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- Newsgroups: talk.abortion
- Path: sparky!uunet!timbuk.cray.com!hemlock.cray.com!mon
- From: mon@cray.com (Muriel Nelson)
- Subject: Re: Well, I lost that article...
- Message-ID: <1992Jul23.124720.11031@hemlock.cray.com>
- Lines: 39
- References: <1992Jul23.003313.18002@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>
- Date: 23 Jul 92 12:47:20 CDT
-
- In article <1992Jul23.003313.18002@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> kcochran@nyx.cs.du.edu (Keith "Justified And Ancient" Cochran) writes:
- >
- >[Me and Bill Overpeck were talking. I said that state schools should teach
- >children that their bodies are their own, and that nobody has the right to
- >use them against their wills.]
- >
- >[Bill asked, something along the lines of, so do you think the schools should
- >teach about abstinance?]
- >
- >If they're going to teach it in terms of being the only 100% guaranteed,
- >foolproof method of avoiding pregnancy, and all STD's, yes.
- >
- >If they're going to teach it in terms of "Saving yourself for your future
- >husband/wife, because sex is for marriage", then no.
- >
- >If they're going to teach it in terms of "Six is ikky; be abstinant", then no.
- >
- >If they're going to teach it in terms of "The Bible says..", then no.
-
- I could not agree more, Keith. I also think values can
- be taught in terms of academics, in ways we could almost
- all agree on. In teaching someone to read and write, teaching
- them that plaigarism is an abuse of that process is also
- appropriate.
-
- A good, well-rounded sex ed program, IMHO, should attempt
- to impart some understanding of the emotional vulnerability
- that often accompanies sexual intimacy. I don't think
- it would violate most folks' values to point out that it's a
- good idea to be cautious of the feelings involved in sexual
- situations. In that context, I have no problem with sex ed
- presenting abstinence as an emotionally healthy response to
- the problems of pubescent sexuality.
-
- NB: I have a vested interest in persuading teens that the
- postponement of sexual activity can be a Good Thing.
-
- muriel
- standars disclaimer
-