ANDOVER, Mass. — Parents at a local high school are outraged over a sexual survey handed out a lunchtime.
"I was immediately alarmed from the very second I saw it," Krystal Solimine, a parent.
Solimine said she was shocked when her son told her about this survey handed out during lunch at Andover High School. The survey was part of a program by University of New Hampshire called "Bringing in the Bystander", which seeks to address and prevent sexual violence in relationships.
UNH said the program was started with a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and has been recognized for its success to address and prevent sexual and relationship violence.
Solimine said her concern is student privacy.
The study states "
This form allows us to keep your answers anonymous, meaning we will not know your name, but we can still connect your answers across time.
" The form goes on to ask the student, "What is the first letter of your first name? "The first letter of your middle name" and "Your birth month and year?"
Andover School Committee Member Ted Teichert brought up these concerns at Monday's board meeting.
"When I saw the survey- I was kind of like, woah! As a school committee member, I want to be aware of the survey before it goes out," he said.
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Besides privacy concerns, some parents were not happy about the sexual nature of the questions. "How old were you when you had consensual sex?" was one question and another asked students if they ever forced someone to engage in sexual activities against their will or had spied on anyone using computer software.
Parents had previously signed a consent form allowing their students to take part in this study, but some said they were aware of the exact questions being asked.
"When you sign a consent form, you expect your children will be protected," said Solimine, whose son did not take the survey.
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The Andover School District told FOX25's Stephanie Coueignoux that they believe the questions are appropriate for high school students and do not believe the answers can be subpoenaed or linked to students.
Teichert said he's not against handing out surveys to students, he's just against how this process was handled. He told FOX25 that during an upcoming board meeting, he plans on recommending overhauling this system.
UNH said this was the last survey in the series and it was administered inconsistent with previous surveys. In the future, surveys will only be presented in a controlled environment.