The Associated Press
Tuesday April 1st, 2008
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Some Florida teens believe drinking Mountain Dew or smoking marijuana will prevent pregnancy and that swallowing a capful of bleach will prevent HIV/AIDS. One reason those dangerous myths have spread is the state's reliance on abstinence-only sex education, say advocates of a bill to require a more comprehensive approach in Florida's schools....
A capful of bleach. Yes. Indeed. I suppose it could prevent HIV, what with possibly preventing further living at all.
OK, yes, a capful of bleach in and of itself probably won't immediately kill you. But it could easily do major damage to your esophagus and stomach, and wouldn't do a damn thing to prevent HIV.
...The bill's chances, though, remain slim with the annual 60-day legislative session nearly half over. The bill would have to clear three more committees before getting a Senate floor vote. The House version has yet to get a committee hearing.
"Young people are getting too little information too late,'' said Jenna Cawley, director of education for Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando. Cawley urged the bill's approval as she told the Senate Education Pre-kindergarten-12th Grade Committee about the Mountain Dew, marijuana and bleach myths.
Opponents, including anti-abortion activists, claimed the bill's requirements would result in more, not fewer teen pregnancies as supporters argue. "The only healthy, 100-percent effective way to prevent disease and pregnancy is abstinence,'' said Alison Lambrechts, a field coordinator for Project Reality, which provides sexual, alcohol and drug abstinence materials for schools.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, said Florida's current approach isn't working because the state has the sixth-highest teen pregnancy rate nationally...
I marvel that the sincerely misnamed Project Reality seems to prefer people doing epic damage to themselves over providing accurate information. And I marvel that the Florida legislature, despite knowing about these issues, seems likely to let the situation continue.
I do wonder, regardless of who wins the upcoming presidential election, if the winners will have either the political will or desire to correct this situation at the federal level, by removing all the "abstinence-only" requirements and preferences for states and organizations to receive federal funding. I truly can't see McCain thinking that he should touch that; he already has enough problems with conservatives thinking he's Not A True Believer. I can see both Obama and Clinton having the will, but not having the support and not feeling that it's worth spending the political capital, feeling that it will only be overturned by the craven cowards of Congress and that it would only energize conservatives for the midterms to try to shove Congress more to the right.
I marvel at the state of education generally in this country. With more and more that people seem to need to know just to function, to get everything they need, to have a good life, education seems to march relentlessly ever backward.
Posted by iain at April 03, 2008 12:27 PM
