Washington State May Prohibit Abstinence-Only Sex Ed
News from the state of Washington: a bill that prohibits schools from implementing sex ed programs that teach only abstinence is making the rounds through the state legislature. Over at The Stranger, expectations are high that the bill will make it through the House; the state Senate poses a bigger challenge.
What’s interesting about this bill is the wording. First, the bill does require schools to include abstinence discussions in sex ed curricula. Like I said in a previous post, not a bad idea. More important is this: per the bill, sex education courses must be medically and scientifically accurate. Seems that it goes without saying that what we teach our kids should be at least somewhat true, but when it comes to sex ed, that’s not always the case. In fact, some of the “facts” that have been taught in abstinence-only courses sound suspiciously like sound bites from Rick Santorum’s campaign speeches.
In my mind, such blatant fabrications as the ones in that Post article are more than the moronic ravings of an addled mind. Such tripe is a deliberate attempt to politicize sex education programs, pushing a right wing agenda onto kids (and in “Doctor” Frist’s case, adults) who’ll believe anything an authority figure tells them. The attempt in Washington to pass a bill that mandates fact-based sex ed is important; hopefully it’ll become law.
Shocking news related to abstinence-only education: It doesn’t work . As if this hasn’t already been