Hoops wrote:Why is it so bad to leave this decision in the hands of local school boards? Where, one would assume, it is directly accountable to its constituents?
Perhaps you misunderstand the bill they passed.
It does allow school districts to opt out of sex-ed courses altogether. But at the same time, the bill prohibits any school from discussing contraception, removing local control completely.
Oddly, this new effort follows a recent study that showed a high percentage of pregnant teen girls thought they couldn't get pregnant as a result of their actions. So it seems our brilliant legislature decided the answer to this problem of ignorance is LESS education.
Perhaps contraception is sacred, not secret?
Joking aside the idea of prohibiting a school ever making any reference to a series of medico-social innovations that have hugely changed the lives of most men and women in the developed world is beyond bizarre.
Note that I am not saying (in this post) that contraception should be discussed in schools because it is good, or because it is bad. But forbidding schools to discuss it at all is like forbidding them to discuss nuclear weapons. How can that be called education for future citizens who will have the vote one day?
Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
Chap wrote: Perhaps contraception is sacred, not secret?
Joking aside the idea of prohibiting a school ever making any reference to a series of medico-social innovations that have hugely changed the lives of most men and women in the developed world is beyond bizarre.
Note that I am not saying (in this post) that contraception should be discussed in schools because it is good, or because it is bad. But forbidding schools to discuss it at all is like forbidding them to discuss nuclear weapons. How can that be called education for future citizens who will have the vote one day?
Lemme hear an AMEN!
Good god.
~Those who benefit from the status quo always attribute inequities to the choices of the underdog.~Ann Crittenden ~The Goddess is not separate from the world-She is the world and all things in it.~
Legislature Passes a Bill to Allow Schools to Drop Sex Ed
This is good. Groups like Planned Parenthood, often called upon to run or consult on sex ed programs, have a nasty habit of finding ways to circumvent or just ignore rules about parental notification and choice regarding that part of the curriculum. This is the safest (no pun intended) way to go.
Ultimately, the curriculum should be completely up the the student and his/her parents. Schools should not offer curriculums, just private select classes.
bcspace wrote:Ultimately, the curriculum should be completely up the the student and his/her parents. Schools should not offer curriculums, just private select classes.
In other words, there shouldn't be any schools in the sense that we know them today. Just a kind of centralized home schooling.
America: the country that faced the challenge of Asian talent by first ensuring that their once world-admired elementary school system died of neglect, then abolished schools altogether.
The future is bright!
And now back to sex ...
Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
Parents in Utah have already been making their choice clear.
The way it works now is that the student brings home a form that explains what the reproduction course will be covering. Parents then have to sign the form to give the student permission to be in the classroom. Students without signed permission are taken elsewhere and given something else to do.
A huge majority of parents sign the papers and send their kids to the class. I believe it's well over 90% in every district. Obviously, Utah parents DO want their schools to educate their kids about human reproduction, and it's very easy for the few who don't to opt out.
Our "conservative" legislature has now removed individual parental choice from the equation, opting instead for a government mandate. Imagine that.
"The DNA of fictional populations appears to be the most susceptible to extinction." - Simon Southerton
Hoops wrote:I'm too busy to cite the post for you, but one has claimed exactly that.
Intended or not, this reply has the effect of shutting down discussion.
You are expecting an intervention from this person to promote thoughtful discussion on a thread?
My first emoticon:
Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
Hoops wrote: I saw the opt out stipulation. I'm not anti-sex ed in the least and it would appear that most people do want the class. I would be curious about the reasoning behind the law. I'm just not prepared to reflexively assume that the sole or primary reason for this law is so nefarious. It could be. I don't know.
Hanlon's Razor:
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
