cindylou said:
The problem is that people are depending on the school to teach the children what should be a parent's decision to teach abstinence or not.
People are never going agree on what the school should teach because its an opinion. No one is ever going to agree on an opinion. People are going to bitch about their tax dollars being spent on programs they dont agree with ; that goes both ways because obviously people dont like abstinence only programs.
The children whose parents dont teach about these things should have some sort of a program AVAILABLE to them however. but all that costs money you know.
And I dont think that abstenence only is a bad thing to teach kids, but you have to be realistic about the children you have. Some kids it works, some it does not. You have to know the kid.
I dont know what it is like in your state but back in NJ when my children got to the age where sex ed was taught (6/7th grade - too late in my opinion) they were all sent home with a note for the parents. If the parents did not give consent for their child to be in the class then the children did not have to attend that class. They offered some sort of alternative. There was also a place in the note that said if the parent had some sort of questions or comments about the curriculum (it was fairly well outlined) then please let them know. The only part of the curriculum I had an issue with was the part where they taught about steriods. I volunteered to come to class to discuss issues associated w/anabolics if the teacher needed help. I didn't want my children and their classmates subjected to the hysterical media proliferated bullshit and taught REAL FACTS.
The teacher called me and thanked me for my comments, said that in all her years she had NEVER had a parent volunteer to come help teach the class.
Abstinence only is foolish IMO.
Just like saying just say NO to drugs. I think it far more effective to show a kid the autopsied degenerated brain of a clubkid and say, "Hey, it's your choice if YOU WANT YOUR BRAIN FRIED... GO FOR IT!"
I believe a better approach would be to have the class have empathy bellies and the babies that cry at all hours unless you hold a key in them a certain way for X amount of time. Not a substitute for "the real thing" but about as damned near close as one can get IMO.
Regardless, there are some kids that just won't listen no matter WHAT you tell them... I think the odds are better though if you take the "arm the kids with valid information then boost their self-esteem to make them feel THEY are in control of their own destiny" approach.
But as I said, purely my opinion and I could be 100% wrong.