Background info: I was an educator in grades k6 through 12 in both public schools and nonprofit. I left to raise my children & run businesses from home.
It is definitely the parent's responsibility to teach their children or young adults about sex if they want control over the information. I would not want my daughter taught about her morals, sex, or any other major decision by public schools.
Knowledge is not protection though if it is from the mouth of fools. Wrong information can be deadly and is harmful at the least. For instance, CONDOMS HARDLY PROTECT AT ALL FROM HERPES. And genital herpes is a miserable thing for many women and some men, and the dead, brain damaged, or blind babies exposed to it in the birth canal of women who do not even know they were infected. One reason they did not know, because they used condoms and because when you get tested for "all" the stds at your ob/gyn or planned parenthood or even the military - they do not screen for herpes 1 or 2. You have to request these, many times pay extra, to get them done.
Info is not control nor is control empowerment. True empowerment comes from knowing our value in God's eyes which would prevent people from wanting to share themselves with "renters" whether one night stands or long term '"renters." Another word for non-committing type - users. If we accept Jesus and abide by his commandments & get filled with the Holy Spirit - then we will be set free from every bondage (including sexual addictions) and have self control which is a fruit of the spirit. We will also have love, another fruit, and then it would be easier and less heated to talk about these issues.
STDs ARE NOT preventable with condoms. The only way to guarantee to your spouse that you are disease free is to be a virgin. And the only way to remain STD free after marriage is if both people remain faithful. For more information on this, look into my profile and view an in-depth post about how condoms DO NOT work against herpes.
Maybe students need to take a human anatomy & growth/development course. This course should not focus on sex but instead educate on the facts about brain development, decision making at different ages, conception, pregnancy, growth of a baby, delivery (why not show an actual delivery? Or three of them (water birth, with pain meds, premature/emergency birth) so they can see that yes, they all hurt!), and also the course could include pictures and images of diseases from sex. Maybe some interviews of people burdened with the consequences of diseases (like the man I mentioned in my other post who found out he had Herpes after marrying and maybe have infected 40+ other women in his lifetime who regrets having sex with anyone but his wife. BYW - they must use condoms forever and it is not guaranteed that she will not contract his herpes because it is at the base of his penis therefore not covered by the condom - and BTW Herpes is spread-able even when no outbreaks are apparent due to shedding). Even better, maybe some people might be willing to go into the schools and talk to the kids.
There is a group of young people who are virgins who are part of a program that goes into the public schools and talks to kids here through the Grace House - these type of organization can be contacted and found online. At the nonprofit I worked for, a young lady came in every year who had AIDs to talk the students - this was Pace Center for Girls.
I think that people sharing & being proud of the fact they are choosing to be virgins is great because one of the rumors in the schools that many boys use to coax girls is "everybody is doing it" and "if you don't, she will." Sometimes when people swear things publicly, they are more true to their word also.
Students graduating today are fairly ignorant in many things that matter including morals, good decision making, planning, finance, raising a family, communication skills, conflict resolutions, and more. Schools in Florida spend lots of time teaching about the life and reproduction cycles of cells to EVERY student and no time for life cycle & reproduction & diseases of humans. A nutrition class might be helpful, not just what needs to be eaten but how to decipher the ingredients so you know what is going to kill you early or make you overweight.
My last position as a teacher was in computers (an elective) and I also was hired to instruct the instructors to integrate technology into their curriculum for our county (60,000 at the time - I think Fl 3rd largest school system but I might be wrong or out of date now). I used to also tie in making things relevant - it took more work for the teachers to do but the students were more interested. Like instead of just teaching polynomials relate it to Mendel genetics - both algebra and learning science - that is relevant and interesting. In computers, instead of using the plain Jane curriculum where they did "fake" things, fake memos, types useless word combos... I had them make websites that were "real" and relevant to businesses or for informing (how to make goals, my goals are, how to make a business, writing a thank you, and pages with relevant info on diseases, colleges, jobs, how to invest and plan for retirement, etc).
My point is this… my students when they left my class were educated in how to make decisions. For instance, a new principal wanted to change the school colors and gave my students a choice of color. The graduates of my elective all wanted to instead petition to use the thousands of dollars that the change would cost (it required new paint for the lockers, jacket, uniforms, paper, etc) instead for supplying laptops for school in almost all classes. We need to have our young people learn how to make good decisions like this and keep applying sound principles. My principal was actually upset at my students for their brilliant idea. It was sound and made more sense. He changed the colors anyway despite their petition for a better use of funds.
These students were prepared to make good decisions. When I instructed teachers, we knew that 15 to 30% of teachers (mostly tenured) would not want to make any changes to make things better. So teacher tenure sometimes makes them less flexible. However, other tenured teachers use their time after tenure to become more excellent educators so throwing tenure out is not a good idea either (maybe some kind of bonus plan would be better). It is hard to find good instructors. Instructors who are excellent are well ground morally which makes them stable, they are humble (usually a TRUE Christian following Christ) so they have a teachable spirit), and they are truly loving because they are willing to instruct their students in such a way that it allows the student the possibility to have a better life than the teacher might have once both are armed with new information.
In my experience meeting and working with thousands of teachers in my career, those who fit this description are a special find. I have met a lot of teachers who are not happy, boxed in by their education degree, tenure, or retirement plan, and who really do not want to see their students succeed beyond wherever they made it to.
The wrong teacher teaching a sex education class would be an absolute disaster! Can you imagine a sex education teacher telling students how great an orgasm feels and handing out a condom to each student so they can have one "just in case" they get in a situation where they want to experience it? At a middle school where I was employed, there was a young male Math teacher who talked to his students about how sex was for the sexually active ones and another Math teacher threw a chair across the classroom- yes, they eventually got in trouble & I believe left teaching but the damage they did to their students minds before the left was not good.
We put too much trust in "professionals" and the organizations selecting them or deeming them profession. Do we even honestly know the colleges, the degrees, or the prior job experience of our children's teachers? Do we ask our doctors and therapists what college they attended, what degree they earned, and what g.p.a they had? Yes, g.p.a. DOES matter in college, people who don't want to whip out the transcripts have something to hide. Do you want a doctor working on you who slept through the courses that pertain to your condition?
When I tutored at Valencia Community College to help pay for my education, I could only tutor in courses that I earned a B or higher. However, do we really know anything at all about the professionals we deal with on a regular basis? Truth be told, most of us don't. We don't know anything about the people who listen to or we trust. We also don't judge them by the fruit (which is biblical). I have asked several doctors and other professionals where they earned their degrees, etc and they have been offended. We, as parents and intelligent reasonable adults, who are paying for services or taking advice for our health or lives or leaving our children (one of our greatest blessings)alone with or to be educated by an individual MIGHT WANT TO START ASKING THESE QUESTIONS. Do we KNOW who our doctors are, our children's teachers, etc? What are their morals? If you are a Christian, do the people you take advice from believe in Jesus and follow his commands or do they just say they believe in God?
Yes, this is me. I think seeing who is replying is better than just hearing. I am the mother of two little girls, one is almost 4, and the other died during delivery due to a mistake. I am a "Christian" and a follower in Jesus - I belive in reading the bible and obeying the commands as Jesus explains. I believed in no sex before marriage and I also do not believe in adultery. I believe that we are responsible for our own decisions regardless of what someone else does to us because we stand before Christ alone. I was raped once and though I taught rape prevention before that experience, I did not want to gouge his eyes out because I did not want to make him blind. So I do truly believing loving even the unlovable - though it is exteremely hard to die to the flesh - without Jesus, I would be a different person, a nastier person. And though some people like short posts, I like long ones because it lets me understand more about people. I love the Dr. Phil message board because I love praying about the people and situations on it. God bless. I pray that Jesus touches every person who reads this, and every person on this board, and all of Dr. Phil's staff, himself, and their families in a special way. In Jesus name. Amen.
