ARTICLES

Touchy Feely Pushed On Poway Teachers

PROMINENT MOLE ARRESTED!

By Lesley Payne

Why was pro-life/family activist Connie Youngkin arrested twice in 1995 for attending Poway Unified School District teacher training sessions?

In 1995 the district began holding workshops for teachers and administrators, on how to hold "support groups" for children. Under discussion at the meetings has been the book Conducting Support Groups for Elementary Children K-6 by Jerry Moe. After reading the book and attending some of workshops, Youngkin complained that the material is anti-family and that the support group procedures constitute psychological counseling and should be conducted by licensed therapists, not schoolteachers. In 1995 Youngkin knew the book was being used as a teachers manual for the support groups at Tierra Bonita Elementary and Garden Road Elementary. She suspects it is used in more schools now, because of the district's 1995 push of Moe and his book.

Youngkin says the permission slips sent home to parents state that children will participate in groups to help them with "positive decision making" and "self-esteem." She says hiding the nature of the program is advised by Moe in his book. Page 131: "[I]t is generally prudent not to allow children to take home any work they do in the support group -- art, collages, related items. This will ensure that none of the children's creations will risk becoming the focus for derision or anger, or be used against them in any other way."

Page 25: "During some group meetings, children will be taking a look at parts of their lives they may rather not expose, like chemically-dependent family members, divorced parents, or their own self-defeating behaviors. Such explorations can be painful for them as they unlock an array of uncomfortable feelings."

Page 104: "As the group chants, the child slowly turns around, showing the feeling that he or she whispered to you, and the group members try to guess the feeling. Once correctly identified, ask the child to share a time he or she experienced that particular feeling."

Youngkin notes that a key element in the support group program is the promise the students make to keep their discussions secret. Youngkin wonders whether young children are capable of observing confidentiality and what harm would be done by gossiping about problems exposed during sessions.

Youngkin attended a March, 1995 teachers seminar about this program. When she attempted to attend another seminar on April 3, 1995 at which Moe spoke to district staff (one teacher represented each school), she was arrested. According to Youngkin, Moe stressed the importance of working with younger children, "because they're more open and their defenses aren't built up as much."

At that session, about 45 minutes into Moe's talk, Sharon Jahn, the district's Wellness Coordinator, called an unscheduled break. After the teachers left the room, Youngkin, who had been sitting in the back taking notes, was arrested by two police officers, who carried her out of the room in her chair.

Youngkin attended a workshop in May, 1995 but was not arrested. When she attended a session at Bernardo Heights Middle School on August 8, she was again arrested, in spite of the district having been advised by its attorneys on August 3 that it cannot keep some citizens out of teachers' meetings, while allowing others (at the August 8 arrest, Poway School Board member Kathleen Zaworski-Burke was present). The August 3 letter from attorney Clifford Weiler to superintendent Robert Reeves stated the district could keep teacher meetings secret from parents and school board, but at meetings where they allow the public, "the group/sponsor cannot let in some members of the public and exclude others."

At the August 8 meeting, Youngkin insisted that she be allowed to attend, because, "I paid for this meeting with my taxes." She and her friend, Cyndi Ottle, managed to get into the meeting against Sharon Jahn's wishes (the school principal arrived late and unwittingly unlocked the door for them). Sharon Jahn contacted police, who arrested Youngkin and Ottle (saying they were conducting a citizen's arrest for Leslie Fausset, an assistant superintendent), though the two women agreed they would leave and not return. Kathleen Zaworski-Burke remained at the meeting, later telling Youngkin the material presented was "disturbing."

After the arrest, the San Diego City Attorney's office prepared a report, determining that, because a school board member attended the meeting and because the instructor invited Youngkin and Ottle to participate (when she noted them sitting at the side of the room), "there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction" for the arrest. The report added, "Moreover, it would probably appear to a jury that the school district was acting unfairly toward Defendant by excluding her from these teacher training sessions after they had let her attend an earlier session and had previously let other concerned community members attend the training sessions."

Assemblyman Steve Baldwin, chairman of the state assembly education committee, says he has been contacted by numerous parents and teachers in the Poway school district, complaining about the support groups. He has collected documents about the Poway program from parents and from teachers. He says he has had the materials reviewed by psychologists, who regard the program as "dangerous and inappropriate," because teachers are not trained counselors. He notes that the school district has been secretive about the program; lately the district has been collecting teacher hand-outs at the end of training meetings.

Two bills before the California legislature would put an end to programs like this. AB 2820, written by Baldwin and carried by Scott Baugh, expands parental rights, allowing children to be opted out of psychological exercises (as is the case with sex education) and mandating that parents be allowed to observe classrooms and teacher training meetings, and review all school materials, including teachers manuals. AB 3188, carried by George House, forbids the use of psychological techniques by school teachers. This bill is supported by the American Psychologists' Association. Both bills, however, are opposed by the California Teachers' Association, the National Education Association, and the California Department of Education.

Both bills have passed the Education Committee, and Baldwin expects them to pass the Appropriations Committee and be voted on by the Assembly by the end of May. Baldwin says that Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith (former mayor of Poway) will likely receive pressure from Poway schools to vote against the bills.

Contact Assemblyman Steve Baldwin at his local office at 465-7723, or in Sacramento at (916) 445-3266. Jan Goldsmith can be reached locally at 486-5191 or at the state capitol at (916) 445-2484. Connie Youngkin also suggests that parents contact the Palm Springs-based group, Parents Involved in Education at (619) 230-9351.

This November, two members of the Poway School Board will be up for re-election -- Kathleen Zaworski-Burke and Charlene Zettel. Connie Youngkin describes Zettle as one of the four board members who "just agrees with whatever the district wants." She characterizes the reaction of these board members to her allegations as: "It may be in the manual, but of course our teachers aren't doing that."