (sp?) aren't appropriate then so be it.
Posted by: Truth Hunter | March 14, 2007 1:10 PM
i think he should be fired and fined $250,000.he should also never be able to teach ever again
Posted by: joe killens | March 14, 2007 1:41 PM
Give me a break! Anal sex for 8th graders!No one really wants that. There is a responsible way to teach the basics of sex ed without all the graphic stuff. Groff over stepped and is lucky he is not in jail.
Posted by: Peter W. | March 14, 2007 1:49 PM
So I guess you would like it better if our kids all became nuns and monks? Your wife must be really satisfied
Posted by: To Joe | March 14, 2007 2:21 PM
That was not very nice!
Posted by: Mod Squad | March 14, 2007 2:24 PM
After reading the hand-out which was so controversial, I must say that I really don't see this as grounds for a teachers dismissal. Should information pertaining to real-life questions which many or at least a sizable minority of the students have? I am not so much appalled as genuinely worried that so many seem to think that by maintaining a state of ignorance about sex and sexuality, that "the kids" will somehow be protected. The pamphlet provided age-appropriate information and a frank portrayal of imporatant topics, and to ban the teaching of safe and enjoyable sex practices puts many people at risk, psychologically and physically.
Posted by: Mike R. in CA | March 14, 2007 3:05 PM
This entire matter can be treated as a learning curve for all involved (parents, teachers and students). Mr Groff's decision to modify the curriculum was premature. It would have been more ethical for him to have consulted with both the school and parents before introducing this lession to the sexual education curriculum. Firing Mr Groff, fining him $250,000 and sending him to prison are absolutely unnecessary. Adolescents today require a sexual education curriculum that is balanced and informing. The scientific literature clearly shows that providing abstinence-only education does not work. Further, if you do not attempt to to teach adolescents about human sexuality within a controlled and supervised environment then they will seek the information elsewhere, which is likely to lead to a generartion of misinformed adolescents. Reinstate Mr Groff and work with him rather than against him. Our youth's positive sexual development depend on it.
Posted by: Kosta Tabakakis | March 14, 2007 3:07 PM
I say kids learn best on theyre with some guidance from theyre folks. There are some subjects which schools cant go and mess with like sex cause all parents got different standards
What teacher Gruff did went so far beyond the call of duty that he is lucky some dad didn't rough him up. YOu cant just talk dirty to a room full of young girls and expect people wont be agnry about it?
Posted by: Randy Clay | March 14, 2007 11:38 PM
What's the point of offering a comment if you disagree with this "curriculum"? In Montgomery County a group of my neighbors were outraged when they learned what their kids were being taught, but even petitions and teacher meeting didn't change a single thing. The Post demonstrates where it feels on this by casually mentioning that the class "was a little too spicy." Are we talking about a burrito -- or the heart and mind of a child? Let's focus on that word: "child". What kind of values are we coaching?
Posted by: Child Advocate | March 15, 2007 7:05 AM
These kids already have access to the internet... They will have more exposure to sexually explicit material than any prior generation of kids in history - and this is across the whole industrialized world. In this sex-saturated social environment, I can only applaud any effort to get good, concrete, explicit information into the hands of kids - stuff they can use to make choices. If the teachers don't do it, the pornographers will.
Porn is all about fantasy and transgression. We have to counter that with reality, and sticking our heads in the sand is not reality.
This teacher should be put in charge of sex-ed for the whole state!!
Posted by: Ummmm | March 15, 2007 8:56 PM
Thanks for your great site!
Posted by: sexy-babes | March 16, 2007 10:18 AM
Let's all get real here. These kids are 13-14 and in 8th grade. Information on masturbation and oral sex is absolutely age appropriate. Parents have a hard time realizing that their kids are sexual beings. They are already masturbating and chances are 14 year old Sandi, mentioned in another writeup of this story has already had oral sex or damn sure will this year.
Now it does sound like the handout was too advanced for this age group, with the g-spots and the lubricant, etc. But you had better hope your kids are getting basic information on safer sex practices like mutual masturbation and condom use when they start engaging in sexual behavior.
Posted by: Me | March 17, 2007 2:43 PM
From a teacher to parents...WAKE UP! Your children are not as innocent as you would like to believe.
Posted by: Pam | March 19, 2007 11:17 AM
You holy rollers are too much. Kids these days know way more than you give them credit for. Your hangups about sex are a big part of the reason we have the lowest birthrate in the industrialized world. It's you who should be ashamed of yourselves.
Posted by: Tommo | March 19, 2007 4:35 PM
Wow so I am 20 and I remember starting my little sexual explorations in the end of 6th grade, bad thing was I didnt know much about it and I ended up trying to masturbate with a empty top part of a glass bottle with a little oil because I heard you needed something called lube but it was as close as I could get. I also ended up getting frustraited that I had no real "alone time" so I did more in public restrooms. Had I been supplied with worksheets I would have been a lot cleaner and safer, and I had no idea what a condom was by the time I was offered to try sex the first time! luckily I just didnt like the guy enough to go for it. I think the anal stuff should be left out but still have a way for the kids to come upon the information on their own just because anal sex would have in a way made me upset in the 7th 8th grade too. I lost my virginity when I was 17 and after that I was wondering what the big flipping deal was. If a teenager chooses abstinence that is great for them to choose it but that does not mean the hormones will go away! You religous people gotta realize that the really freaky sexual kids I knew in school were the mormons and catholics that were "pure" and really sheltered! EDUCATED THEM!
Posted by: Resonable thinker | March 21, 2007 5:13 AM
Can anyone find the porn link on this page.
IF YOU ARE ON A COMPUTER AT WORK DO NOT CLICK ON SEXY-BABES POST/March 16, 2007 10:18 AM
WEBMASTER PLEASE REMOVE POST:
March 16, 2007 10:18 AM
Posted by: Attention to Detail is Key | March 22, 2007 11:28 AM
Posted by: love porn | March 23, 2007 6:28 PM
Posted by: hi hi | March 23, 2007 8:51 PM
Hey you agree that this teacher shouldnt have been fired and that he is doing the right thing..and yet Eminem has been preaching that fact for years in his songs "The REal Slim Shady" for example yet jsut because he has said this you look down upon the subject becasue he is a questionable source. Why dont you people look into this teacher before you lay your judgement. He may be even worse then SLim Shady..but you dont know do you!?! Hey get your information straight before you go on your holy roller, holier-then-thou act.
Posted by: slim | March 28, 2007 9:42 AM
I am 24 years old and did not lose my virginity until I was 16. Most of my friends however had all had sex, oral sex, and other experimentation by the end of my 8th grade year. We were not taught these things I didn't have a sex ed class until highschool. I think this teacher did the right thing informing these "kids" on the facts. Teens today are over sexed through music, television, movies, magazines, and video games. They need to get real information on how to make informed desicions not from some rapper on the radio telling young men to f*ck strippers or slap their girls around. Shouldn't we prefer a responsible educated person giving kids facts over teens coming to thier own conclusions through outside influences?
Posted by: Jessica | March 28, 2007 5:24 PM
joe killens
i hate you.
let the dude teach. damn
Posted by: Mike | March 29, 2007 5:37 PM
yea, its me again...
to pam:
true!!!!
ur kids arent as innocent as u would like to believe.
everyone who oposed this man. i hope ur daughters get preggy, if u have a son, i hope he gets preggy.
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The comments to this entry are closed.











". As one mother adroitly pointed out, "[t]his is not Porn 101. This is school." Another father called the incident "gross negligence," claiming it "opened a Pandora's box, for parents" (presumably referring to the Greek myth)."
LMAO.
Actually, Porn 101 would have been a school class I did not skip.
As far as Pandora's box is concerned, that sounds like a privacy issue between her and her parents.