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Bodies ... The Exhibition
Sex ed in the Miami Valley remains controversial
Governor announced in March that Ohio would reject Title V funding for abstinence-only classes.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Fynecia Hines says she learned about contraceptives through her friends that were taking them.
At 19, she's now pregnant with her second child.
Extras
Photos
Hines attended Trotwood schools, a district that stresses abstinence until marriage and steers clear of hot topics such as abortion and homosexuality. She now wishes she was given more sex education.
"They left us pretty much in the dark," said Hines, who now attends a charter school and takes care of her son, Kirk.
Hines said the abstinence message is good — and one she wishes she had heeded — but it isn't enough for everyone. Her middle school health class covered anatomy and sexually transmitted diseases, she said, but once she entered Trotwood-Madison High School there wasn't any more formal sex education.
"It should be a required course for freshmen when you come in and the temptations have started," Hines said. She added that some students need sex education earlier, such as sixth grade when she became sexually active.
Gov. Ted Strickland announced in March that Ohio would join several other states in rejecting federal Title V funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage classes.
Strickland said abstinence should be stressed in school but as part of a comprehensive program that tells youth how to protect themselves against disease and pregnancy.
A new poll conducted by Quinnipiac University shows
71 percent of Ohio voters favor sex education programs that focus on both abstinence and contraception use. The support level jumps to 81 percent among Ohio voters with youth in public schools.
Other polls have had different, even conflicting results, suggesting there people's opinions on sex education depend greatly on how the question is asked. And everyone, it seems, has a different opinion of how much schools should be telling students, when it should be introduced and who should do the teaching.
The State Board of Education has standards defining what youths need to know for every subject except health and physical education.
Nearly 10 years ago when the board started developing health standards, including sex education, it was swamped with dissension. At the same time, there was political heat over a $1 million federal grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included money for condom education. Ohio turned away the grant.
"It just got out of hand. We ended up doing nothing," said Martha Wise, a moderate Republican who served on the state board for nearly three decades. "We still need PE and health standards for the state of Ohio."
In 1999, the state adopted a law requiring local districts to craft health education curricula stressing that abstinence is the only sure-fire way of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies. In 2001, the General Assembly added a law barring the adoption of statewide physical education or health standards without legislative approval.
As a result, the buck got passed to local school districts, although several say they'd like guidance from the state in the form of standards.
"I think that guidance would be helpful to us," said Cheryl Dale, assistant superintendent of Huber Heights schools. "It shouldn't be a factor of where you go to school. It should be bigger than that."
Shannon Martin Morano, who has been a sex educator for Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region for seven years, said sex education is patchy at best, varying even by school according to which principal sees it as a priority.
"I would love to see
comprehensive sex education mandated in every school, starting at a very young age," Martin Morano said. Her caveat is that the standards be comprehensive, non-judgmental and based on scientific research. "I'm not so sure they would be able to pull that off," she added.
Centerville schools may have the most comprehensive program of the 16 districts in Montgomery County. All the sex education is done by district staffers who have gone through three hours of supplemental in-service training. Instruction begins in fourth and fifth grades, with videos on the human reproductive system and discussion of HIV as a sexually transmitted disease. More information is added in seventh, eighth and ninth grades.
Abstinence is stressed, first and foremost, but students are also told about other contraceptives in eighth and ninth grades, said Assistant Superintendent Terry Riley. Parents, who are invited to review the material ahead of time, can opt to excuse their children from the instruction.
"It's always sensitive but what we've tried to do in our district is be very out there about what we do and why we do it," Riley said. "We don't force it on anyone."
Most districts invite outside groups in to help with the sex education programs and often it's Elizabeth's New Life Center, an anti-abortion, pro-abstinence group.
"Since the 1960s, our culture has suggested that sexual behavior should have little or no boundaries. Does it surprise me that half of the schools still teach comprehensive sex ed? No," said Rachel Sacksteder, Elizabeth's New Life Center Director of Abstinence Education.
"The fact that half of the schools in Montgomery County look to Elizabeth's New Life Center to provide excellent abstinence education, which complies with the law in Ohio, tells me that we are providing a critical service in the community," Sacksteder said.
According to state figures, teen pregnancy rates have been in steady decline, dropping from 42.3 pregnancies for every 1,000 females ages 10 to 19 in 1997 to 33.1 in 2005.
Meanwhile, sexually transmitted diseases among teens have fluctuated in the last five years.
Shortly after Strickland made the announcement about Title V funding, the ACLU of Ohio requested sex education materials used by 31 school districts across the state, including six in the Miami Valley, as part of a national study on whether abstinence programs provide accurate information that is free of religious messages.
Roughly 40 percent of the federally-funded abstinence education groups in Ohio are either faith-based or anti-abortion organizations.
Martin Morano of Planned Parenthood said she sees pregnant students and teen moms in her classes every week — girls whom she believes would benefit from comprehensive sex education.
"They might have wanted to take a different path in life," said Martin Morano, who gives sex education lessons in three Montgomery County school districts. "If they could've prevented that pregnancy, if they had it to do all over again, they would have.
"It would've been the one class that changed a girl's whole life," she said.
——————————
Here is a sampling of questions students
in sex education classes have asked:
Should you still trust your partner if you always see them flirting with others?
Can you get an abortion without your parents knowing and how much does an abortion cost?
Can you get a sexually transmitted disease from sitting on a toilet seat?
When you have a new partner, how can you know if they're STD-free?
Can you use more than one source of birth control at one time?
How do you get birth control without your parents knowing?
What is a yeast infection?
Can a girl get pregnant while on birth control?
Can a girl get pregnant from oral sex?
If someone has already started having sex, can they stop?
I don't know very many happily married people so why would I want to save sex for marriage?
Since condoms are not
100 percent effective,
what is?
——————————
Gov. Ted Strickland favors a comprehensive approach to sex education and wants to eliminate funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs. A Quinnipiac University poll, released last week, found a majority of Ohioans favor such an approach.
Q. Title 5 federal funds can be used to help Ohio's public and private schools teach abstinence-only sex education programs. The funds cannot be used for condom or contraception education. In general do you support or oppose this abstinence-only sex education program?
Support - 43%
Oppose - 51%
DK/NA - 7%
Have kids in public schools:
Support - 35%
Oppose - 60%
DK/NA - 4%
Q. Do you support or
oppose eliminating
funding for abstinence-only sex education programs?
Support - 51%
Oppose - 40%
DK/NA - 9%
Have kids in public schools:
Support - 53%
Oppose - 38%
DK/NA - 9%
Q. Which comes closer to your point of view regarding the best approach to sex education in Ohio's schools?
They should focus mainly on:
Abstinence 18%
Contraceptive use 5%
Both equally 71%
Have kids in public schools:
They should focus mainly on:
Abstinence 13%
Contraceptive use 4%
Both equally 81%
Comments
By Nikolerade
May 28, 2007 6:37 PM | Link to this
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By Rick
May 23, 2007 6:53 PM | Link to this
There are a lot of folks on this board who could not keep their clothes on when they were younger and who now expect everyone to be unable to control their desires.
By KMC
May 21, 2007 3:02 PM | Link to this
Let’s put it this way: we start teaching kids about drugs really early, right? The first lesson we teach is “say no”. But we also teach kids what to watch out for, how to avoid things - and in some cases tell older students where to get help in case they did get along the wrong path somewhere (AA, etc.).
Why should sex ed be any different? If we really are about protecting our kids, shouldn’t we want to protect ALL of them? Even the ones who won’t listen to the “don’t do it” advice?
By name withheld
May 21, 2007 1:21 PM | Link to this
We were taught abstinence, but also forms of birth control and everyone at the school pretty much got the same education. My parents never talked to me about sex except “do you need to get on birth control?” and I’ve remained unpregnanted.. but there are a whole slew of girls from my class who are now mommies, or are expecting. We also had a class for expectant mothers, and girls who were already moms. I think it has a lot to do with upbringing, probably social class, and personal choices!!!!
By name withheld
May 21, 2007 1:21 PM | Link to this
We were taught abstinence, but also forms of birth control and everyone at the school pretty much got the same education. My parents never talked to me about sex except “do you need to get on birth control?” and I’ve remained unpregnanted.. but there are a whole slew of girls from my class who are now mommies, or are expecting. We also had a class for expectant mothers, and girls who were already moms. I think it has a lot to do with upbringing, probably social class, and personal choices!!!!
By name withheld
May 21, 2007 1:21 PM | Link to this
We were taught abstinence, but also forms of birth control and everyone at the school pretty much got the same education. My parents never talked to me about sex except “do you need to get on birth control?” and I’ve remained unpregnanted.. but there are a whole slew of girls from my class who are now mommies, or are expecting. We also had a class for expectant mothers, and girls who were already moms. I think it has a lot to do with upbringing, probably social class, and personal choices!!!!
By me
May 21, 2007 12:24 PM | Link to this
I was taught abstinence only in high school, by my parents and my school. STDs and condoms were never discussed as it was assumed they wouldn’t need to be discussed, because we weren’t going to have sex. In high school, I didn’t have sex. In college, I was like a bat out of hell. Pounding someone over the head with the fact that something is WRONG only makes it more intriguing, and once they lose their virginity and lighting doesn’t strike them, they’re gonna have a lot more sex after that!
By pillpoppinsallie
May 21, 2007 11:51 AM | Link to this
I had sex lots in high school. I think that it is stupid. I now have a wife and two children and look back on those stupid whores as nothing but trash. I wish that I had never touched the cheap skanks. The truth is that we make decisions based on relativity. Relative to where I was at at the time it was a good choice, relative to where I was going it was stupid. You know, pregnancy and AIDS aren’t the only consequences to sex out of marriage.
By Zachary
May 21, 2007 11:30 AM | Link to this
Sexual education should be taught at home. Facts pertaining to sex should be taught at school. Students shouldn’t be told what to do, rather educate them entirely on the issue, that’s all we can do. Buy your kids sex ed books, they work.
By Zachary
May 21, 2007 11:29 AM | Link to this
Sexual education should be taught at home. Facts pertaining to sex should be taught at school. Students shouldn’t be told what to do, rather educate them entirely on the issue, that’s all we can do. Buy your kids sex ed books, they work.
By Louisa M Alcott
May 21, 2007 10:42 AM | Link to this
Before abstinence funding—virtually no sex education mentioned the word or concept. Adults thought all kids just knew it was the best option. The fact that family planners even let the word pass their lips is due to the funding and continued work of abstinence providers in making the message viable. Teen sex has dropped, so have pregnancies. Condom use has increased but STD rates haven’t dropped. See a pattern? If abstinence ed is dropped, so will the concept but not the consequences.
By AJ
May 21, 2007 8:25 AM | Link to this
2) Even though he and I are no longer together, I do not regret it. We made an informed decision. My parents had no idea. And we were responsible about it. I now have a solid career and a graduate degree. He is also very successful.
Neither of us even entertained the though of using candy bar wrappers or Saran Wrap. That’s what kids use when they don’t have the information. There’s one word for that. Parents.
By AJ
May 21, 2007 8:22 AM | Link to this
1) I was a straight A honor student who won college scholarships and a three sport athlete in high school. When my boyfriend and I decided we’d have sex, neither one of us told our parents. Yet we were mature enough to say that the first test would be to go buy a condom. We figured if we weren’t mature enough to go do that, we weren’t mature enough for sex. We’d been educated that abstinence was ideal, but had the info we needed was also given. We made a mature and responsible decision.
By Matt
May 21, 2007 2:49 AM | Link to this
Until people can get over their hangup that sex is evil, discussions like this are pointless.
By Dennis
May 20, 2007 10:35 PM | Link to this
I taught high school and know the problem of teen pregnancy, which is running amuck. When I was in high school in the 60’s to become pregnant was a scandel - now it’s a badge of honor. One third of grandparents are raising their own grandkids - kids today are by and large, irresponsible, ignorant and have a distinct lack of morals - hardly a surprise when they are inspired by dozens of TV shows where sex before marriage is “in” and doing the right thing for yourself and others is “out”. Sad!!
By Molly
May 20, 2007 8:50 PM | Link to this
Dear Badfish, Your future children deserve for YOU to be a parent who enthusiastically welcomes their arrival into the world and is emotionally, spiritually, educationally, and financially able to raise them in a stable,loving environment. They deserve nothing less. Make sure you do everything you can right now to become that type of parent. If it takes abstaining until you know you can be that parent,then your kids will love you for it and you’ll have no regrets.
By Carla
May 20, 2007 8:20 PM | Link to this
I feel very strongly that our children should be taught an abstinence-ONLY message in our schools. As part of this message, they should be taught about the sanctity of marriage and human life. This is the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancies, STD’s and HIV.
In addition, parents need to enforce this message at home. We can’t expect the schools to do all of the teaching. Our children are our responsibility, not the responsibility of the school or government.
By The Bad Fish
May 20, 2007 8:18 PM | Link to this
lastly for the lady that thinks hugging and kissing your kids everyday will keep them form looking for affection from someone in a sexual way, thats crap, really that would in actuality push your kids away a lot faster than regular processes.
By The Bad Fish
May 20, 2007 8:10 PM | Link to this
… i know about the age people start screwing at, and other crap like that in which goes on. so all of you whom are older talking about when you were kids, think about generation gaps for just a second. all of you go to your little factbook statistical knowledge nugget you have lodged in your head, about half of those are false because kids have a tendency of lying on those stupid little surveys they have us fill out. on the two drug ones i’ve taken i can honestly say i’ve lied on them
By The Bad Fish
May 20, 2007 8:04 PM | Link to this
ok for starters, the first poll adds up to 101% then the student answer adds up to 99% someone should check with that now for those of you that want only abstinence (such a bloody awful word) it can be summed up in a couple of words as an intro to the sex ed unit as “abstinence is the safest, easiest, cheapiest, and lest risky form of contraception, but it is the least realistic.” being a senior in high school i actually know about what goes on, that in having the adolescent mentality also,…
By Terry
May 20, 2007 2:17 PM | Link to this
Whatever happened to separation of church and state? When I found out my son was being instructed by some biased individual by Elizabeth New Life Ctr I hit the roof. This individual told the class that the females would get breast cancer if they had an abortion and condoms never work. How dare a biased group with an agenda be allowed into schools presenting only one message? Glad to see the new state govt feels the same way and is pulling funds to keep this from happening.
By Molly
May 20, 2007 2:14 PM | Link to this
Even though I’m a sex ed teacher, from a parenting standpoint, I do not want a teacher talking to my children as if it’s okay to have sex. That “you’re going to do it anyway” approach is an insult and shows a lack of faith in a student’s decision-making and self-control. Why try to wait if noone expects them to? I want my kids to be well informed of the beauty and purpose of sex, as well as the risks involved, and then empowered to make well-informed decisions that will benefit their future.
By Molly
May 20, 2007 1:59 PM | Link to this
I took an informal hand survey in a class of mostly freshmen. None of my 160 students raised their hand when they were asked if they wanted to have a child at this time in their lives. When this is what the kids are telling us, it makes sense to teach them that abstaining until they are ready for a child/might I add to be a good parent, is the most sensible way to go. No birth control gives a 100%guarantee….even married couples know this.
By Ambrose
May 20, 2007 1:56 PM | Link to this
I don’t think it was a coincidence, and that I just happen to pick all easy girls. I believe an arguement is only as good as the case you make for it. So I will also say that some I used protection with, and others I didn’t. I have been tested, especially before I got married, and have no STD’s. I simply was smart enough to use a combination of asking the right questions before intercourse, and using condoms mostly when their were question “???” marks. Some of the girls additionally were on bc.
By Ambrose
May 20, 2007 1:45 PM | Link to this
People need to back off on this abstinance only message. You are coming across as if you are trying to force your own wishes on your kids. You can’t make them not have sex, you can only inform them so that they make better decisions, and then they will do what they choose to do from there. There is a misconception also that males are the ones who initiate, but the 1O fem. partners that I had when I was 20-23, had all been with someone already by the time they were 15. I lost my virginity at 20.
By dave
May 20, 2007 1:43 PM | Link to this
Kids ARE able to abstain. Prior to the pill and abortion, there were CONSEQUENCES for having sex, so more people abstained or waited longer….Kids today aren’t simply a bunch of hormone-crazed monkeys. They can make a rational choice to abstain/delay the same as kids 30 years ago….
BTW—to the person who said kids won’t wait til they’re 25…Theres a heckofalot of difference between 25 year-olds chosing to have extramarital sex and handing condoms with instruction books to 15 year-olds..
By Molly
May 20, 2007 1:42 PM | Link to this
Even in a comprehensive sex education class the term “safe sex” will not be used. “Safe sex” is a mid 80’s term that came about with the push of condoms to prevent HIV transmission. The more correct term would be “safer sex” which implies that there is still risk, but less. It’s very misguiding and irresponsible to teach kids that there’s a way to be sexually active while remaining free from harm or danger…as the word “safe” implies.
By Mandy
May 20, 2007 1:16 PM | Link to this
Please parents wake up! Most kids do have sex by the time they are 17. I know this! And you should too. Yes you think your kids are perfect. The staight A student! With the perfect loving family. You talk about everything so you think you know everything, that your sons and daughters are doing,and you think they are too smart to have sex at such a young age. WRONG! Please teach them safe sex!Abstinence would be nice but not realistic.
By Stevie
May 20, 2007 10:55 AM | Link to this
I think abistance ONLY is the wrong approach. With more and more people delaying marriage until later in life I think it is stupide to even think people as a majority are going to wait untl 25 + to have intercoarse. I think abistance s/b stressed as the best approach but in the 8 th to 9 th grade birth control, STD’s and condom use s/b taught so if and probably when someone decides to be active before marriage they are well educated. I only know of 1 young women out of say 25 + that waited…
By Molly
May 20, 2007 10:14 AM | Link to this
Many kids have sex because they are looking for love and affection. We all need it. Sadly, many don’t get it at home so they will take it any way they can get it…even if it means putting themselves at risk.. Simple risk-reduction formula: Hug and kiss your children every day, tell them you love them and you’re proud of them + Set a good example for them in demonstrating love and respect for yourself and others…. this simple act and message goes much further than we’d realize.
By Molly, cont.
May 20, 2007 10:06 AM | Link to this
If kids don’t have good role models, consistent love and discipline, feel that they are valuable and worth something, then they are less likely to make healthy choices for themselves in any area of life….. I like Elizabeth’s New Life approach because it’s more than a message of chastity (respecting sex as a gift before and while in marriage). It’s a “you’re special and you’re worth it” message…something kids need to hear every day because many don’t hear it at home…
By Molly, cont.
May 20, 2007 10:05 AM | Link to this
If kids don’t have good role models, consistent love and discipline, feel that they are valuable and worth something, then they are less likely to make healthy choices from themselves in any area of life….. I like Elizabeth’s New Life approach because it’s more than a message of chastity (respecting sex as a gift before and while in marriage). It’s a “you’re special and you’re worth it” message…something kids need to hear every day because many don’t hear it at home…
By Molly
May 20, 2007 9:56 AM | Link to this
I’ve taught sex education for 20 years and have stressed abstinence as the healthiest and least risky choice just as I’ve taught wearing seat belts, a balanced diet, regular exercise, obeying the law, and abstaining from alcohol and other drugs are the healthiest and least risky choices. It’s about risk assessment and making choices that will benefit you and the others in your life..for now and in the future….You must first value your life and have hope for the future in…see next entry..
By Sue
May 20, 2007 9:51 AM | Link to this
The average age of first marriage is 26 for women and 27 for men. The average age of first intercourse is ten years younger than that. People are waiting longer to get married, some in order to finish their educations and be more financially secure. If the outcome we desire for our kids is that they be successful, healthy, RESPONSIBLE adults, it just makes sense that they be taught ALL of the facts regarding sex.
By katherine
May 20, 2007 9:43 AM | Link to this
One last thing. I always found this disturbing when I was in high school. I attended high school in a city north of Dayton. The school offered a parenting class, but not a sex education class. From what I understand, the curriculum is still the same. They taught us how to be better parents, but not how to turn into them to begin with. We had the one day abstinence lectures instead. Irony.
By deb
May 20, 2007 9:39 AM | Link to this
If there has been “50 million aborted children”, my assumption is that they were many reasons why the pregnant female made that choice. My question is, who would have taken care of those 50 million children, how many were saved from a life of poverty, drugs, abuse, foster-care and a life of being possibly being unwanted? Someone needs to get the information out to the teens because there are still some parents who aren’t doing it.
By katherine
May 20, 2007 9:29 AM | Link to this
Most disease is spread because the carrier doesn’t know they have it.Ignorance is the cause.Though ideal,abstinence only programs have a tendency to utilize scare tactics, creating an even bigger taboo about sex.They need to be taught facts from an unbiased medical source.Facts that have no agenda behind them.All this confusion about what perspective to teach them from does nothing but teach them to doubt what they’ve heard,leading to even more ignorance, which is more dangerous by far.
By Freedom Lover
May 20, 2007 9:27 AM | Link to this
Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, with her radical eugenics philosophy, did more to damage the family than any other woman of the twentieth century. Her legacy continues, with over 50 million aborted children, millions with STD’s, and AIDS.
Sex outside of marriage has consequences, and Sanger’s social experiment has failed miserably. Maybe it’s time for a sexual revolution of another sort? A revolution of abstinence before marriage? Sex is worth waiting for.
By Bob
May 20, 2007 9:22 AM | Link to this
“The sex industry” is lying to our kids so they’ll have sex sooner? What industry is that? The porn industry probably loses money when kids have sex, because they don’t need porn anymore. Who profits when kids have sex? Hospitals maybe, so maybe they’re pushing sex onto kids. Kids have been having sex without their parents knowing it for centuries. Stop fooling yourselves and get with it.
By jocelyn
May 20, 2007 9:06 AM | Link to this
No, most kids do not have sex for the first time in high school! This is a lie that is perpetuated by those in the sex industry. Face it … getting kids to have sex at an ever-increasingly younger age creates profits for many businesses. Spreading the rumor, “Everyone is doing it,” is but one phase of advertising. Yes, some choose to engage in sex at a very young age, but the nature of adolescence is to cover guilt and shame with, “Well, so and so is doing it.”
By Jelane
May 20, 2007 7:38 AM | Link to this
It is time to stop treating sex like we treat drugs. Most people aren’t going to try illegal drugs, but most people will have sex at some point in their lives. Teenagers are not stupid, they recognize when they are being “given a message” instead of being given the full set of facts. Kids need to be given ALL the facts because they are the ones who will make decisions for themselves when it comes to sex. Sex education should include points on abstinence - along with ALL the rest of the facts.
By robby
May 20, 2007 6:32 AM | Link to this
Abstinence is what would be ideal for teens, but realistically most people have had sex before they graduate from high school. Stressing Abstinence is ok but really safe sex needs to be taught everywhere too, i know personally hearing about std’s in middle school has made me afraid to have unprotected sex,and has helped make sure more teens that do have sex wear protection.
By robby
May 20, 2007 6:31 AM | Link to this
Abstinence is what would be ideal for teens, but realistically most people have had sex before they graduate from high school. Stressing Abstinence is ok but really safe sex needs to be taught everywhere too, i know personally hearing about std’s in middle school has made me afraid to have unprotected sex,and has helped make sure more teens that do have sex wear protection.