Our friend Wendy McElroy over at ifeminists has gone ballistic over a public-school survey that parents say asks 11- and 12-year-olds whether they have had oral sex.


Dad Mark Fisher of Shrewsbury, Mass., is leading a protest against school officials who refused to let him as a parent even see the questionnaire handed out in school to his 12-year-old daughter (click here and here for full stories). Furthermore, school officials won’t release the survey to anyone, so it’s impossible to find out exactly what’s on it.


The survey is apparently an adaptation of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System established in 1990 by the federal Centers for Disease Control. The 87-question survey is posted on the CDC website. Seven questions relate to sexual behavior. According to Wendy, it asks such questions as: How old were you when you had sex for the first time? And: Was a condom used?


The CDC survey doesn’t quiz kids about oral sex, but individual school districts are free to add or subtract questions. Furthermore, although the CDC survey is supposed to be given to students in the 9th grade or older, according to Planned Parenthood, it is not unusual to administer sex-survey to 6th-graders–that is, children young as 11.


As Wendy points out, the CDC survey also asks youngsters to confess criminal behavior by themselves or their parents. (The questionnaires are anonymous, but it can’t be hard for teachers to figure out which child answered which form–and it’s hard to believe they won’t do just that with kids who admit using drugs and taking weapons to school.) The questions include:


Question 10: “During the past 30 days, how many times did you ride in a car or other vehicle driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol?”


Question 45: “How old were you when you tried marijuana for the first time?”


Wendy gives this advice to parents:


“[Y]ou should aggressively demand to see every survey and government form your child is filling out….These…forms may follow your child for the rest of his or her life.


“Do not believe that authorities, under the promise of privacy, will take no note if your child confesses to experimenting with drugs….Tell your children to never incriminate themselves.


“Do not willingly give your money to schools that deny parental rights. On June 9, Shrewsbury voters overwhelmingly defeated a $1.5 million tax increase that would have boosted finances to school programs. Although school funding measures are almost always defeated for financial reasons, use the occasion of a vote to voice your discontent….


“Be a nuisance. Be bossy. Be a genuine pain in the tuckus. In short, be a parent. That’s what your child needs.”