Apr 30 2008
Glazier Wants to End Abstinence Only Law
FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — A Fayetteville lawmaker wants to put an end to a state law restricting sex education to teaching only abstinence in most North Carolina public schools.
Democrat Rep. Rick Glazier told a forum on sex education in Cumberland County schools Tuesday that children are needlessly exposed to cervical cancer and other diseases because some abstinence-only programs dispense inaccurate data.
The Fayetteville Observer also reports that Glazier said some of the programs teach that condoms usually fail to protect against HIV or pregnancy.
State law allows school districts to expand sex education beyond the abstinence-only approach, with public hearings.
I don’t know how much substance there is to Glazier’s claims. I have never heard of abstinence only education resulting in cervical cancer. I am also not aware of schools teaching children that condoms usually fail, however that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening in perhaps some more conservative areas of the state. I do agree with Glazier’s overall position, however, that sex education should include birth control methods along side abstinence. People have to be realistic here. Teenagers are going to have sex. You can’t stop it, so they may as well be taught the responsibility that goes with it.
Having said that, I have to problem with the current law as it now stands. I think it should be a local decision. If the community wants to teach it, fine. If not, that’s fine too. Because it is such a divisive issue, I also think that parents should have the option of restricting their children from attending those classes if they so desire.
