Sex Ed Is A Disaster

The fact our school doesn’t teach Sexual Education is atrocious.

Senior Brianna Patterson said, “I think we should have Sex Ed. taught in addition to abstinence only. It is not in-depth enough for the level of sexual activity these students have.” Patterson also said, “It’s up to the school overall. Teaching abstinence is okay, but they need to teach Sex Ed. as well.” (It is actually the school district that decides the Curriculum.)

The reality is that some students will be having sex no matter what they are taught, so the school should make sure the students know what they are doing if they decide to engage in sexual activity. Sex Ed and Human Sexuality should be taught as part of Health class. Older students, if they want to, could take a more in depth class on the topic.

Drew Haws, who teaches Health class at Senior said, “We don’t teach Sex Ed. Abstinence is what we teach. We teach things like prenatal care and the life cycle, things like that.”

Principal Dennis Holmes said, “I feel that the School Board have done the best job that they can with the information that they have. I feel as educators we need to have the parents deal with topics like this that are sensitive and value based.”

According to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services. the percentage of sexually active ninth graders in 2013 who used a condom is 30.2 percent, which could be a much higher number if the school taught students about condoms and how to use them. The department also says that, “Four in ten sexually active girls between the ages of 14 and 19 years have an STI.”

 “Ignorance is not abstinence,” said Patterson. According to Guttmacher Institute, Sex Education in Montana does not have to be “medically accurate.” Imagine if any other class didn’t have to be medically accurate. That would be terrifying.  Haws said, “Abstinence is the way to go. Kids need to learn in other ways. It starts at home with the parents.”

Guttmacher also states that Montana doesn’t have to be “culturally appropriate and unbiased.” Montana also has no law against “promoting religion” and doesn’t even touch on the “role of consent.” The Institute also says that the only topics “when taught, Sex Ed must cover” is abstinence. Schools in Montana aren’t even required to cover contraception, sexual orientation, or condoms.

Could the reason our state has high pregnancy rates for teens (63.9 per 1000 in 2012-2013 according to DPHHS) be that we are not being taught anything about sex, sexual activity or pregnancy such as using birth control, what saying yes actually means, and if someone is actually consenting to sex or is, in fact drunk and unaware of what is going on?