Abstinence only. If we had all gotten that education in high school, maybe we would still be virgins to this day. And there would be no chlamydia. And Char Kopchick wouldn't have to work so hard to educate the promiscuous collegiate masses on how to avoid chlamydia and all the other colorful STIs. There would be no teenage pregnancy, and no need for abortions. Yeah, right. As a former Catholic schoolgirl, I am no stranger to the word abstinence. In fact, in high school I used to speak to freshman classes about sexuality and I would always recommend waiting to have sex. Not only was it part of the religion we were brought up with, but it also prevents a lot of physical and emotional problems, especially in growing, emotionally unstable high school students. I mean, props to anyone who is not having sex, especially before he or she can vote. But not teaching high school students about sex just because they aren't of age is like not teaching them about voting rights before they can vote. Thanks to Ursuline Academy (a Catholic school), I did learn how to put a condom on in my health class junior year. Apparently my teacher was smart enough to know that we might be engaging in sexual activities (God forbid). Regardless of whether you are sexually active or abstinent or somewhere in the middle, birth control is a fact of life that everyone has the right to know. If I have children someday, not only will they know that they weren't sent by a stork, but they will know all about latex and diaphragms and such. That doesn't mean I'm giving them a Kama Sutra book and condoning having sex at age 14. But by being open with them, I will hopefully be doing them a favor. I might just squelch their curiosity. And we've all been teenagers; we know that having someone to talk to is sometimes needed. I am concerned for the students -many right here in Southeast Ohio -who do not have their parents or their teachers to explain what's going on in the backseat. All they have are peers, probably the least effective form of information today. I mean, remember the rumor about how you can't get pregnant having sex in a hot tub? Having sex for the first time can be awkward enough, let alone having it without knowing anything about a condom. That is an unwanted pregnancy waiting to happen. So high school kids get to learn about HIV and syphilis and all that fun stuff, but not about how to guard against it. Isn't that kind of like learning about car accidents but not about seat belts? The unscientific process of learning in public schools today is an abomination of education. Students can't be fully informed about sexually transmitted infections if the first three letters aren't discussed. Is this where our tax money is going? I predict that we will not see a decrease in sexually transmitted infections, and abstinence-only education should not be credited for the already-decreasing teenage pregnancy level. In fact, that will be the first thing I blame if it is on the rise again. My conservative mother, who I've nicknamed St. Frances
could give her magical seed planting itself in the egg speech and still educate teens better than some of the public schools in this country. Frankly, abstinence-only education can go screw itself.-Ellie Behling is a sophomore journalism major who loves to talk about sexual education. Send her an e-mail at ellen.behling@ohiou.edu. 17
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Letter to the Editor
