Talarohk
The Pedanticator
Registered: Feb 2003
Location: Oceanside, CA
Posts: 5073 |
One problem with San Diego...
I really love my new job, but I have very mixed feelings about where I live. I live in Oceanside, which is about 35 miles north of San Diego. The article being cited below is about the Grossmont school district, which is roughly in the area indicated. However, the ethos applies to much of the San Diego area, and certainly to Oceanside.
Article from here :
quote:
SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- A local high school sexual education project has been rejected by school administrators because it is "too controversial," NBC 7/39 reported.
Three Valhalla High School students said they were told by school administrators their assigned project that deals with educating students about sexually transmitted diseases would not be allowed to be presented on campus because it is too controversial.
Students Jamie Williams and Matt Stahl, along with another student, said the name of their project was, "No Glove, No Love." Williams said it dealt with the lack of a comprehensive subject matter in sex education programs in schools.
But they said they didn't expect school administrators to offer them an A grade on the project in one breath, and in the next, say the students were not allowed to complete it.
The students told NBC 7/39 the school's two vice principals rejected three written proposals on the assigned subject, all of which their teacher supported.
The students also said one vice principal told them the main reason for rejecting their work was because "we want to keep Valhalla's name out of the headlines, especially if it has to do with teen sexuality."
A school representative told NBC 7/39 that like all schools in the Grossmont Union High School District, Valhalla follows an abstinence-only policy.
However, the teens said it doesn't work and that's what needs to change.
Stahl said that by teaching teens about sex, he hopes it would help kids learn about it, instead of rebelling and not abstaining.
The students have contacted senators and congressmen and are trying to get a petition on campus to expand the school's sex education curriculum.
The high school trio calls the act "censorship" and said STDs are on the rise on campus and "the school should help students deal with the problem."
This makes me absolutely furious. I am all for parents being able to raise their children with whatever moral basis they like, and to teach them how to make choices consistent with that basis. But to have a policy in which a school actively prohibits the dissemination of perfectly valid biological information of direct health relevance to students is criminal.
A well-designed health curriculum should point out that abstinence is the only absolutely effective method of avoiding pregnancy and STDs, and should accurately represent the failure rates and risks associated with all forms of contraception and protection. To not only leave out information on non-abstinence methods (bad enough in itself), but to also take specific action to prevent students from learning about them, is a serious perversion of education.
I would support a private school's right to take such action, although I would condemn it as foolish and counterproductive. But this is a public school.
Even if you have a student who decides to abstain until marriage, they will *still* need to know this information for their own protection. I am really having trouble understanding the rationale behind denying students access to information like this. Can anyone explain this to me?
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05-30-2007 10:05 PM
