abstinence being taught in my son's Health class

[movie_girl99]

but nothing about contraception. The teacher showed a slide show of genital warts and told the parents that each child will be assigned an STD to report on. After that he said that the STD lesson will be followed up by a lesson on Abstinence. I was okay with that because i expected to hear that they would also be teaching about contraception. Nope..nothing. I sat squirming in my seat waiting for the dismissal bell to ring so I could ask him that question. The bell rang and I was the first one up to him and simple asked " I heard that you will teach a lesson on abstinence but I didn't hear anything about contraception". He told me that he was not allowed to teach about contraception or birth control. Shocked and amazed I said "you have to be kidding me, we have some of the highest cases of teen pregnancy in this state (TX) not to mention a growing number of young people contracting HIV and you're telling me that you cant teach it"? He said that he would like to but that he was simple not allowed to. I went home and looked it up and apparently it is a Board of Trustees issues and seeing how our Board is made up of fundies..it all made sense to me. I don't think it is the school's sole responsibility to teach this but if they are going to show the kids pictures of infected vagina's and penis' then by god they should be able to show how NOT to get the diseases by protecting themselves!!!

[SmokingJacket]

1. I like the STD assignment, but...

it's sheer criminal incompetence that they don't teach about contraception.

[madame defarge]

2. Attend the next Board meeting...

They're supposed to be open to the public. Bring lots of others who feel the same way you do. Notify the press & bring them too. In fact, in some communities, the school board meetings are supposed to be broadcast on local tv for those who can't make it.

You may not win the battle, but you have to be willing to fight & make it an issue so that others become aware & hopefully stand with you.

[movie_girl99]

5. yeah i totally agree the problem being that I work

for an Executive Director in the same district. I have asked around and we have an Superintendents Advisory Committee where you can ask questions on a sheet of paper anonymously and they will be answered by the committee. I may go that route first.

[acmejack]

16. A lot of times you have to submit a question ahead of time.

If you desire to speak. You may want to check. It is a handy way they have of shutting you up. Been there done that.

[LWolf]

3. They should.

How (and what) to teach in the "reproductive" section of health is a school board decision, and usually reflects the views of the voters who put them in place. If you want to raise this point, get some data gathered to support you, then talk to your school board. At a board meeting, publicly, so that it will go in the record.

Sexual practices, and teaching teens about sex, is a scorching-hot button driven by adult emotion and religious doctrine, not by facts. Make sure you have plenty of fact to back you up. Especially any studies that show the rates of teen pregnancy and stds with birth control in the curriculum as opposed to abstinence only; I don't know if there are any. If not, convince someone to fund one!

[w8liftinglady]

4. where do you live in texas?I'll go to the meeting with you,if it's close

[Warpy]

6. Trying to make the young as sex phobic as they are!

Parents have GOT to talk to their kids to counter these lies!

The best thing would be to get your kid OUT of those classes.

"Knowledge" like this crap will KILL KIDS.

[movie_girl99]

8. he has to have 1 semester of health to graduate

we talk in great detail about this stuff at home because he has an older sister who went to the same school. I have told him that they are giving out bogus info and to ask me if he has any questions.

[displacedtexan]

7. Here's my suggestion...

Whether you're Unitarian or not, call your local (or closest) UU church
and ask for info on their "You And Your Sexuality" class. If they don't
current teach it, they'll still be able to help you find it.

My daughter took the class in Jr. High, and she learned all about everything.
The best part, in my opinion, was learning the difference between romance and
biology.

I strongly recommend that you find the reading materials if you want your child
to learn about sexual health and emotional issues.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[movie_girl99]

9. I am not a UU but we do have a UU church in our community.

thanks for the info.

[Tracer]

10. You might also try ...

... to teach your kids yourself.

It's a difficult subject to bring up with teens, I'll agree. But I believe that it's your responsiblity as a parent, more so than the school's.

Don't get me wrong here, I think the school is really misguided in not allowing discussing anything but abstinence (which is a good thing for teens, but we all know that not every kid will be abstinent).

[movie_girl99]

12. I totally agree and mentioned that in my original post

we talk in great detail about it at home. he has an older sister who took human sexuality in college last year.

[Rock_bollocks]

23. We also let him

watch 40 Year Old Virgin.:)

I think he now knows all there is to know, without giving us both heart attacks.:P

[Yupster]

26. Agree Tracer

Teach him yourself. You'll do a better job than the school will since you know your son better.

Consider the school STD lesson a help.

[dogday]

11. Does your child need a permission slip

to attend this class? Used to be, you signed one... You can demand he be pulled out of this class.. I would... Just saying don't do it is not enough information and actually your child is not learning anything....

[movie_girl99]

13. it is a required class to graduate. he needs one semester of health

and that's the only class to get the Health credit in.

[dogday]

15. Well then it is up to you

to inform and educate your son... As it actually should be... Parents should be talking about all of this with their children... My daughter is 11 and we also live in Texas... I talk to her about things already, they grow up fast....

[Lerkfish]

14. only in fundie world is it ok to show genital warts but not protect the

kids.

This is like airlifting soldiers into the thick of battle, taking away their guns and body armor, and saying, "man, you sure don't want to get shot, that would be awful! g'bye!"

[cap]

17. kinda like Iraq...

eom

[ms liberty]

18. This is goin on all over the country, a lot of people don't realize it

That was one of the first targets of the fundies, getting their stealth candidates elected to school boards.

It just makes no sense. When I was in the 6th grade (back about 1970-71) we had sex-ed class, boys in one room, girls in the other. Parents had to sign a slip giving permission. They told us everything about sex. The result is that I was a virgin until I was 18, and when I lost that virginity, I was already on the pill. I deliberately waited until I was ready. In countries where there is complete sex-ed this is the norm, not the exception.

God forbid we should combat issues like teen pregnancy and STD's with knowledge and common sense.

These effing fundies...are they responsible for EVERY ill in the world, or am I just paranoid about them?

[datasuspect]

19. fundies HATE public school education

they are destroying it from the inside by stacking school boards.

"stealth" candidates is right. much "strategerizing" goes on in churches for that kind of shit.

[misternormal]

20. Nothing wrong with teaching abstinence...

... as long as it is part of a comprehensive course of instruction on all forms of both birth control and the control of STDs...

As is shown by a consistently high statistics concerning the teenage pregnancy rate, as much as the RWers and fundies wished that it worked, abstinence alone does not work.

To be so naive to think that it does is ludicrous.

[movie_girl99]

22. exactly....

I am all for teaching abstinence as long as it's backed up by safe sex methods.

[HockeyMom]

24. bstinence until you are an ADULT and mature enough to handle it

instead of abstinence until Marriage. This was a quote I read from a teenager on the subject. I think that is a very mature attitude. In the society in which we live young men and young women don't marry at early ages anymore or need lots of children to work the farms. Even putting religion aside, it is a very unrealistic, and dangerous approach to keep people, especially teens, ignorant of birth control methods to further a religious agenda.

If the schools won't teach birth control, then the parents must.

[Double T]

21. Instill fear of contracting STDs, then deny raging hormones.........

brilliant educators?

[Redbear]

25. Abstinence-only is a tremendous mistake

The research from independent organizations overwhelmingly shows the folly of abstinence-only programs.

<http://www.apa.org/releases/sexeducation.html>

<http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/factsheet/fssexcur.htm>

<http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/02/24/abstinence/index.html>