Bishop Blanchet newspaper cuts sex education story

A student's assignment for journalism class at Bishop Blanchet High School has brought the issue of censorship in Catholic high schools into the public eye.

Ryan Dunn, senior at Blanchet and editor of the school newspaper The Miter, compiled four months of research into a feature story critiquing the lack of comprehensive sex education in Catholic high schools. The article, which was planned to run in the Miter's April issue, was titled "Let's Talk About Sex."

According to Dunn, interim principal Tom Lord said there was a strong possibility that Seattle Archbishop Alexander Joseph Brunett would have several teachers at Blanchet removed and shut down The Miter if the article had run. Before the issue went to print, Dunn ran the story past Lord, who strongly suggested the article be removed.

"[Lord] was not trying to be the bad guy," Dunn said. "It was my decision to not run the article. It was not worth risking someone's job."

A May 19 article in The Stranger, "Onward Christian Censors," suggested Blanchet faculty felt pressure to align with the Seattle archdiocese's new conservative education standards, which may have led them to vetoing Dunn's article.

"I feel as though the teachers at [Catholic high schools] are pressured, on some level, to limit the way in which they address sexual education," added David Swanson, Seattle U freshman and former O'Dea High School student.

Dunn's article criticizes misinformation surrounding sex, such as the lack of contraceptive resources at Blanchet.

"Let's Talk About Sex" included anonymous student interviews and an online survey of 100 Blanchet students. Based on the survey, 58 percent of students at Blanchet have had sex, and 39 percent admitted to having unprotected sex. Overall, 58 percent did not feel satisfied with the sexual education they received at Blanchet.

Some students refer to easy access to contraceptives at other public and secular high schools. They feel this kind of sex education is next to impossible at Catholic high schools.

"They shouldn't expect the kind of comprehensive sex education outlined in the article," said Doran McBride, sophomore strategic communications major at Seattle University and former editor of Blanchet's Miter.

McBride remembers how Blanchet's sex education system emphasized abstinence.
"They basically told us about various forms of birth control, their effectiveness and the risks involved, and ended the discussion by saying that abstinence is the safest and most effective option," he said. "They didn't tell us abstinence is the only option."

Swanson gave his own perspective on Catholic school sex education.

"I was not satisfied with the sex-ed curriculum at O'Dea. The only time we had a discussion about sex was in our Christian Morality class," Swanson said.

Dunn said he is hesitant to refer to the pulling of his article as censorship.

"I don't like that it is being called censorship," he said, referring to The Stranger's article. "I made the decision to not run the story, and I feel that The Stranger took the story and ran with it."

Dunn did say that the shift from more liberal, social justice-focused curriculum to a Pre-Vatican II emphasis on liturgy and scripture may be the cause of increased pressure on faculty and staff.

"Post-Vatican II theology emphasizes beginning with human experience, rather than religious dogma," said Catherine Punsalan, Catholic studies professor at Seattle U.
According to Dunn, The Miter does not typically avoid controversial subjects.

"One of our writers recently wrote two anti-church columns criticizing the Catholic Church about the sex abuse scandals and its stance on gay marriage,"Dunn said. "[The fact that] these went to print makes me feel like [the administration and the bishop] didn't read those issues."

According to Dunn, faculty and staff were instructed by the bishop to not respond to any inquiry regarding this story. The Seattle Archidiocese has yet to comment on the situation.

Kassi may be reached at rodgersk@su-spectator.com