March 20, 2006

Something else I find absurd.

I have been doing quite a bit of research for term papers as of late, and one of my papers is on the state of sex education in our schools. It was extremely disheartening to know that the federal government pours millions of dollars of funding into abstinence-only programs, programs that use scare tactics as a learning tool. I cannot believe that in our day and age that such ignorance runs rampant in this country. Does the Conservative Administration not realize the importance of empowering our youth through knowledge, giving them the tools to protect themselves and their lives in todays society? The abstinence-only programs have to adhere to a strict set of eight criteria, mostly using fear and shame in an attempt to "scare" our youth out of having sex. Well that isn't going to happen, I don't know how they think they are going to change the very nature of the human race by being big Republican bullies. With abstinence-only there is little talk of STDs, contraception, and certianly no access to condoms in school. I was also shocked by the lawsuits that some of these court happy parents were slapping on the schools. One couple sued the school because they were teaching comprehensive sex education and providing information about condoms and contraception. Well I guess they would prefer to have their daughter knocked up at 14, or their son contract HIV? Canada and countries in Europe have comprehensive sex education and their teen pregnancy rates are nowhere near as high as the United States. Absurdity at it's finest.... It is time for parents to speak up, let our leaders  know that it is time to protect our children, not deny them the knowledge and skills that could save their live! Our government needs to get out of this "ignore it and it will go away" mode, for that is the perfect way to increase the number of HIV cases in this country. Thank god for organizations like KNOW and the World Health Organization. Without t hem we would be close minded and uninformed, like some of our bumbling leaders are.