scigirl

Huh? All conferences are published - if this was true, he didn't need to quote 3rd hand knowledge, he could have just pointed to the abstract.

Yep! We are, actually- my first year of med school included such a course.

Actually that might be true (well not the touching part). HPV is very common, but fortunately the strain which causes cervical cancer is not the most common strain.

Riiight. If that's true - than it's no longer an STD and shouldn't be discussed during a sex talk, but rather during a simple hygiene talk. "Wash your hands before you eat," etc.

I don't understand why these groups insist on focusing on STDs only as illustrators of immorality. With the exception of AIDS and HepB, most STDs are fairly benign, and treatable, when compared to other pathogens. Drinking water in many countries is very dangerous for your health - but you don't see them railing against the immoral demonic H 2 O.

WTF? A "girl's innocence?" I suppose they wouldn't want precious girls going to medical school, where they might actually have to touch a penis.

No kidding. I totally agree. I wonder if these are the same people who insist on posting the 10 commandments everywhere, one of which is - don't lie, you freaking hypocrite, god doesn't like it (ok I'm paraphrasing).

If they really have science on their side, they shouldn't need to fabricate or twist the data. But - they don't.

scigirl

catmar

Having spent 14 years of my life in Orange County (conservative, Republican capital of the universe that it is), I'm suprised they decided against it. I'm pleasantly suprised. Then again, having kept in touch with what was going on at my high school through our then-neighbor's daughter (about 5 years after I graduated), they need to have some real sex ed - way too many preg. teens - neighbor's daughter included (although - I think she did it on purpose - wanted to get married, M & D said no - grandbaby on the way - they got a son-in-law before graduation).

lpetrich

Actually Exodus 20:16 is more like "Do not make false accusations"; it does not forbid lying in general. But I think that that would cover some of their activities.

And I wouldn't say that syphilis and gonorrhea are anything to treat lightly. But what I find disappointing is that there is no serious effort to eradicate these diseases, as there has been for smallpox. These diseases share with smallpox the nice property of having only human hosts, which makes eradication relatively feasible. But such diseases are often viewed as a punishment for sin, which gets in the way of such eradication efforts.

And if "waiting" is SO great, then why not neuter oneself and be done with it? Or brag about how great one's sex-free marriage has been?

Elora

catmar, do you happen to remember the names of Orange County high schools where this is happening? I graduated only a couple years ago, and didn't encounter much pregnancy, sex, or even raging drug use. But then, I went to school in an extremely upscale area, so they were probably just better at hiding it.

Strangely, I don't remember much sex ed at all, abstinence or otherwise. A little bit in elementary school, but if I attended any other classes, they went straight out of my brain.

catmar

My old hs, La Quinta for one. There was also another one (Villa Park or someother school in the Villa Park area) that had a nurser on campus from what I remember hearing. My junior year we had a pregnant freshman (she gave it up for adoption). My sophomre or junior year we had a girl on the basketball team get pregnant with twins (pre-eclampsia, got married - not to biodad, though), my senior year a girl I hadn't seen around campus for a couple of years showed up to rehearsal with her baby ( I don't remember if she was graduating or just visiting), also my soph or junior year we had a pregnanct senior graduating. Those are just the ones I remember or knew about. I graduated in 1990.

edited to add:

What school did you go to Elora? I lived in Wesminster - middleclass, close to Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach? Feel free to email me if you wish - it should be in my profile!!

catmar

Actually Elora, I think I saw more useful things in the health(or whatever they called it) classes in 4th & 5th grade (I vaguely remember film of a woman giving birth) than that stupid let's have separate health/ex ed/puberty classes for the girls and boys crap that they showes us in 6th grade. As for high school, it only lasted a quarter, was pretty boring, nothing controversial. However, the drug prevention portion of the class actually had models of the stuff in a display that some cop or other adult brought in.

Elora

Oh yeah, I took the health class in summer school before my freshman year. See? This stuff just flies right out of a person's head, there's no way saying "no sex until marriage" for four or five weeks is going to override hormones. If they want their children taught abstinence they should do it themselves.

Funny, I do remember the drug assembly we had in elementary school, probably because they showed us pretty disturbing pictures (to a grade-schooler, anyway). Not that people can't see through the "just say no" fallacy before they reach college.

catmar, I lived farther south in San Juan Capistrano, and went to Dana Hills HS. I love SJC and Dana Point to death, and would hope to raise my children there someday, if it doesn't get too damn expensive. The number of BMW's, F150's and new VW Beetles in the school parking lots was ridiculous, and most likely accounts for the lowered visible presence of drugs and pregnancy at school. My brother had a friend who got pregnant and kept it, but it shocked me to hear it, because this was literally the first case I had heard of.

It was a public school, but we were supposed to be too good to do things like that.

Goober

We need to institute sex education how it's done in Monty Python's 'The meaning of life'.

John Clease does a demo of sex ed by having sex in front of the whole class. Now that would get the students to pay attention.

RufusAtticus

I had this letter published in the AJC yesterday

It's in response to this opinion published the day before.

brighid

As a parent, this stuff bothers me. Unfortunately, I also fault most of the parents because they don't bother to educate their children on matters of sex. My son is 9 and he already knows about condoms and why, when he gets older and has sex he should use them. We have also talked about his responsibilities as a man if he were to get a girl pregant, etc. None of that BS that somehow a girl "got herself knocked up." (all by her lonesome.)

I think I will take him to Planned Parenthood when he is older and let those who know tell him the right information. I am sure he doesn't want his mother discussing the finer points of masturbation with him ... I wouldn't torture the poor child like that.

Any daughter I have will also get a hell of a lot better education then I had. I thought normal things (like discharge from ovulation) meant something was wrong with me. I didn't know anything about my period before I got it in 7th grade and shit ... I didn't find out most of the things I needed to know about sex, fertility, pregnancy, etc. until much later in life.

I don't want my children to be ashamed of their bodies or sexuality, but as a parent I am hoping they will be responsible when the do have sex (long before I would want them to I am sure.)

You can't leave it up to the schools to teach your children something as important as sex education.

For any of the parents out there have any of you come across any good books to help introduce children to sexual education?

Brighid