its interesting that while young people are bombarded with thousands of sexual references and images on a daily basis we still cling to the backwards dogma that it is simply UNACCEPTABLE to teach kids how to protect themselves during intercourse. RIGHT

Schools are so worried that teaching kids about sex is going to make MORE kids have sex, but I completely disagree! The reality is, more kids are having sex at a younger age now when we AREN'T teaching about safe sex, so obviously "abstinence only" teachings aren't working to prevent having sex. I'm not saying that everyone is having sex now, but I hear about it a lot more now in middle schools than I did when I was in middle school. I think teaching about "safe sex" is extremely important because a lot of people don't get the education at home. Kids are going to have sex if they want to, let's at least get real and teach them how to be safe!

i understand whats being said but, communism seemed good in theory too...

what does this have to do with theory or communism? look at the numbers. years of abstinence-only education force fed to us by the Religious Right has sexual activity up and condom use down according to the US Census Bureau in this article. it'll be just a few more years and we'll start seeing a dramatic rise in AIDS thanks to that combination, among populations that have been low risk until now.

so the big question here is how many of you are going to vote on Nov. 4? Because right now, we're just a few stolen votes away from having Sarah Palin as vice president, and that is the scariest thing that we've had to face in a long time. There isn't a feminist in her right mind who would vote for that woman. I hope you gals haven't been fooled. 

uh it has to do with theory because someone said it was good in theory. Communism was just an example of something that is theoretically sound.....

DER

you didn't answer the question - you gonna stand on line for hours at the HUB or wherever you should be voting and VOTE? Because there ain't one word said on this website or any other that's gonna make a single bit of difference until you fill in that little oval.

and how many of your pals are gonna vote? neighbors? family members? the US has one of the saddest voting rates in the world. it's time this generation change that. because the republicans are gonna steal votes - they already have. they've already wiped millions of law-abiding americans off the voting rolls (wonder if someone you know is one of them? then go to gregpalast.com and read up a little - it's a bit like AIDS - there are high risk groups but anyone can get hit.) 

 pa is a swing state. it matters. we have to swamp them. there have to be so many votes for the democrats that it's just not possible to steal. so, am i going to see you at the polls? 

I have actually taught sex ed to sixth graders, when I was a middle school teacher in NYS.  It was in Ithaca, so we had no fears about suppression, in fact the only trouble we got into was that  we weren't frankly  enough discussing homosexuality.  I had two kids goes through the school system, both now grown and married.   All the young people I taught, including my own, were desperately grateful for information.   We adults owe them that.
Denying them information is the sin.   I think  abstinence only  sex ed  is a ridiculous notion.   

It's great to see this discussion here. Interesting that we received a letter, which we'll be publishing in the upcoming issue, by a pastor claiming that our reporter had her facts wrong. It's a rather condescending tone, actually, but one I've seen in a number of cases, especially from universities or management reps in a corporation - and at least a few times when McCain referred to Obama in one debate as "naive" - where instead of admitting there's a disagreement over the facts, one side simply claims the other "doesn't fully understand the complexities" or "isn't fully aware" or just needs to study up a little more, because clearly if we all had the same facts we would agree with that party or person.

It's an ingenious way to muddy the waters for folks who don't have or take the time to study up and it's a dangerous tactic that puts forward the proposition that all arguments have equal credibility. that just isn't always the case. it's the overwhelming experience of those who work with teens that the more information about sex they have, the better off they are. why do ideologues insist on convincing us of otherwise?