Bill puts science in school sex ed

[Kacey]

After two hours of passionate testimony, the House Education Committee advanced legislation mandating public schools teach kids the latest about AIDS, hepatitis C and the link between the human papilloma virus and cervical cancer.

House Bill 1292 says schools should emphasize abstinence, including from oral sex, and it says districts should involve parents in curriculum planning. But it updates state law to make sure all public schools are teaching more than just abstinence.

~~~~~~~~~<snip>

"If this was a perfect world, we wouldn't have to discuss this," she said. "Families would take care of it."

Rep. Tom Massey, a Republican from Poncha Springs, abandoned the other four Republicans on the committee to support the bill. He said he wished all children received adequate information on sex education from their parents but said that isn't the case.

"Regretfully, we have to deal with something called hormones," said Massey, who has teenage boys. "It's regretful that we put this on our school districts sometimes to be the purveyors of information like this."

~~~~~~~~~<snip>

"It seems like we are taking abstinence out and putting contraception in," he said, referring to Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to lift eligibility restrictions on state-funded pregnancy prevention and family-planning programs.
Organizations that promote abstinence - including the Colorado Catholic Conference and the Colorado Family Institute - testified against the bill, saying it would strip local school districts of options and could eliminate federal funding for their programs.

But Rep. Michael Merrifield, a Colorado Springs Democrat who leads the Education Committee, equated the federal money to being "blackmailed" into providing kids with "misinformation and incomplete information" about sex.

The complete article is available from The Denver Post.

Opinions? Personally, I'm all for it - sex ed has always been voluntary; slips are sent home to parents to sign if they wish to opt their kids out of sex ed... and as the article says, it'd be nice if parents taught their kids this at home - but it clearly isn't happening.

 

[michaeledward]

I am assuming this is originating in the Colorado House of Representatives.

If so, Hooray for the Colorado legislature. Teaching science fact in a biology course is the only way it should be done. If you want to argue whether Sex Ed is a biology course or not, I can deal with that argument.

Additional topics should include Herpes, and Syphallis and other sexually transmitted diseases.

And for those organizations that wish to promote Abstinence, let them demonstrate some facts to show that it works to achieve any of the goals they are persuing first. And once it is demonstrated to meet their goals, they can bring them to the State House and seek inclusion.


As for Federal Funds and Mandates, they do not belong in public schools.

 

[Kacey]

I am assuming this is originating in the Colorado House of Representatives.

If so, Hooray for the Colorado legislature. Teaching science fact in a biology course is the only way it should be done. If you want to argue whether Sex Ed is a biology course or not, I can deal with that argument.

Additional topics should include Herpes, and Syphallis and other sexually transmitted diseases.

And for those organizations that wish to promote Abstinence, let them demonstrate some facts to show that it works to achieve any of the goals they are persuing first. And once it is demonstrated to meet their goals, they can bring them to the State House and seek inclusion.

It did originate in the Colorado House, yes - and I have no problem with them teaching abstinence as a potential method of birth control, as long as the potential problems are taught as well.

As far as it being a biology class - sex ed in Colorado is generally taught as part of the Health curriculum, often through the Phys Ed department rather than the Science department - Health (as a curriculum) being an outgrowth of the life-long fitness taught in Phys Ed.

As for Federal Funds and Mandates, they do not belong in public schools.

Um... where do you think IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - the federal law requiring special ed), ADA (section 504 applies to education), Title IX (equity in sports funding), Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which requires desegregation and programs for English Language Learners, among others) all come from? I'm not saying they're necessarily good things - but they are all federal laws that mandate programming within the public schools. And then, of course, there's the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act - more commonly known as No Child Left Behind)... all of them federally mandated, poorly funded laws that have massive impact on public education.

From that perspective, I'm just not that worried about losing federal funding for a program that the schools shouldn't be running in the first place - because I really do think that the only reason that schools teach sex ed is because the parents either don't or won't - for whatever reason they choose - and therefore it becomes a social issue, and the schools have been, historically, the most accessible forum to reach kids and teens... not that that stops them from learning from other people and sources.

 

[Empty Hands]

Cool. Now let's try teaching some real science about that other great bugaboo of biology - evolution.

 

[Kacey]

Cool. Now let's try teaching some real science about that other great bugaboo of biology - evolution.

There are already several up and running - most recently, here.

 

[RandomPhantom700]

I think this is a good legislative move, and furthermore, kudos to Tom Massey for having the fortitude to separate himself from the other Republicans and acknoledging the necessity of this. Kids are, regrettably, growing up a lot earlier, and parents just aren't stepping up to the plate.

 

[tellner]

One of the most ridiculous notions in the world is the idea that understanding the truth about the physical world and how the human bodies work will destroy a child's morality. It's as if the Know Nothings think that reality has an immoral bias or that lies are better than the truth.

The second most ridiculous one is that kids will be less likely to screw and more responsible if they are ignorant and sex is mysterious.

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop was always an unapologetic evangelical Christian and a staunch believer in values based on his religion. He was also an outstanding physician and understood that people are people with human frailties. So he outraged the rest of the Reagan Administration by pushing hard for comprehensive sex education as the realistic way to defend against STDs. I had the honor of meeting him once and asked him if part of it was also out of a desire to prevent early pregnancies, keep kids from screwing up their lives and prevent abortions. He said it was.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

'bout time.

there was a longitudinal study done of students who took part in abstinence campaigns (generally led by christian groups). pregnancies went down a little. stds went up some. oral and anal sex went up substantially (since they, apparently, didn't count).

 

[tellner]

It was even worse than that. The age of first intercourse was delayed by a few months. After that the 'abstinence only' and 'purity ring' crowd was more likely to have unprotected intercourse.

 

[Carol]

Huh. I actually didn't think there would be much shift at all.

I'd be interested in a link to one of these studies if anyone has it. Thanks!

 

[Steel Tiger]

One of the most ridiculous notions in the world is the idea that understanding the truth about the physical world and how the human bodies work will destroy a child's morality. It's as if the Know Nothings think that reality has an immoral bias or that lies are better than the truth.

The second most ridiculous one is that kids will be less likely to screw and more responsible if they are ignorant and sex is mysterious.

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop was always an unapologetic evangelical Christian and a staunch believer in values based on his religion. He was also an outstanding physician and understood that people are people with human frailties. So he outraged the rest of the Reagan Administration by pushing hard for comprehensive sex education as the realistic way to defend against STDs. I had the honor of meeting him once and asked him if part of it was also out of a desire to prevent early pregnancies, keep kids from screwing up their lives and prevent abortions. He said it was.

I think that the idea that knowing the natural world is damaging to morality goes back to a time when people were taught that we were born in sin. Now back then it was just an insidious technique to get people to go to church and pay their tithes, but it has stuck with us and seems to have become the foundation of much religious rhetoric concerning sex, schools and children.

It is always nice to hear of someone (C Everett Koop) who can move beyond the petty aspects of their belief to serve the greater community so well.

 

[michaeledward]

It's official, abstinence education does not affect a) the age of first sexual activity or b) the measure of unprotected sex by the sexually active.

A study recently published the results of studies that have taken place over the past 8 years. Beginning in 1999, young people were exposed to Abstinence Education, and some of their peers remained in a control group.

In discussing these students sexual activity in 2005 and 2006, it was shown that both groups averaged first sexual activity at the same age (14.9), and with the same frequency (approx. 50%). Also, it showed the level of unprotected sex was similiar between both groups.

Of course, with this evidence in hand ... our federal government says ... 'Don't believe it'. - QUOTE - Bush administration officials cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the study. - END QUOTE - Each year, our government spends 175 million dollars on Abstinence Only education. Seems to be a relatively poor investment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070414/ap_on_he_me/abstinence_study;_ylt=AqxIzps15Gj9z7VsXhazurfMWM0F

I guess this just goes to show - kids will be kids.