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Abstinence-only curriculum is not sex education, judge rules
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | May 14, 2015 | By Bob Egelko

Posted on 05/14/2015 2:18:47 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

California’s sex-education law prohibits school districts from indoctrinating students on the need to remain celibate before marriage or teaching them that abstinence is the only safe way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, a judge has ruled.

The decision by Fresno County Superior Court Judge Donald Black applies only to the Clovis School District. But as the first ruling to interpret California’s 11-year-old law on sex education and disease prevention, it should put schools on notice that “young people need complete, accurate health information required by law,” said Phyllida Burlingame, director of Reproductive Justice Policy for the ACLU, which took part in the suit.

“This is the first time that abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula have been found to be medically inaccurate,” Burlingame said Monday.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: culture; faith; religion
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To: CtBigPat

Fine, let their parents do it.


21 posted on 05/14/2015 5:09:53 PM PDT by Trailerpark Badass (There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach, said one woman.)
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To: GilesB
Sex is not a basic body function

Biology 101: Eat, survive, REPRODUCE!

I’m guessing you encouraged your son to become an engineer without bothering to learn math?

Actually he IS training to be an engineer and he KICKS BUTT in his AP math courses.

If your teen sneers at conservatism - you shouldn’t brag about how you raised him.

My son is fairly conservative - I have raised him well.

Just answer me this: why does teaching abstinence work for cigarettes, but not for sex?

A nonsmoker does not crave nicotine. Sexually, a teenage boy is like a three pack a day smoker who just quit cold turkey. They WANT IT.

If you wish to teach your kids that they should hold off on sex until they are married that is your business. But they should still have an understanding of how the body works and the potential risks involved with sex.

22 posted on 05/14/2015 5:37:10 PM PDT by CtBigPat (Free Republic - The grown-ups table of the internet.)
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To: CtBigPat

Oh yes, the biggest reality about sex is that it is dangerous and harmful outside of a true, committed marriage - the environment for which it was intended - just like driving a car in the house is dangerous and harmful.

Sure, you can do it, and it’s fun, and you will probably go on living...but you’ve left a lot of damage in your wake.

Did you bother to teach your son that reality about sex? Or is he going to be another ignorant wielder of an awesome power he knows little about, littering the road behind him with damaged lives....while he dutifully buys another pack of condoms?


23 posted on 05/14/2015 5:41:10 PM PDT by GilesB
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To: GilesB
Would you buy a car without taking it for a test drive?

The reality is most people have sex before they get married. And those who do wait often regret waiting to enjoy the AWESOMENESS that is sex or find the promises of a wonderful wedding night ruined by an awkward lack of experience.

24 posted on 05/14/2015 6:07:06 PM PDT by CtBigPat (Free Republic - The grown-ups table of the internet.)
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To: CtBigPat

Sorry chum, you should stop talking about sex - you know very little about it. And you, in your ignorance, certainly have no business telling me how or what to teach “my” children.

Sex is a secondary function. You stumbled upon the truth - primary functions are those necessary for survival, of which eating is one. It is AFTER those needs are met that reproduction becomes important - see, that is the definition of secondary. “Basic” is synonymous with “primary”. Glad to help you out. Have your son give me a call when you get stumped.

Soooo - you understand the importance of the foundation of engineering, that’s good. But you don’t have an appreciation for the foundation of sex....that’s very bad. In some ways more dangerous than an engineer who doesn’t understand math.

Hmmmmm - “fairly conservative”? Does he think that a government demanding who, when, what and where kids are taught about sex is an example of limited government, like you do?

No, a smoker is addicted...a teenage boy WANTS it, like you said. But teens WANT to be cool, and drive recklessly, and smoke and do drugs - if you don’t teach them better.

Would you tell your kid, “I know you are going to drive recklessly, so I’m not going to try and stop you, but just make sure you use a seatbelt...and don’t worry if you destroy someone else’s life, enjoy!”

Or, “I know you will want to try drugs, so here is a fresh needle, and I’ll always give you another one when you need it.”

Or, “You’re going to drink before you’re of legal age...so make sure you call me to give you a ride”...oooops, bad example, you probably DID tell him that one.

Sexually, a teenage boy has a desire, and he needs to learn to control his desire for the appropriate time. Treating him like he cannot control those urges is doing him, and the girls he comes in contact with, a HUGE disservice. Parental malpractice. The most important thing you can teach your child is discipline....and that is most true when it comes to sex.


25 posted on 05/14/2015 6:14:39 PM PDT by GilesB
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To: CtBigPat
Would you buy a car without taking it for a test drive?

If more women knew that men think of them as an appliance, a convenient sexual service provider, they would make smarter choices in life.

26 posted on 05/14/2015 6:16:44 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("He's not my prophet, he's just some dead bloke." ~ Mark Steyn)
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To: CtBigPat

LOLOL - you should quit talking about this....everything you say, shouts your ignorance.

A girl or a woman is not a car. I don’t want to test drive her. It is a catchy little phrase the hedonists toss out to justify their immoral actions, but it has nothing to do with marriage. I mean, lots of people test drive a car, and most also ask their dad to test drive it, especially their first car; and they will ask their friends to check it out, look it over completely....shall we continue this ludicrous analogy?

Do you know that any premarital sex reduces the chances of a lasting marriage? Premarital sex with the one you marry reduces them even more. Did you teach your son that?

You DO want your son to have the best chance at a successful lifelong marriage don’t you? Then why do you want to plant the seeds of failure? That sounds evil and destructive.

Wouldn’t you think the creator of sex would have the best ideas about how to use it properly? Did you tell your son to find out what God has to say about it? Did you point him to the user’s manual? It has everything in there, not just stuff about the air conditioner...er, I mean sex. (And you don’t EVEN want to get into a debate with me about the nature or existence of God)


27 posted on 05/14/2015 6:29:15 PM PDT by GilesB
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To: GilesB

My in-laws had 5 condom babies.

My daughter had a birth control pill baby. That baby grew up and had to take birthcontrol for a medical condition. In the meantime, she conceived a set of birthcontrol twins.

These are true stories!

So the moral of the story is this: What do you call people who use birth control? PARENTS :)

I’ve heard it said that 80% of all people who use birth control become parents. That makes the effectiveness rate somewhere around 20%.

I agree that there does come a time when children have a need to know some sexual information, but that age is NOT the same for each child. I also agree that it’s the parents who have the right and responsibility to teach that information to his/her own child when said PARENT determines what the child needs to know.

It seems to me that the more information made available, the more the information is acted upon by naturally curious children in addition to blooming hormones.

My mother was the one who made the necessary information available to me when the time was right, and answered my questions as I asked them as I grew up. Those were very personal and intimate times with my mom, something I looked forward to having with my own daughters.

But the state stole that special time from me and my children by divulging way too much, way too soon.

If I knew then what I know now, they never would have stepped foot into a public school. I lacked information and confidence then, and home schooling wasn’t exactly popular enough for the information about it to be readily available.

The fist two kids slipped away, but the youngest did get some home schooling, and experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Awesome arguments GilesB. If parents want strangers teaching their children, then that’s their privilege, but those of us who do take parenting seriously shouldn’t be deprived of our God-given responsibility to teach our kids ourselves.


28 posted on 05/14/2015 6:30:26 PM PDT by PrairieLady2 (`)
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To: PrairieLady2

Thank you PL2.

I appreciate your examples and your encouragement. You and I are simply going to life’s owner’s manual for guidance...many are asking the guy who always sits at the end of the bar how to service a Lamborghini.


29 posted on 05/14/2015 6:40:56 PM PDT by GilesB
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To: GilesB

Don’t get me started on marriage. While you may have a ceremony in a church, marriage is fundamentally a legal agreement. It is also betting half your stuff and the time you get to spend with your kids on the chance that your spouse is “the one”. I lost that bet. I loved my wife with all my heart, was always faithful to her and she still treated me like crap.


30 posted on 05/14/2015 6:51:58 PM PDT by CtBigPat (Free Republic - The grown-ups table of the internet.)
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To: CtBigPat

If you had premarital sex, you started your marriage with the deck stacked against you.

You have said things that give hints to possible issues, but I’m not going to presume to understand what happened, and I’ve never liked the bromide that when a marriage breaks up, both parties contributed....usually true, but not necessarily: It take two to make a marriage work, but it only takes one to destroy it.

Marriage really isn’t a bet, it’s a commitment. I’m not questioning your commitment, only you know that. But I will say this - modern attitudes about sex, including sex education, has done a lot of damage to a lot of marriages. And I’m not talking about gay marriage, either.


31 posted on 05/14/2015 7:25:28 PM PDT by GilesB
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