So If I am right we both agree it should be health ed. how the human body works,male and female. How girls become pregnant and leave the option of birth control up to the parents.
The morality of birth control is the parent's responsibility - but as to what is out there, how effective it's proven in clinical trials, and how it prevents pregnancy, IMO can be a part of a comprehensive sex ed class. Take, for instance, the NeuvaRing. That is something that has been developed in just the past few years. I know very little about it, other than the impression I've gotten that a woman only has to worry about it once a month. I can spend a lot of time doing internet research on the methods of BC that have been developed since I last had to think about it (17 yrs ago), but why repeat the scientific research that the curriculum director already has done?
I guess not all children have open discussions with their parents so schools feel the need to teach it.
A LOT of kids don't have open discussions with their parents about many "touchy" subjects, including sex. My DD often tells me that some of her friends can't believe all the things we talk about, that they'd never talk about some of that stuff with their moms. And the conversations I'm having with my DD are no different than those I had with DSs when they were in hs. Just this morning DD was telling me about one of her aquaintences who the boys describe as "friendly" (in a very NOT complimentary way). The girl admitted to the guidance counselor that she was sexually active with a number of boys, and the guidance counselor encouraged her to talk to her mother about it, she needed to see a doc to have a STD test. The girl agreed to a meeting with mom and the guidance counselor together in which the girl told her mother about the situation - mom looked at her and said "you're out of cheerleading, out of chorus activities, and grounded until the end of the school year." and walked out of the room. With an attitude like that, what are the chances this girl is ever going to tell her mom anything ever again?
I am just saying we can agree abstinence is a form of birth control right? ...I don't believe the schools are teaching moral consequences and if they are I believe THAT should be left up to the parents.
Abstinence IS a form of birth control AND STD protection, no doubt about it. But IMO, kids need more education on BC and STD prevention than simply abstinence... and many parents don't have the information (or inclination) to have those kinds of discussions with their kids. As far as moral consequences? If you're talking simply in terms of religion, then no, the schools have no business teaching that unless it's a religious school. But if you're also lumping the emotional and psychological baggage that goes with early sexual activity - IMO that falls into the realm of health education too. If one's religion teaches that sexual activity prior to marriage may seriously damage one's relationship with God - that doesn't belong in the schools. However, it's been fairly well documented that early sexual activity often results in difficulty in relationships later in life - that falls into social science IMO.
I guess my opinion boils down to this - if what is being taught is within the realm of medical, biological and social sciences, that is great. If what is being taught falls more into the areas of religious life (and unfortuantely, the abstinence only programs that were reviewed in our school had a strong religious flavor to them, though they didn't come out and SAY 'you'll burn in hell if you...', but they sure implied it), that belongs in the home and not in the public school.
The school's responsibility is to prepare kids not only for life in their teen years, but also teach skills for success in college and beyond. Teaching kids about BC while in hs doesn't mean they're going to NEED that info now - but odds are that they will at some point within the 10 years after they're out of hs. It's the very unusual person who makes it to 40 y/o remaining a virgin.
