Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgaryborn
There is no evidence that sexual education curbs pregnancies. There is much evidence that abortion rates go up though.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23782717/
Your definition of "no evidence" and mine must conflict at some deep, incompatible level. If you said "there is no evidence that abstinence-only sexual education curbs pregnancies", then you might have a case.
I'd say the current US gov't focus on "abstinence-only" education is another example of how religion plays far too important a role in public policy; as far as the State teaching morality goes, how exactly is teaching abstinence OK and yet teaching contraception is not? Seems to me, advocating abstinence is a moral issue no less than advocating contraception, so if you want to be consistent, there should be NO sex education at all in schools. Or any other type of education, for that matter, where moral lessons might be drawn - like history, literature, or even science.
Expecting schools to teach nothing about morality that conflicts with a parent's view is asinine. Should the schools not teach that, for example, segregation was wrong? After all, what if you are a racist and want your kids to be racists - where does the government get off trying to change that? Whether we like it or not, schools have a profound impact on how children think and act, and by rejecting sexual education you are trying to socially engineer just the same as those who want it embraced. Thing is, at least they are honest about their intentions, whereas the evangelicals try, as usual, to subvert the political process with disingenious hypocrisy as if they are really concerned about protecting the rights of parents, rather than their "right" to force everyone else to pay service to their antiquated notions of sexual morality.