texas sex-ed debate
according to the reuters news service, the texas board of education has voted to approve sex-ed textbooks that "extol the virtues of sexual abstinence but only make passing mention of contraceptives, which critics say violates state regulations and endangers the health of teens." the problem critics have, according to samantha smoot, president of the texas freedom network is that "instead of doing the responsible thing and providing high school students with life-saving information about sex and health, the board of education has left them to fend for themselves and get information from each other and sources like the internet and mtv." of course, it doesn't seem to matter to ms. smoot or others who believe the answer to the teen sex problem is contraceptives that "surveys indicate a wide majority of u.s. parents support a strong abstinence message to teens in sex education." regardless of one's personal stand on the issue, it seems clear that parents should have a strong say in how their kids are educated.
does ms. smoot really think the safest thing is for teens to play russian roulette with their bodies by having sex anytime with as many partners as they wish so long as they use contraceptives? to be certain, with the direction society has gone, some teens...perhaps even most teens...are now and will continue to be sexually active. that fact doesn't change the responsibility that teachers and parents have to try and change the societal tide that leads teenagers towards the lowest cultural and developmental denominator. what if science teachers took the attitude that since some students would probably see what some of the chemicals used in lab taste like, the most important thing to teach them is how to induce vomiting. obviously, the most important place to start is to drill into their heads the dangers of the chemicals and the necessity of abstaining from putting them in their mouths! yet this is the argument that sex ed teachers are making. ms. smoot thinks the life-saving information is how to use a condom when, in fact, the life-saving information is more likely to be that the only sure way to avoid sexually transmitted deceases, is by not engaging in sex until they're married and committed to one, healthy person. if not a moral reason, it is certainly a practical one.
does ms. smoot really think the safest thing is for teens to play russian roulette with their bodies by having sex anytime with as many partners as they wish so long as they use contraceptives? to be certain, with the direction society has gone, some teens...perhaps even most teens...are now and will continue to be sexually active. that fact doesn't change the responsibility that teachers and parents have to try and change the societal tide that leads teenagers towards the lowest cultural and developmental denominator. what if science teachers took the attitude that since some students would probably see what some of the chemicals used in lab taste like, the most important thing to teach them is how to induce vomiting. obviously, the most important place to start is to drill into their heads the dangers of the chemicals and the necessity of abstaining from putting them in their mouths! yet this is the argument that sex ed teachers are making. ms. smoot thinks the life-saving information is how to use a condom when, in fact, the life-saving information is more likely to be that the only sure way to avoid sexually transmitted deceases, is by not engaging in sex until they're married and committed to one, healthy person. if not a moral reason, it is certainly a practical one.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 11/05/2004 11:30:00 PM
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2 Comments:
Interesting analogy about chemicals and inducing vomiting, but it doesn't fit. Except that ingesting potentially dangerous chemicals is not a process rooted in our deepest biology. It is also not portrayed countless times in media as cool.
The way I see it, information about contraceptives protects kids. Yes, a strong abstinance message is important, but not to the exclusion of good information about contraceptives and STDs. These two approaches must be combined to have the greatest impact.
Oh, and good straw man you set up. "does ms. smoot really think the safest thing is for teens to play russian roulette with their bodies by having sex anytime with as many partners as they wish so long as they use contraceptives?" Pretty easy to knock that one down.
Thank you for your comments. I think you actually helped argue my point because, whereas teenagers are strongly encouraged to act upon their natural, biological urges by just about every media outlet available, most teens (boys especially!) will act out their urge to do foolish things (even as ridiculous as tasting chemicals) without any pressure at all. How much more do students, who are sexual beings, need to be guided away from getting started too early? Whereas I agree with you that some level of education regarding contraceptives is necessary, since there is the inevitability that not all teenagers will wait, I don’t believe it should dominate the conversation as Ms. Smoot and most others tend to indicate. The conversation, up to this point, has been strongly in favor of the contraceptive aspect with “passing mention” given to abstinence…and we have continually seen a rise in teenage sex. Seems to me you place the strongest emphasis primarily on what you want the students to learn and do. As for your other point, I don’t think it’s a straw man if connecting the dots really does lead to the conclusion drawn. Studies clearly show that four out of ten girls get pregnant at least once by age 20 and sexual activity has declined among unmarried teens EXCEPT for those under age 15*. Let’s not kid ourselves, we all know what the prevailing attitude is among teenagers and what the message is that’s being sent to them 24/7…frankly, it sounds very much like my “straw man.” Thanks, again, for your comments.
*More statistics available from http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/fact_sheets/drugsondcp.asp
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