RALEIGH, N.C. – House Republican Leader Paul Stam (R-Wake) and Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) said Tuesday they oppose two controversial bills expected to be acted on this week.  Amendments will be offered during consideration of these bills to remove provisions most onerous to young people.

The “Bullying Bill”, SB 526, titled “School Violence Prevention Act”, is scheduled for a hearing in the House Education Committee Tuesday.  Rather than providing protection to all students from all harassment, this bill specifies categories of victims.  “Sexual orientation” and “gender identification” are two such categories which single out special classes of victims.  Rep. Stam stated that he intends to offer language from HB 776, “No Bullying Anyone at Public Schools”, as a substitute to SB 526.  HB 776 has 62 bipartisan sponsors.

This is consistent with State Board of Education policy adopted in 2004.  The GOP leaders said this has worked well and does not differentiate between types of bullying or potential victims.

“It is ironic that the House proponents of the enumerated category legislation claim that a prohibition covering all students would be ineffective.   Just 12 days ago they all voted for the “cybernet bullying” bill sponsored by Rep. Nick Mackey (D-Mecklenburg). HB 1261 protects all “minors” without differentiation or enumeration,” the GOP said in a press release.

“A majority of the House is sponsoring HB 776, the ‘No Bullying Anyone’ bill.  It simply provides protection from all forms of harassment and bullying to all students – period,” said Rep. Stam.  “There are no special classes of victims and no ambiguity in our legislation.  All students should be provided the same protection from bullies.  Hopefully, the House will not use its rule on title amendments to defeat this superior approach.”

“Our Constitution already guarantees certain rights to all individuals.  We don’t need to create new or special rights for various groups,” said Sen. Berger.

The “Healthy Youth Act”, HB 88, is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Committee on Mental Health and Youth Services later this week.  This bill mandates that local school districts provide “comprehensive” sex education to all middle school students.

“This prescribed curriculum changes the current focus from abstinence from sexual activity until marriage to a much broader direction promoting risky and alternative sexual behaviors,” the two said in the release.

“Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education”, which is attached, provides curriculum guidance for “comprehensive” sex education in a way most North Carolina parents reject.  It is no more comprehensive than abstinence education, only more radical. Local school districts have the authority to offer sex education curricula other than abstinence before marriage, but only 10 of the state’s 115 school districts do so.

During House consideration of this bill, Republicans forced Democrats to make several changes to what was an otherwise bad bill during committee consideration and floor debate.  As a result, students would no longer be forced to take the “comprehensive” sex education curriculum if a parental consent form is not returned.  The original bill required most students to take the “comprehensive” curriculum.  House Republicans also succeeded in having the bill’s sponsors remove language requiring middle school students to be taught respect for “long term committed relationships” as an equivalent to marriage.

Using the term “comprehensive” as the title for the prescribed curriculum will suggest to teachers that they encourage middle school students to experiment with various forms of risky behavior.  That is the approach of the National Guidelines on Comprehensive Sexuality Education.

“Parents should be directly involved with making decisions on what sex education is appropriate for their young children.  There is no question that the vast majority would choose abstinence before marriage if they were fully aware of what the “comprehensive” curriculum entails,” said Rep. Stam.

“These bills are part of the radical left’s social agenda and show how legislative Democrats have abandoned traditional North Carolina values and are now wedded to liberal special interests,” said Sen. Berger.