$800,000 pilot program under fire...good

[VancouverIslander]

The reporter doesn't seem to have done a balanced job on their research for the article. It looks like they are mostly parroting the politician's views while he's on his soapbox with little work done to find out what's actually going on. I would hope that the program focuses on ways students can stay as safe as possible, but we can't put our heads in the sand and assume that only teaching abstention is going to work. I've taught various health and career education courses over the years. Many kids by the time they are in their early teens are sexually active and they need accurate information on what the risks are and how to avoid them. It's not like it's a 'how to' lesson of the mechanics of sexual activity. Part of that process is making sure kids understand how condoms work. Part of it is letting them know what the risks are of each type of prophylactic (ie: birth control pill doesn't prevent STI's, condoms are fallible, the only 100% safe sex is abstention). You might not like the fact that anal sex is out there, but research has shown that it's present even in some younger teens of both genders. Avoiding the topic and not teaching them the risks is reprehensible. I wouldn't criticize this program until I had some real unbiased information about it. One thing guaranteed to increase the rate of both STI's and teen pregnancy is no sex education at all. Make sure you understand what you are doing before criticizing the education system - it may be the only thing that's keeping you from complete anarchy. I know that the teachers I have met in Hawai'i are hard working people who work in very challenging circumstances. My mainland teaching job is a piece of cake by comparison.