This is what teenagers at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School tell you: They talk about sex.
In the hallways. At lunch tables. Who's doing it. Who's not. Girls talk to their girlfriends. Boys talk to boys. Girls talk with boys who are friends, or their boyfriends.
"People talk about sex all the time," said 16-year-old Claire Davey-Karison. "It's casual [conversation], you know. You'll hear gossip. It's no big deal."
But sex education has become a big deal in some Montgomery County schools -- a deal that involves lawyers, organized parent groups and a federal court. Although students like Claire talk about sex in the same casual manner they might discuss last night's homework or the hijinks of Marissa and Ryan on "The O.C.," some adults are less than comfortable with them learning about it -- or certain aspects of it -- in class.
Last month, Superintendent Jerry D. Weast scrapped revisions to the county's health education curriculum, which for the first time allowed eighth- and 10th-grade teachers to initiate discussions about homosexuality. The revised course materials included a video, to be shown to sophomores, that used a cucumber to demonstrate how to put on a condom.
Weast's decision, which was endorsed by the county school board a few weeks later, came after two groups filed suit and won a temporary injunction barring teachers from offering the program this past spring to students at six campuses, including Bethesda-Chevy Chase.
The groups, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, argued that the condom video would encourage teenagers to have sex and that allowing teachers to discuss homosexuality might send the wrong message to those confused about their sexual identity.
What's more, the groups said students should also be taught that people can choose not to be gay.
With summer break a few days away, about a dozen students from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High recently offered their take on the sex education debate. The teenagers said they are fortunate because they feel comfortable talking about sex with their parents. They worried about youths who don't have adults they can turn to.
"I know it's a big deal to adults," said Laura Brewer, 15. "Adults fear that if we're learning about it, we'll be more influenced to carry it out. But not teaching it isn't the way, because one day kids are going to have sex, and they're going to need to know how to protect themselves."
Laura and the other students said they realize that some of their peers hold different views, that not everyone talks about sex in hallways and lunchrooms, and that some adults prefer to keep discussions about sex within the family. Still, they said, it's important for parents to understand that teenagers these days are bombarded with sexual images.
"People act like they're dropping some bombshell on us," said Brandon Corbin, 16.
