During the civil rights era, brutal thugs holding importantpositions in law enforcementlocal sheriffs, prosecutors and judgesroutinelymisused their powers to punish people acting lawfully instead of protectingthem.
District Attorney Scott Southworth hasn’t threatenedto turn fire hoses or unleash dogs on teachers in Juneau County, but he hasthreatened to prosecute them for sex crimes if they obey a new state law andattempt to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) amongschoolchildren.
Southworth doesn’t like the law passed by the stateLegislature requiring school districts that offer sex education to providefactual information instead of just shouting at children: “For God’s sake,don’t ever do it!”
The new law moves away from the failed“abstinence-only” education of the Bush years. There is nothing wrong withencouraging abstinence, of course. Adults don’t want to think about theirchildren having sex any more than children want to think about their parentsdoing it.
The problem is that parents throughout humanhistory, despite their best efforts, have never, ever succeeded in preventingtheir children from learning about sex and developing a strong interest in it.
Educational research has compared the results ofabstinence-only teaching to more comprehensive sex education that also includesinformation about using condoms and other methods to help prevent pregnancy andSTDs. Research shows it makes very little difference whether young peoplereceived abstinence-only education or more comprehensive sex education when itcomes to the likelihood of teenagers having sex.
However, there was one very frightening difference.Those whose educations were limited to encouraging abstinence were far lesslikely to use condoms and practice “safe sex” when they did begin having sex.
When children’s lives can be changed forever byteenage pregnancy and ended or drastically altered by disease in the age ofAIDS, the only responsible position is to provide young people with as muchfactual information as possible about safe sexual practices.
That was why the Legislature passed the lawrequiring school districts that provide sex education to include accurate,age-appropriate information about birth control and the prevention of STDs.
Education Is the Antidote
Apparently, it’s not only teenagers who are in needof accurate information about sex.
District Attorney Southworth sent a letter to fiveschool districts in his county demonstrating not only his woeful ignoranceabout sex education, but also about the law itself. That’s not a good qualityin a district attorney.
Southworth threatened to charge teachers who followthe state law with contributing to the delinquency of minors.
“Forcing our schools to instruct children on how toutilize contraceptives encourages our children to engage in sexual behavior,whether as a victim or an offender,” Southworth wrote. “It is akin to teachingchildren about alcohol use, then instructing them on how to make mixedalcoholic drinks.”
The only real relationship between unsafe sexualpractices and mixed drinks is that an increase in the latter can lead to anincrease in the former.
It’s a lack of knowledge about the dangers of bothalcohol abuse and unsafe sex that makes the teenage years perilous for youngpeople. Education is the antidote.
Southworth seems to believe the only reason youngpeople don’t engage in sex is they can’t figure out how to put on that darnedcondom. Once they learn in school where to put that thing, Katie, bar the door.
A district attorney should not be threatening toprosecute people for following the law. It’s the prosecutor’s job to chargepeople who violate the law.
Southworth, a Republican who calls himself anevangelical Christian, sounds like one of those self-righteous conservativeswho complain about “big government” interfering in our personal lives. Yet heis threatening to use the power of his office to prosecute anyone who tries toeducate young people on how to prevent pregnancy and STDs.
Using a condom or other forms of birth control isnot a crime, no matter how old someone is. Under Southworth’s bizarre legaltheory, Juneau County parents who responsibly provide birth control for theirown sexually active children could be charged with sex crimes.
Obviously, such an absurd prosecution would have nolegal standing. But the tragic side effect of Southworth’s threats could be todeny responsible sex education to children.
It’s no secret that timid school administrators arecowed by controversy. Many schools already abdicate their responsibility toprovide sex education for fear of complaints from socially conservativeparents.
Legal threats, even ridiculous ones, could causemore schools to drop sex education programs.
That wouldn’t do anything to reduce sex amongteenagers. It would simply increase teenage pregnancy and sexual disease.