Today, the school board of my former school district, Oxford, will be voting on which type of sex education policy to adopt. They can choose between "abstinence-only" or "abstinence-plus" (comprehensive) courses. What will Oxford, Miss., choose? I'm not sure.
Growing up in Mississippi, I have learned to handle contradictions (though not always happily or easily). The personhood amendment was brought to Mississippi by Personhood USA precisely because we are considered to be the most conservative state, and they felt sure it would pass. Yet, we voted it down last November by about 14 points. But, we still voted for Phil Bryant as governor, who was directly involved with the personhood movement. (I don't understand it either.) We have the highest teen pregnancy rate, highest infant mortality rate, and our educational attainment rates are some of the lowest in the country, yet our politicians are mostly anti-abortion and anti-sex education.
So what do these contradictions mean for sex-education policies in our schools? Well, it's a little unclear. The Lafayette County School District (the county of which Oxford is the seat) has already adopted an abstinence-only education policy. But according to this article, "Mississippi parents are overwhelmingly in favor of age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education." One Oxford parent points out that those opposed to comprehensive sex education are "a minority of parents" who are "very passionate about their beliefs and are active in influencing their local school boards." So it seems very plausible that this minority could force their beliefs into policy, whether or not most of Oxford's parents actually agree with them.
So, it seems to me that all Oxford parents need to get their voices heard. I just e-mailed members of the school board about the vote. I don't know how much weight my opinion will hold, since I am not a parent of any Oxford students, but I did it anyway. If you want to write to school board members, go to the School Board website with names and e-mail addresses provided. If we want Mississippi's teen pregnancy rate to fall, we have to start educating Mississippians. It starts here.
*This post is cross-posted at Represent!
I'm so glad someone is speaking up for our Mississippi teens. I experienced the abstinence only programs first-hand and I can tell you that they do not work! The teens getting pregnant are the ones who were never taught about condoms and birth control and ways to be safe. I thank you for making a push to help young people in this state become safer and more educated, preparing them for better futures.
ReplyDeleteI went to Oxford and to be honest, I don't remember much sex-ed at all. Whether that was because we didn't have any or (more likely) because I happened to miss school on those days (I missed a lot), I don't know. But I do know that based on what I learned/didn't learn from high school, parents, and our sex-negative culture, I left high school thinking that:
ReplyDelete1) while it was physically possible for girls to masturbate, I had no idea actually how it would work, but that didn't matter because only dirty, "bad" girls did it
2) boys want sex, but girls don't have physical desire in the same way
3) even if I were planning to remain a virgin until marriage (which I wasn't) I shouldn't expect the guy I end up with to be a virgin, because (again) guys want sex so badly and will have done it already
There are probably more that I can't think of right now. And it's embarrassing to admit that I really did think/believe some of these things at or around age 18, but it's true, and I think it's important to point out that everybody gets fooled by this system, not just dumb/un-educated kids. When we don't talk about sex, and we continue to sell the old, stereotyped myths, kids WILL believe ridiculous, untrue things about sex.