I wonder when the ACLU will get involved....Isn't teaching waiting until marriage to have sex a religious viewpoint and what's it doing in public schools?Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvCvw...erallyi-CLOWNSAs clownish as Dye’s words may sound to you, they are unfortunately not rare ones for young people to hear in classrooms all over the country. Thanks to George W. Bush and a complicit Congress, we currently spend $1.5 billion a year to fund
abstinence-only until marriage sex education in our public schools. And yes, that money goes to people like Derek Dye, as he is employed by the Elizabeth New Life Center that received a
$800,000 CBAE grant in 2007 to promote abstinence until marriage. His qualifications? A “Bachelor of Fun Arts” from Barnum Bailey Clown College, and an abstinence educator certification that can be purchased for $50.
So… what’s wrong with abstinence-only until marriage sex education? Abstinence-only programs censor information about contraception and condoms; make moral judgments students may not share; stigmatize and shame students who have already had sex; and discriminate against GLBTQ students who can’t legally marry. These programs often encourage stereotypical gender roles, use scare tactics, blur religion and science, and contain factual errors, like saying that HIV can be spread through sweat and tears.
And using condoms is like juggling machetes…
What’s more, abstinence-only programs don’t work – independent study after study has shown that students who receive them don’t have lower pregnancy, HIV, or STI rates. And worse, students who receive abstinence-only programs are less likely to use contraception and condoms when they do have sex.
Then again, as one colleague told me today, nothing wants to make her have sex less than a clown… so maybe they’re on to something.
So… what can we do to make sure that abstinence-only programs like this one are not funded with our tax dollars? First of all,
contact the Obama transition team to make sure that they ZERO OUT these programs in their first budget. Also, ending abstinence-only funding is currently 3rd place on Change.gov's user rankings, so you can
go there and vote for it, too.
Secondly, we must contact all of our representatives to let them know that we do not want this waste of money being snuck back into the budget through the appropriations process.
Send them that message here.
For those of you living in Ohio, call or email your
Ohio State Senator today and urge them to co-sponsor the Act For Our Children’s Future, a bill to establish standards for comprehensive sexual health education in Ohio’s public schools.
LET’S SEND OUT THE CLOWNS!!!
marks the location of current message within thread
