No one spoke at either of the two required public hearings – the first held at the Sept. 19 board meeting and the second at the Oct. 10 meeting.

The program for younger children – preschool through 2nd grade – is called Body Safety Training. A sample lesson provided in the board packet highlights the concept of “Boss of Body” – e.g. “Who’s the boss of your body?” “Me!” The lesson focus on teaching children a “Body Safety Rule” which they apply to decide if certain touches of their private parts are okay.

The program for the slightly older children – 5th through 8th grade – was updated in 2011. According to the staff memo in the board’s information packet, that makes the video more recent than any puberty video that has been previously approved by the board. The district’s Sexual Health Education Advisory Committee (SHEAC) described the video in positive, but not entirely uncritical terms: “The video used relatable teens but the dialogue was a bit ‘cheesy’ and I think youth will pick up on that. … I appreciate how the video points out the positive side of puberty. … Information is clear. It’s presented well even if it is a little stilted at times. It’s much better than most I’ve seen.”

This brief was filed from the board room of the Ann Arbor District Library in downtown Ann Arbor at Fifth and William. A more detailed report of the meeting will follow: [link]

The briefing was followed by the first of two required public hearings on the adoption of the two instructional programs. No member of the public spoke at the 9:45 p.m. public hearing. The second public hearing will take place at the board’s Oct. 10 meeting, when the sexual health instructional programs will be voted on by the board.

The program for younger children – preschool through 2nd grade – is called Body Safety Training. A sample lesson provided in the board packet highlights the concept of “Boss of Body” – e.g. “Who’s the boss of your body?” “Me!” The lesson focus on teaching children a “Body Safety Rule” which they apply to decide if certain touches of their private parts are okay.

The program for the slightly older children – 5th through 8th grade – was updated in 2011. According to the staff memo in the board’s information packet, that makes the video more recent than any puberty video that has been previously approved by the board. The district’s Sexual Health Education Advisory Committee (SHEAC) described the video in positive, but not entirely uncritical terms: “The video used relatable teens but the dialogue was a bit ‘cheesy’ and I think youth will pick up on that. … I appreciate how the video points out the positive side of puberty. … Information is clear. It’s presented well even if it is a little stilted at times. It’s much better than most I’ve seen.”

This brief was filed from the board room of the Ann Arbor District Library in downtown Ann Arbor at Fifth and William. A more detailed report of the meeting will follow: [link]