Facebook
Writtten by Sue Briss, Executive Director of Georgia Parents for Responsible Health Education
I’m a music educator by training and a mom. So why am I writing in support of adolescent health education? Because, in 2004 the DeKalb County School System in Georgia was going to start teaching all 8th grade students sex education using an abstinence-only-until-marriage program called Choosing the Best.
DeKalb County Schools are located in the same county as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the heart and soul of scientific research regarding health. Parents in one school, Shamrock Middle, looked closely at Choosing the Best, and found it to be lacking in facts, full of hyperbole, and sexist in its approach to sexuality. And it excluded the entire LGBTQ population. Through vigilance and stubbornness, parents in DeKalb County, Georgia convinced school officials that it was NOT in the best interest of our students to give them incorrect and incomplete information about sex education, and Choosing the Best was NOT taught to our kids!
I am FOR information. Complete, accurate, age-appropriate sex education, taught in a way that is respectful of all students. After all, we demand high standards in every other subject our children are taught -- we should be JUST as demanding of the health education they receive. The new federal money now available for evidence-based sex ed is wonderful news and I’m looking forward to its implementation in Georgia!
As parents, it is our job to teach our children our beliefs and values, not the schools. But by the time our kids graduate from high school, they ALL should know how their bodies work, how to take care of them, AND how to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and STDS.
So, I stand with the youth activists in Georgia and support their efforts as they raise awareness to the need for high quality sex education in our state!
No Comments.
[Add New Comment]