Henry Wu: You're implying a group comprised entirely of
females will breed?
Ian Malcolm: No, I'm simply saying that, life, uh, finds a
way.
Jeff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park was pointing out the foolishness of believing it is possible to eliminate every potential gateway to disaster, because the wonder of life is that it can invent creative solutions humans never dreamed of.
That's what went through my mind when I heard states passed
laws stripping public schools of their authority to teach sex education. I thought, "Parents found a way."
In 2000, the Department of Education standard in CA schools
was "abstinence until marriage/faithfulness in marriage." No one knew that was the standard and they
weren't actually teaching that, but that's what was on the books. Children were taught whatever the particular
beliefs were of any given Health teacher.
I know, because I saw it.
In the San Fernando Valley where I live, for instance, there were
teachers who taught it was a scientific fact that there is a "homosexual
gene." I saw another classroom
presentation where the instructor opened the subject by writing the names of
genitals and sex acts on a whiteboard then asking students to "Call out
the street names for these words," which he wrote underneath the terms he
had already written on the board. For
the rest of the class, he stood in front of those names for parts of their
bodies and intimate human behavior. It
was supposed to "desensitize" them so they could have a "mature"
discussion.
Parents objected to this and began supporting abstinence education. In 2002, Federal money was designated for abstinence educations ($1 for every $12 that went to other types of sex ed.) That didn't sit well with people who have a vested interest in promoting casual sex. Fewer pregnant teens meant fewer abortion dollars, condom purchases, and STD containment services or research. Not to mention, pointing out there are benefits to saving sex for marriage wouldn't advance the cause of same-sex unions.
First, any program which refused promote
condoms or birth control was designated as "Abstinence Only." A program which discussed such devices but
didn't actively recommend using them was still designated "Abstinence Only."
Then they made up things like "The high rate of teen
births is the result of 'Abstinence Only' programs which failed to tell
students that about birth control and condoms." Right. Like no adolescent would know such devices exist
unless told by their Health teacher. Not
to mention it's a lie. Birth rates began dropping immediately after abstinence programs began
to be implemented.
Then they bullied the decision-makers. An ACLU/Planned Parenthood campaign called
"Not in My State!" threatened lawsuits. They intimidated elected officials into refusing
federal money for programs that were already working in their state.
The next step was to change the law. Many states went from allowing school
districts to choose the curriculum which best suited their community, to
deciding the state knew what was best for everybody. It wasn't because they listened to what parents demanded that CA
went from "schools will emphasize abstinence" to "schools will
either teach Comprehensive Sex Ed. or no Sex Ed. at all!"
Here we are in 2012: Quick, close the gate before anyone
gets loose! Deny new charter school
applications, crush school voucher programs and create new textbooks to encourage children to think about who they will have sex with beginning in
kindergarten.
Parents don't like to herded, so given the chance, they voted to take away the school's authority to instruct their kids about sex. Yep, life finds a way!
