And here's your bees:
Well, maybe not.
Posted on 06/07/2006 8:42:26 AM PDT by presidio9
Did you know that if you jump up and down after sex, you can't get pregnant? If you drink a hot malta after sex, you're also safe. Same with if you take a bath in Epsom salts, drink a Tropical Fantasy or go to the bathroom.
That could sum up everything you know about birth control when you graduate from a New York public high school. You would have learned it all in the schoolyard, of course, not the classroom. And you would be utterly, heartbreakingly wrong.
But, hey, that's the way it goes when state laws do not mandate the teaching of birth control in the schools. And in New York State, they don't. Even in the city, they don't. So while the state does require basic health education - and even HIV/AIDS education - it does not require any instruction on the pill, the diaphragm or any of the new contraceptives credited with lowering the teen pregnancy rate nationwide. And so, according to Planned Parenthood of New York City, many schools skip the whole messy subject.
"Whenever we talk about this, people say, 'I can't believe this is not in the schools!' " says Samantha Levine, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood. "But in New York City, about half the schools take it on themselves to teach contraception." And half do not. It's pretty much up to the principals or, sometimes, individual teachers.
Shaquana Gardener is an 11th-grader in public school who works as a peer educator at Planned Parenthood. In her semester-long health ed class at school, however, birth .control has not been discussed.
"They've taught us about HIV and AIDS and infectious diseases and how to protect yourself against them," says the lower East Side teen. That means they've discussed condoms as disease fighters.
Her class has also studied how conception occurs, right down to the diagrams of the birth canal. "But contraception," says Shaquana, "it's not in the text book. I looked through the index. \[Even\] when you get to the pregnancy unit, there's no mention of contraception."
A spokeswoman at the city Department of Education says officials are reviewing the health education curriculum and plan to update it this fall. Perhaps this means it will come into the 21st century - or even the 20th.
Meanwhile, a bill up in Albany could goose things along. It's called the Healthy Teens Act, and it would establish a funding stream for any school wishing to teach comprehensive sex ed, including contraception.
In part, the bill is meant to counterbalance the federal funds coming into the state for "abstinence only" programs. Right now the state gets about $9 million for these. There is no similar funding for comprehensive sex ed - which, by the way, also stresses abstinence as the only 100% guarantee against pregnancy and STDs. But it goes on to teach .students how to protect themselves if they end up among the 60% of high school seniors who do not abstain.
The Healthy Teens Act deserves passage. But whether or not the state grants extra funding for comprehensive sex ed, every school in New York should be teaching it.
Jumping up and down can't prevent unwanted pregnancy. But decent sex education can.
Retch. No, genius, sex education does not prevent pregnancy. *Not having sex* prevents pregnancy. And as a free bonus, it's also good for avoiding disease.
Wow, that was some heavy mental lifting.
Lenore Skenazy talks like she should get a prize for inventing "Sex Education."
Earth to Lenore: it's already being done. Where are the great results?
I dunno.....it's worked for me.
Her class has also studied how conception occurs, right down to the diagrams of the birth canal. "But contraception," says Shaquana, "it's not in the text book. I looked through the index. \[Even\] when you get to the pregnancy unit, there's no mention of contraception."
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I shudder to think what kind of parents produced this poor child.
Peronally I think it's a good idea to teach how-to contraception in public schools, but this article is simply full of it when it claims NYC public high school grads won't know anything but some silly myths if they get don't get taught this subject in the classroom. They all have friends who've had babies and/or abortions in their teens, and those girls have gotten plenty of info at the public hospitals and public/private clinics where they gave birth or had abortions. Info spreads throughout peer groups.
The kind who would let their teenager be a "peer educator" for Planned Parenthood.
Sex ed has failed. Period.
Abstinence education works. Period.
I think certain adults hate abstinence education because it suggests that human beings actually CAN be responsible and make choices that delay gratification and they're still grasping for rationale to excuse their own impulsivity and irresponsibility.
I think the "teaching" of sex education for public schools should be contracted out to whatever choice the Parent chooses......Church, Planned Parenthood, PARENT.....get it out of the classroom.
...was going to include a subheading like "Lenore Skenazy" takes a week off from her typical weighty journalism on topics like "Katie Couric's 'perkiness' is a role modle for perky people everywhere"
(actual topic of last week's editorial)
The same could be said of any number of other topics. Can you think of some "how to beat a DUI arrest" myths? I can. Should drinking and the proper way to measure your BAC be required subjects in school?
I'm sure you can think of plenty of other subjects every child should learn that are his parents' responsibility and right to teach to him.
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Exactly. Very, very strange interest for a teen.
adjusting the thermostat in hell bump
do you mean teachers should stop having sex with students?
That could sum up everything you know about firearms when you graduate from a New York public high school. You would have learned it all in the schoolyard, of course, not the classroom. And you would be utterly, heartbreakingly wrong.
I await the author's demand for immediate educational remedies for this sad situation.
I jump up and down BEFORE sex, and then ask the girl why she's running away.
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