Sex Education without the Education
I know most people don't get as riled up about sex education as I do but it is one of the main reasons that I lost faith with the Republican party. When Bush 2.0 came into office and mandated that all federal money spent on sex education had to be put towards abstinence only education, I knew that it was a clear bow to the religious right that delivered for Bush 2.0 back in 2000 and 2004 but it still didn't make it any easier a pill to swallow.
I have NO problem with parents and schools telling our teenagers that abstinence is the only way to 100% protect against pregnancy and STDs... we should be teaching our kids that. BUT, when we don't teach them about condoms and contraception, we are placing our faith in their hormones that they will not engage in sexual activity. Anyone who has been 13 or 14 years old before, should know that such a faith will be broken many times over. Abstinence only education takes the education out of sex education. I learned about sex ed in 6th grade in an auditorium full of all 6th graders in my class and for four hours, three separate teachers told us EVERYTHING we could ever imagine about sex, pregnancy and STDs and we were allowed to ask any and every question we could think of... and there were some doosies. Looking back, my parents never had those conversations with me and as a matter of fact, I'M GLAD they didn't... would have been a bit too embarassing. So when I read now, that the abstinence program that Bush 2.0 is married to has only increased pregnancies and STDs among teens all I can say is "DUH"!
I have NO problem with parents and schools telling our teenagers that abstinence is the only way to 100% protect against pregnancy and STDs... we should be teaching our kids that. BUT, when we don't teach them about condoms and contraception, we are placing our faith in their hormones that they will not engage in sexual activity. Anyone who has been 13 or 14 years old before, should know that such a faith will be broken many times over. Abstinence only education takes the education out of sex education. I learned about sex ed in 6th grade in an auditorium full of all 6th graders in my class and for four hours, three separate teachers told us EVERYTHING we could ever imagine about sex, pregnancy and STDs and we were allowed to ask any and every question we could think of... and there were some doosies. Looking back, my parents never had those conversations with me and as a matter of fact, I'M GLAD they didn't... would have been a bit too embarassing. So when I read now, that the abstinence program that Bush 2.0 is married to has only increased pregnancies and STDs among teens all I can say is "DUH"!
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