The requirement that students have to take a sex education
course while in school has made some positive changes and we have seen a
decrease in teen pregnancies in the last twenty years. While the numbers are
still substantially high, we can keep making some improvements to these programs
and keep progressing. Senate Bill 521,
filed by Republican state Senator Ken Paxton of McKinney, is not taking a step
in the right direction. This bill prohibits school districts from using sex
education materials that are provided by any organization that are affiliated
with abortion providers, most notably targeting Planned Parenthood.
Currently, parents have the option
to review the materials used in these courses and also have the option to
withdraw their child from participating in sex education if they so choose to.
With this proposed bill, parents would have to sign a consent form allowing
their child to take part in this informative course which means more paperwork
and also may lead to fewer students attending the course. Whether students have
sex education or not, most likely a lot of teens are going to engage in this
physical activity due to hormones or whatever they blame it on. This is why it
is important to not only teach them about abstinence, but also educate them on different
types of contraceptives and where to attain these materials. Also, we teach
them about the dreaded sexually transmitted diseases and why we don’t want
them. Sex education in school also provides the parent an alternative to
teaching their child about sex because most parents and teens don’t want to
have that incredibly awkward conversation.
Hopefully in the next twenty years
we will see a continual decline in pregnancies amongst teens with the help of
programs like sex education and Planned Parenthood. It is clear that these programs
do not encourage sex, but give teens education and options on how to prevent
unwanted pregnancies. Senate Bill 521 is not going to help in the gradual
decline of teen pregnancies, only hurt it.
5 comments:
I absolutely agree with this post. Texas had the third highest teenage-pregnancy birth rate last year in all of the United States. I heard a speaker at the Brown Syposium a couple of months ago talk about the importance of sex education to young teens. Right now, Texas has a strict "abstinence only" sex education method, which fails to provide the OTHER methods that are available if a teen is to have sex. Which in reality, is bound to happen. They do not teach about condoms, communication with their partner, birth control, or anything of the sort. They simply teach "Say No," which doesn't provide pre-cautionary measures that could be taken. I agree that this bill is taking a step in the wrong direction. If they want the pregnancy rates to lessen- they need to DO THINGS that will make that happen! Such as passing out condoms/taking the stuff from Planned Parenthood would be a great start, in my opinion. And yes, sexual education in school would definitely eliminate the awkward conversation between the teen and their parents. Whew!
On Tuesday, April 2, 2013 one of my classmates posted an article called “Unplanned Parenthood” and it talks about a bill that “prohibits school districts from using sex education materials that are provided by any organization that are affiliated with abortion providers.” Parents have the right to review this material and also to withdraw their children “from participating in sex education if they so choose to.” These courses will, in my opinion help students to really appreciate what “building a family” is and not just going around and have kids like if it was a game. Parents can also take classes to learn how to talk with their children about this “awkward conversation.”
“Hopefully in the next twenty years we will see a continual decline in pregnancies among teens with the help of programs like sex education and Planned Parenthood. It is clear that these programs do not encourage sex, but give teens education and options on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies.” I agree with my classmate, I hope teens open their eyes and see the reality, because not all of them are going to take this as something “serious” some of them just don’t care, and that’s the problem. Parents should totally agree with schools so that students can be thought these courses because if they refuse to talk to them about sex then who else will do it?
I agree with Jamie’s blog post on Unplanned Parenthood about Senate Bill 521 causing more harm than good to Texas children. I firmly agree that it takes a village to raise a child. We as a nation “or world” need to ban together to help with properly educating our children to make the correct choices in life. Parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, grandparents and whoever else may be part of our children’s lives need to take it upon themselves to make sure that every child gets all the information possible to live a happy productive life. Sometimes leaving it up to the parents and only the parents is not the best couse of action. I agree wholeheartedly that the school is one of the best places (beyond what is taught at home, of course) to learn about safe sex and where to go if you are in trouble. Just because Planned Parenthood provides abortions they are going to remove the material from schools. I understand that this is more an attack towards Planned Parenthood, but in reality it is going to harm our children more in the end. Why does the state seem to think it is fair to remove necessary information from our children? Some parents need to also understand that having “the talk” with your kids is just as important though. I wish it were not deemed such an uncomfortable conversation to have with our kids. Sex is looked at as a bad thing and some think it is best to teach children abstinence. The majority of teenagers are going to have sex. Why not make sure they are armed with as much information possible to ensure their safety and to help cut down on unplanned pregnancies. It is more important to teach the repercussions of having unsafe sex and how to protect yourself, girls and boys alike.
I am in full agreement with Jamie’s response towards the opposition of this bill SB 521 that deliberately wants to opt out sex education in public schools. Seeing how the rate of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases declined, due to these courses being taught within schools across the nation, not only brought a positive outlook towards eliminating these errors but eased the discomfort parents would have to endure when speaking to their children regarding these topics. Dismissal of this bill, I feel, would continue to decay the amount of teen pregnancies in this country and bring a justice to eliminate unnecessary diseases that shouldn’t be undergone by anyone.
The Senate Bill 521 is something I personally do not agree on. I agree with Jamie's point of view that it is a step backwards for Sex Education. I think that the stress needs to not only be on unwanted pregnancies and information for contraceptives but also, I feel as thou teens would benefit from more of an overall course pointing out the realities of their actions . In addition the school should offer guidance and relief of pure pressure to those whom choose abstinence. The article expresses her opinion well and there is voice to the topic which allows me, the reader to relate to what Jamie is writing about. I would only suggest that the article would have more detail on to what might be a better course of action in opposing the bill. In all I do believe it was a great article informing the reader about the bill and her opinion on Senate Bill 512.
Post a Comment