Texas adopts school health texts that say nothing about contraception

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

even though the state has the highest birth rate among high school students in the nation

By Lynn Harris



Nov. 10, 2004 | Hey, kids! Want to know how to avoid contracting a sexually transmitted disease?

"Get plenty of rest."

That's one of the eight STD-prevention steps listed in one of the four high-school and middle-school health textbooks approved for state adoption last week by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). "When you're tired, it's hard to think clearly," the text continues. "Don't put yourself in a situation in which you have to make a tough choice when you're tired." The other steps include: "Respect yourself" and "Go out as a group" ("You can also take the pressure off by double-dating"). No mention is made of the barrier methods of contraception, such as condoms, that help prevent STDs. One almost expects to see, in its stead, something about "an apple a day."


Since the SBOE's 13-1 vote on Friday, much attention has been paid to a last-minute -- and essentially successful -- campaign on the part of one board member, Republican Terri Leo, to change language in the textbooks to define marriage, in accordance with Texas law, as a "lifelong" union "between a man and a woman" (as opposed to, say, "people," "couples" or, God forbid, "partners"). But the focus on what amounts to a one-sentence edit in one textbook -- by the way, you should see the suggestions of Leo's that didn't make the cut ("Opinions vary on why homosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals as a group are more prone to self-destructive behaviors like depression, illegal drug use, and suicide") -- while plenty alarming, has partially eclipsed the broader sex-education debate over these books and its implications nationwide. Leo's efforts, which evidently surprised many of her colleagues, actually came at the tail end of six months of tumultuous hearings, closed-door committee meetings, and agitation on all sides over the issue of what to tell the kids about contraception. And last week it was decided: Don't tell them anything.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/11/10/textbooks/

[Sannum]

1. Fucking fundie hicks.

I am from texas, but I got the hell out.

[Crunchy Frog]

2. Gotta keep breeding that cannon fodder

for the empire. Gotta keep them teens pregnant. Then they can blame it all on the "libruls".