COLUMBUS, Ind. -- Controversy is brewing in Columbus surrounding the topic of oral sex.
Images: Controversial Newsmagazine
It stems from an article written by students in Columbus North Triangle, a school newsmagazine.
The publication contains a section that talks about oral sex. It includes statistics, definitions and student interviews. The topic has students reading every word, Indianapolis station WRTV-TV reported.
"More students have talked about that article than anything else the paper has written," student Peter Fleming said.
In the article, a 10th-grader talks about his first time having oral sex, saying he didn't think it was that big of a deal. An 11th-grader said she felt used and cheap.
There are four pages in all, written by a student staff. Some adults think the article goes too far.
"I think the person who allowed that to go through should be dismissed by the school corporation," said Columbus resident Mike Lovelace.
Columbus North principal David Clark said he trusts the student journalists' judgement -- that this was an important topic among students that needed to be discussed.
"I didn't say you can't do it. I didn't say you shouldn't do it. I think it was a trust," Clark said.
Clark admitted he was uncomfortable with the article at first, but said research shows that oral sex has become more and more popular among young people.
"You got a whole generation of kids with that whole mental attitude, well that's no big deal we can do it. There's no attachment," Clark said. "Let's go to lunch. Let's have oral sex. Let's go back to math class."
Clark said the article focuses on providing education about oral sex and sexually transmitted diseases.
Some students talk about why they're abstaining from sex in the article.
The news magazine's adviser said some parents don't recognize that many kids are engaging in risky behavior and students need to know the dangers.
"The audience is a student audience," said journalism adviser Kim Green. "Even if adults aren't talking about this, kids are."
Clark expects there will be discussion about this issue at the next school board meeting, but he said no guidelines were broken and he doesn't expect any action to be taken.
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