Three parents have requested that their North Allegheny sixth-graders not be shown a video that some consider a "sex education" lesson, school district officials said Thursday. The video will be shown to sixth-graders starting in March. The video, "Puberty: Bodies in Progress," became a source of controversy after two North Hills priests objected to it, saying in letters to their parishioners that it was not in accordance with Catholic teachings. District officials said yesterday that they were not certain when the parents requested that their children be excused from the video — before or after the priests raised objections. Last year, the parents of fewer than five students asked that their children not be shown the video. It was first used by the district last year and is the No. 1-selling puberty video in the country, according to its producer, Barry Pintar of Ross Township. The Rev. Edward Yuhas of SS. John and Paul Catholic Church in Franklin Park and the Rev. Paul Zywan of St. Alexis Catholic Church in McCandless, have objected to the video. In their letters, they said the Catholic faith calls for parents to be the first teachers of their children and that the video suggests as an "after-thought" that children discuss sexuality with their parents. The priests also objected to the use of naked, computer-generated images in the video and the fact that boys and girls do not see the video separately. In their letters, both priests suggested parents review the video before allowing their children to see it, and Yuhas called for the district to stop using it. While school board members did not discuss the controversy Wednesday, two parents did. Pam Calder of McCandless asked school administrators to stop showing the video, which she called "distasteful." "The film is a Pandora's box that almost invites the kids to think that human sexuality is something that could be considered for open discussion and investigation at the tender age of 12," Calder said. "At no point is the spiritual or moral dimension addressed. I guess you're deciding that the parents…aren't doing a good enough job if you need to overstep your boundaries and teach them about sexuality yourselves." Marianne Stearns of McCandless objected to all the concerns raised about the video, which she said stemmed from people having a religious agenda. Stearns said she did not like the video herself, but thought that if people really were upset about it that more than one person would have shown up at the board meeting to object to its use. School officials have said they do not intend to stop using the video but welcome parents who have any concerns to view the video and decide for themselves whether they want their children to see it. Before being put into use at North Allegheny, the video was reviewed by administrators, faculty and members of the community as part of a review of the health and physical education curriculum. Focus groups also viewed the video at that time and viewers did not state objections, school officials said. It has been widely stated that former board member Joy Allen, who was appointed to the board in June 2000 but did not seek election last year, led the charge against the video and asked the priests to view it. Allen stated her displeasure about the video at a meeting the district held to give parents a chance to review the tape before their children saw it, but according to people at the meeting, she had little support. Allen has not publicly taken credit for leading the objection to the video. Yesterday, as on Wednesday, the Tribune-Review could not reach her by phone, and no one answered the door at her Franklin Park home. Zywan was not available at St. Alexis on yesterday, and a church official said Zywan had wanted to inform parents about the video and, that being accomplished, he would have no further comment. Yuhas was at his church yesterday but declined to speak to a Tribune-Review reporter.

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