Parents want to block school talk by vile sex columnist




CHICAGO, April 19, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Outraged parents are seeking a temporary restraining order against their Chicago high school to block a planned talk to students by a sex columnist who promotes casual sex and porn use.

Whitney M. Young Magnet High School principal Joyce Kenner postponed a sex education program scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, after Sally Wagenmaker, parent of a student at the Chicago public high school, notified the administrator of her intent to take legal action.

Kenner was informed of a temporary restraining order and an emergency request for injunctive relief being filed against the school in Cook County Circuit Court. Wagenmaker, along with her husband Dan and other concerned Whitney Young parents, filed suit when both Kenner and assistant principal Lynn Zalon rejected requests for information regarding the 7th through 12th grade school’s decision to use sex columnist and dancer Nicolette Pawlowski for its sexual education programming.

The administration had been contacted because of parental objection to what Wagenmaker described as Pawlowski’s “deeply troubling and extensive online articles advocating casual hook-up sex, pornography use, and other risky sex behaviors.”

Wagenmaker, a Chicago attorney serving as Special Counsel with the national public interest law firm, the Thomas More Society, appeared in court with the pro bono legal organization’s Vice President and Senior Counsel Tom Olp.

As a parent and a lawyer, Wagenmaker has raised serious questions regarding Pawlowski’s credentials, suitability to teach, and lack of proper approval to provide sex education at the school. She described Kenner and Zalon’s actions on behalf of the Whitney Young administration as “illegal, contrary to Chicago Public School policy, and otherwise reflecting poor judgment against the best interests of Whitney Young students.”

Wagenmaker noted that applicable Illinois law and Chicago Public Schools policy reflect a strong emphasis on abstinence and avoidance of risky sexual behaviors, such as those advocated by Pawlowski.


She also referenced the Center for Disease Control’s repeated conclusions that student health behaviors and good grades are related, and reports that “...students who do not engage in health-risk behaviors receive higher grades than their classmates who do engage in health-risk behaviors.”

She added their conclusion that, “Sexuality education standards specifically should accomplish the following: Focus on health promotion, including both abstinence from and risk reduction pertaining to unsafe sexual behaviors.”