Lawsuit Filed to Block Arkansas Law Protecting Students From CRT, Explicit Sexual Material

Legislation,

A federal lawsuit filed Monday would block the State of Arkansas from enforcing a section of the 2023 LEARNS Act protecting public school students from Critical Race Theory and explicit sexual material at school.

Act 237 of 2023 is a comprehensive education law by Sen. Breanne Davis (R – Russellville) and Rep. Keith Brooks (R – Little Rock) titled “The LEARNS Act.”

The law deals with issues such as Critical Race Theory, teacher salaries, public school employment, early childhood care, and protecting elementary school children from inappropriate sexual material at school.

It also provides a blueprint for implementing a voluntary school choice program that would make it possible for students to receive a publicly-funded education at a public or private school or at home.

The federal lawsuit filed Monday specifically challenges Section 16 of the LEARNS Act, which does the following:

  • Section 16 requires the Arkansas Secretary of Education to review all policies to be sure that indoctrination — including critical race theory — is prohibited and that no public school employee or public school student is required to attend training or orientation that is based on Critical Race Theory or other prohibited indoctrination.
  • Section 16 requires each public school to implement a child sex abuse and human trafficking prevention program that is age appropriate and complies with Arkansas Department of Education standards.
  • Section 16 prohibits sexual material in classroom instruction before fifth grade. This includes instruction regarding sexual intercourse, sexual reproduction, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

You can download a copy of Section 16 here.

Under Section 16 of the LEARNS Act, sex education is prohibited in Kindergarten and early elementary school. In later grades, sex education must be conducted according to other state laws—including other Arkansas laws that prohibit explicit, “comprehensive” sex education. Altogether, Section 16 makes significant improvements to Arkansas sex education laws.

The lawsuit focuses on the LEARNS Act’s effect on AP African American Studies at Central High School in Little Rock.

However, the lawsuit asks the federal court to declare Section 16 of the LEARNS Act unconstitutional and block the State of Arkansas from enforcing it.

If a federal court blocked all of Section 16 as the lawsuit requests, that presumably would include the parts of the law protecting public school students from explicit sexual material in the classroom.

You Can Download a Copy of the Lawsuit Here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Faith, Family Deter Teen Sexual Activity: New CDC Report

Sex Education

A Centers for Disease Control report released this month shows that faith and family are two primary reasons teenagers choose not to be sexually active.

The CDC’s “Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing” report surveyed teens between 2015 and 2019, and compared data to similar reports released in previous years.

The CDC’s findings underscore the ways faith and family affect teenage sexual activity.

First, researchers found “the main reason most commonly chosen by female teenagers for not having had sex, among the options provided, was ‘against religion or morals’ (32.5%) . . . Among male teenagers, the most commonly chosen main reason for not having had sex was ‘haven’t found the right person yet’ (35.3%), followed by ‘against religion or morals’ (26.2%).”

In other words, a teen’s religious beliefs play a significant role in whether he or she will be sexually active.

Second, teens who lived in a two-parent household with their biological or adoptive parents were less likely to engage in sexual activity than their peers.

The study also found sexual activity was higher among teenagers who did not live with both biological or adoptive parents.

The researchers concluded,

The probability of having had sex by age 17 was lowest for females who lived with both biological or adoptive parents at age 14 (42%) compared with those who lived in other parental living arrangements (64%–67%). The same pattern held by parental living arrangement for males ages 15–24.

To put it plainly: Moms and dads matter, and they have a profound impact on their children.

This latest report is reminiscent of a 208-page report the CDC released in 2016 regarding teenage sexual activity.

The 2016 report examined sexual activity and health trends among youth. It looked at everything from seatbelt and bike helmet use to substance abuse, diet, exercise, and even tanning bed use.

The 2016 report concluded teenagers who practiced abstinence were healthier in nearly every way than teenagers who were sexually active.

It also determined that sexually-active teens were less healthy and were more likely to engage in risky behavior.

The CDC’s newest report echoes some of these points, noting that, among other things, sexually active teens and young adults face increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

All of this underscores the important role that faith and family play in the lives of teens and young adults. 

Having a strong faith and a good life at home doesn’t just discourage a teen from having sex. In the process, it also has other positive impacts on that child’s life. That’s something to keep in mind as parents, educators, and policymakers discuss sex-education and related issues.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Prioritizing Parental Rights and Abstinence in Sex-Education

Education,

This is part of Family Council’s ongoing series outlining the importance of traditional family values in society. Today’s installment focuses on appropriate sex-education in schools.

Sex-education has been a topic of intense debate in Arkansas and across the country over the decades.

Family Council generally opposes so-called “comprehensive sex-education” programs, because they encourage teens to engage in immoral behavior, and research shows they are generally ineffective or even counter-productive.

Instead, we support abstinence education, which has a good track record in Arkansas and elsewhere.

Below are a few points to consider.

Respecting Parental Rights in Sex-Education

Parents are the primary educators of their children, especially when it comes to topics like sex, and the state must respect parental rights.

Parents should have the right to teach their values, beliefs, and morals to their children. Comprehensive sex-education programs can undermine parental authority and encroach on the values parents want to impart to their kids.

The LEARNS Act that Gov. Sanders recently signed into law actually addresses this point by letting parents review potentially-objectionable public school material before it is taught to their children, and the law lets parents exempt their children from the curriculum if they want.

Age-Appropriate Instruction in Sex-Education

Comprehensive sex-education programs often fail to tailor the information to the child’s age and maturity level. That means they may expose young children to explicit images or other inappropriate content.

The LEARNS Act that Gov. Sanders recently signed into law actually addresses this by prohibiting sexual material in classroom instruction before fifth grade.

This includes instruction regarding sexual intercourse, sexual reproduction, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

This component of the LEARNS Act is similar to legislation enacted in Florida and elsewhere addressing inappropriate sexual material in elementary schools.

Arkansas has other laws in place that promote abstinence education in public schools after fifth grade.

Abstinence Education is Linked to Healthier Lifestyles Among Teens

Family Council supports abstinence sex-education, in part because research shows that encouraging abstinence addresses more than STDs and unintended pregnancies.

According to the CDC, teenagers who practice abstinence are healthier in nearly every way than teenagers who are sexually active.

Sexually-active teens have been found to be less healthy and engage in riskier behavior.

In other words, abstinence is linked to healthier lifestyles overall.

Comprehensive sex-education programs often focus on contraceptives and risk reduction without encouraging abstinence as a viable option. This leads to riskier behavior among teens.

Abstinence Sex-Education Has a Good Track Record in Arkansas

In the 1980s and 1990s, public officials in Arkansas promoted comprehensive sex-education. The programs failed to have a meaningful impact on teen pregnancy and abortion in Arkansas.

These programs focused on teaching public school students about contraceptive use.

During that time, Arkansas’ teen birth rate remained high, and teenagers were among those most likely to have an abortion.

In 1997 the state switched strategies, promoting abstinence-based sex-education in public schools. The results were nothing short of staggering.

Teen birth rates and teen abortion rates in Arkansas plummeted.

From 1997 to 2003, the teen abortion rate fell by approximately 37%, and the teen birth rate fell by 16%.

Governor Huckabee’s abstinence-based sex education of the late 1990s and early 2000s was more than twice as effective combating teen pregnancy and teen abortion as Governor Clinton’s and Governor Tucker’s contraceptive-based sex-education programs.

Family Council was pleased to support Arkansas’ good abstinence education program.

Conclusion

Three decades of data shows that abstinence education doesn’t just work; it’s much better than the comprehensive sex-education programs that groups like Planned Parenthood promote.

Comprehensive sex-education may infringe on parental rights, encourage teens to engage in risky behavior, and expose children to inappropriate material at school.

When it comes to sex-education, the choice is clear: Teaching abstinence is the way to go.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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