Posted on 05/13/2005 8:40:19 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
Abstinence speaker pushed religion in school, dad charges
An irate father is demanding that Bozeman High School present students with a rebuttal to what he called "extremely biased religious dogma" delivered by an assembly speaker who warned teens against the dangers of drugs, drinking and premarital sex.
Tom Wells, a Bozeman attorney and father of a ninth-grader, told the School Board on Monday night that he was appalled by the "thinly veiled ministry" and "misinformation" presented the week before by speaker Tina Marie Holewinski.
Holewinski, 27, of Hollywood, Calif., a full-time speaker with an organization called True Lies, defended her talk Tuesday as full of "hard-core facts" that could save teenagers' lives.
She denied that she interjected any of her religious beliefs in the talk, and added she'd been flooded with e-mail messages from grateful teens.
Principal Godfrey Saunders said Holewinski had presented the messages school officials are most concerned about each spring, with prom and graduation approaching -- Don't drink, drink and drive, don't use drugs.
But, Saunders said, she had gone beyond what they were expecting to present her own views about abstinence.
Saunders said he had spoken to students through the school intercom the next morning to say that what Holewinski discussed about condoms and birth control pills isn't what is taught in the school's sex-ed curriculum, though it also emphasizes abstinence.
"She went off-message," Superintendent Mike Redburn said. "We share (Wells') concerns."
Wells demanded the school give equal time to rebut the "misinformation" his son heard: that condoms lead to cancer, that birth control pills are only 20 percent effective, that sexually transmitted diseases are spread by skin contact alone, that third-trimester fetuses can be aborted, that video games lead to homicide, that human papilloma virus can be transferred through condoms and that teens can achieve "second virginity" through abstinence.
Holewinski responded that she spoke mainly against against drugs, drinking and driving, and debunked "the media's" glamorization of sex, alcohol, drugs and violence.
She maintained it's true that there are cancer-causing agents in latex condoms; that 80 percent of teenage girls who seek abortions are already on birth-control pills; and that human papilloma virus is small enough to pass through condoms. She said she does promote the idea of second virginity.
The school paid Holewinski paid $1,500 for her talk and expenses.
Pat Strauss, assistant principal, said much of Holewinski's talk did cover what they'd asked for, but then all of a sudden she'd throw in zingers, like condoms have 15 different carcinogens, or that birth control pills cause cervical cancer or sterility.
The reaction from the 1,800 students was split 50/50, he said. Some teachers said the talk prompted some lively discussions.
"We tried to do something good for our kids -- be safe, get everybody through graduation," Strauss said. "That's what's most disappointing."
A cursory review of Internet sites on just one of Holewinski's disputed topics turned up numerous sites asserting condoms are linked to cancer; however, the pro-condom Planned Parenthood site contends that abstinence-only supporters have put out a number of myths about condoms over the years.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site doesn't discuss any condom-cancer link. It does say, "a condom could save your life" by greatly reducing the chances of getting sexually transmitted diseases, especially AIDS. It adds, "sex with condoms isn't totally 'safe sex,' but it is 'less risky' sex."
I was looking at the link Raycpa provided in #36.
Well, I will defer to the greater expertise of the rest of you :-).
Yep, *far* from homely.. :-)
If the same 21 girls take the pill instead and they are sexually active for 3 years then over three years time, there will be about 5 (or about 1/4) pregnancies.
These numbers are disturbing to me. I never thought to look at the cumulative error rate potential.
Giving advise individually may be okay but to say to a large group of women that these methods will stop pregnancies is a dangerous public message.
Condoms are unnatural. Humans were made to reproduce.
Left it on for a couple of weeks?
Dare I ask how he went to the bathroom? Do I even want to know??
I know this guy who bought a used car. 5 years later, BAM, herpes.
Ick!
Sam: "Do we like to wear rubbers, guys?"
Crowd - "NO!"
Sam: - "WE HATE RUBBERS!!!!"
You sir are worse than Hitler!
No, that is UGLY. "Homely" is much more generous.
However, I will withdraw that adjective after seeing the second, much more flattering, set of pictures.
My parents also taught me that sex was a natural and beautiful thing but not something reserved for "serious relationships only" unless their was an engagement ring on my finger and a promise of marriage:-)
Puppy love didn't count.
I recall a recent study claiming that those pledging abstinence often did not follow through, and in fact took greater risks than those that did not support abstinence. "Teens who pledged to remain abstinent until marriage are more likely to engage in other types of sexual activity that increase their risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases, according to a new study co-authored by Columbias Sociology Department Chair Peter Bearman and Yale professor Hannah Bruckman."
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/03/29/424928352fe31
"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. May God have mercy on your soul."
FMCDH(BITS)
Lots. For example, 25% of kids today will contract an STD before they graduate from high school. There are about 5 million new cases of chlamydia every year; untreated chlamydia leads to PID, which leads to infertility.
People who abstain don't have to worry about any of that.
I recall a recent study claiming that those pledging abstinence often did not follow through
Which doesn't really have much to do with whether or not abstinence is a good idea, does it? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to condemn abstinence on the basis of folks who don't practice it, but that's what you're trying to do.
and in fact took greater risks than those that did not support abstinence.
Neither group evidently supported abstinence; one just said that it did.
Although many pledgers abstained from vaginal intercourse, the recent study found that they still participated in other forms of sex that may have exposed them to STDs.
This study really has nothing to do with abstinence. It has to do with kids who make a public "abstinence pledge" and conclude that they can't have normal intercourse but can engage in sodomy.
Guess what! [Here's a shock] Abstinence means abstinence. It does not mean "abstinence except for sodomy". You might as well talk about people trying to conquer alcoholism by drinking rubbing alcohol instead of whiskey.
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