Par for the course, another republican would rather keep the students uneducated & at risk, than inform them of HEALTH OPTIONS...
Utah Moves to End Sex-Ed in Some Public Schools
Recently-passed legislation would ban the teaching of contraception and homsexuality altogether.
By Ankita Rao| Posted Thursday, March 8, 2012, at 11:51 AM ET
A recently-passed Utah bill would ban public schools from teaching students about contraception as part of sex-ed classes.
What’s more conservative than abstinence-only education? Utah may soon find out now that lawmakers signed off on a bill this week that bans public schools from teaching students about contraception, human sexuality and homosexuality altogether.
The Chicago Tribune reports that if Republican Gov. Gary Herbert gives the proposal the final green light as he is expected to, the state’s public schools will have the option of either dropping their sex-ed programs altogether, or limiting such classes to only materials that encourage abstinence before marriage.
Instructors would not be allowed to talk about condoms or birth control methods as a way of preventing pregnancy or STDs.
Currently, Utah public schools offer sex-ed, with some restrictions, as an elective that parents decide whether their child can take.
The new proposal would be the most restrictive sex-ed policy in the United States, according to the Tribune. Currently, 37 states require abstinence to be part of the curriculum; 26 of them require that it is emphasized as the only clear-cut way to prevent pregnancy or STDs.
Conservative lawmakers behind the bill argue that sexual education is better left to parents at home. "To replace the parent in the school setting, among people who we have no idea what their morals are, we have no ideas what their values are, yet we turn our children over to them to instruct them in the most sensitive sexual activities in their lives, I think is wrongheaded," Republican state Sen. Stuart Reid explained (via the Salt Lake Tribune).
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has confirmed that the state is in charge of its own academic standards, but he has not said whether he would urge Utah to reconsider a move that goes against federal Common Core suggestions.
http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/03/08/utah_s_sexual_education_bill_bans_contraception_curriculum.html
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