It's true that abstinence is a 100 percent effective way to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancy. But, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, condoms, when used correctly, actually work to prevent diseases and pregnancies with a remarkable track record of reliability. What's most disconcerting, though, is that there are some young people in sex education classes not being taught that.
Children living in about 25 states don't know that they aren't getting the right information about sex, according to U.S. Rep. Harry Waxman, D-Calif., in a report released Wednesday. Out of 13 prevalent federally funded sex education programs Waxman studies, 11 played down the effectiveness of condoms. It found that the after effects of abortion include factually unfounded emotional and mental distress. Essentially, it found that the federal government's concept of sex education is out of date by a matter of decades.
Under President Bush's administration, federally-funded sex education programs have placed an emphasis on abstinence and ignored any exploration or explanation of contraception for American teenagers.
Maybe the government-funded curriculum can't afford fact-checkers. What is being taught in these abstinence-first sex education courses is blatantly misleading, false and sometimes an abridgment of separating church and state. Decide for yourself:
One middle school program infuses religion into science by teaching that life begins at conception. Today, our nation's abortion debate is still grounded on the ongoing debate of when a life begins.
According to the report, another program teaches young people that "Women gauge their happiness and judge their success by their relationships. Men's happiness and success hinge on their accomplishments."
Isn't that an affirming little chunk of outdated, sexist thought.
At some point, one of the human byproducts of an abstinence-based sexual education program will decide to have sex. These programs stand to receive $170 million to continue this outdated method of education. That, in turn, is 170 million reasons why America's schoolchildren will be left in the dark about safe, responsible sex.
There's nothing wrong with teaching both sides of the sex education story. American children should get both views, and no one method should be glorified above another. Adolescents and children need to be fully armed with the all the tools they need to make the right decisions.
Limiting the truth won't help students make better decisions. It will only breed ignorance in the face of potentially life-threatening STDs and irresponsibility in the face of teenage pregnancy.
Teaching young people about condoms does not encourage irresponsibility. It encourages safe sex. Premarital, underage sex will happen regardless of what's being taught in schools, and it's every person's responsibility to ensure they have as much information as possible.
American schools have problems enough without having to worry about making a pact with the federal government for funding in exchange for religiously spun science and blatant fibs.
