Parents need to speak up on HB189

Parents and professional educators should be determining sex education in our schools, not lawmakers.
On June 17, at 9 a.m. the Health and Human Services Interim Committee will be discussing HB189 Instructions in Health Amendments. Contact your representative today and let them know where you stand on this issue.

Detailed instruction on how to properly use a condom including any kind of condom demonstration is totally inappropriate in a regular classroom setting where kids are at many different levels of maturity. Most kids take the healthy lifestyles course in the 10th grade which means many are 15 years old and have never even been out on a date. Most are far more interested in how to navigate relationships and emotions than they are about how to use a condom. This is embarrassing for both boys and girls. It is completely irrelevant to the stage of life most are in.

If we really want to make a difference, we would broaden this interim study discussion far beyond a short classroom unit and focus on ways in our communities to strengthen protective factors for early sexual involvment. Many studies indicate the two most important protective factors are the abstinent value and regular communication with a respected adult which is usually a parent. We need to create a culture where abstinence is expected. We need to encourage parents to talk early and often. Nine of of ten kids say it would be easier to be abstinent if they could talk with their parents. We complain that parents don't do this, but our society has not made an effort to provide solid resources for parents. If many groups worked together to work on these two factors, we would see an impact on behavior. Parents want to be the primary sex educators of their children. Let's give them some tools to be successful. Check out the web site that is part of a national public education campaign to provide parents with the information, tools and skills they need to help their teens make healthy choices at 4 Parents.gov