Sex-ed program is a smart move
Regina Brett, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 22, 2006, Metro pg 1B.
Think B 4 U love."
"Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder."
"Love is worth waiting for."
"Control your urgin', stay a virgin."
"Pet your dog, not your date."
"Just say whoa."
That's the T-shirt version of abstinence education.
I haven't seen the official abstinence portion of the new sex-education curriculum being introduced in Cleveland schools, but I applaud the mayor, the county, the schools and the agencies that came together to get it going so quickly.
Teen pregnancy is one of the biggest causes of poverty. When a teen has a baby, two people, sometimes three, end up poor.
Cleveland city schools already offer sex education in some grades. The new curriculum will offer age-appropriate sex education from kindergarten through high school.
The new lesson plan is win-win for everybody. Both abstinence and contraception will be taught, which is the best approach.
You don't have to hand kids T-shirts that say "Virgin Territory" or "No Trespassing," which look more like welcome mats to those walking hormones we call teenagers.
You don't have to have kids sign virginity pledges that say "True Love Waits." But if it helps, go for it.
But we do have to teach abstinence. It's the only birth control that is 100 percent effective every time.
The pill, condoms and other birth-control methods will reduce teen pregnancy, but we should start off by acknowledging that the ideal is to wait until marriage to have sex. Even if their parents didn't. Even if their friends don't.
Why should teens delay sex?
So they won't get chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV or AIDS.
They won't get pregnant and alter the course of their lives forever.
They won't have to choose between abortion, adoption or raising a child before they finish being one.
How long should they wait? Until marriage, if possible. Or until they're an adult in a committed relationship. At least until they're mature enough to talk to their parents about birth control and preventing disease.
The only problem with the new sex education is the same problem the old one had:
Participation is voluntary.
Why not make it mandatory?
Parents and kids shouldn't be allowed to opt out.
Teen sex isn't a private matter, not when it devastates society.
Sex education shouldn't be optional any more than multiplication tables or the periodic table.
All teens need to know that they can get pregnant the first time they have intercourse.
That they can get pregnant even if the guy pulls out. That they can get pregnant even if it's during their period. That they can get an STD even if they only had oral sex. That everyone is NOT doing it, contrary to what music, videos and movies suggest.
Sex education will also end sexual ignorance, which is killing the unborn at astronomical rates.
Abortion is a tragedy for everyone, the mother, the father, the life exterminated.
You want to get rid of abortion? Prevent unplanned pregnancies.
You do that by educating teens about condoms and other contraceptives.
You do that by teaching them that abstinence isn't the only choice, but it is the best one.
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