Today I participated in a lobby day at the Capitol in Austin, Texas. The turn out was wonderful! There were over 200 people that came to lobby our senators and representatives on funding comprehensive sex education.  

Walking into the capitol was sort of ironic because it was filled with middle and high school students from bands and choirs from all over the state. Although their presence at the capitol may have been related to music, I felt like our messages to our representatives and senators had more of an impact because the capitol was filled with youth. 

As I listened to the bands play and the singers sing beautiful songs, it made me think about the eduction that the young people are receiving. I am sure that in their band classes the teacher does not teach that there is only one effective way to play the flute. I am sure that their choir teacher does not teach them that in order to be an effective songstress, one must sing in one uniformed key. Math teachers teach students to use formulas to solve problems but even if the formula is presented as the only way to solve a certain problem most teachers feel a certain responsibility to teach different methods of computing the formula in order to get the right answer. It makes me wonder why sex education is not taught in the same manner. 

Conversations with some of the teachers and parents that I know have shed a lot of insight on people's fears about giving young people the truth. A lot of people have told me that they fear that if you give young people all of the options, especially in regards to sex, you will only put ideas in their heads that may not have been there before. I say that is a load of crap! Young people understand that without sex there would be less of a possibility that they would even be on this earth. The hormones that are pumped into the student's bodies from the school milk may be the reason that I am seeing 3rd grade girls with pigtails and D-cups!  Be it from bad diets or strong genetics, young people are developing mentally and physical at rapid paces and our role as educators is to keep up. 

Saying that giving young people options in sex education will only put ideas in their heads and will only make them interested in having sex, is like saying that giving students options in ways to multiply numbers will only put ideas in their heads and will make them interested in embezzlement and money laundering. 

People need to realize that education is like a double-edged sword and that is why slave owners made laws to keep their slaves uneducated. Some people will take the things they learn and do a world of good with them and others will take the things they learn and do a world of bad. Chemistry has taught people to cure disease and to make bombs. Should we get rid of chemistry because of that? Absolutely not!