Reader Response

Sex Education for Real Life, for All Students

By MIKE WALKER

I read Andy Hefty's "Don't Get me Started" column regarding his feelings on sex education in public schools and I feel that must respond to this editorial. I don't know Andy personally, but he and I both also write for the North Florida News Daily and I have communicated with him via email and respect him as a fellow contributor to this newspaper. I also respect his devotion and service to America in our military and his views in general. Like Mr. Hefty, I am a fiscal conservative who believes in smaller government and hates to see our taxpayer dollars in any regard wasted. However, despite this, I am a social liberal on many issues. I believe in diversity because Florida is, more and more, a diverse state in sociocultural terms. Whenever we try to base something that affects as broad a slice of heterogenous society as education does on the moral views of one group-such as when we attempt to introduce faith-based concepts into the public schools-I am wary of this and in general feel it's a myopic and poorly-crafted approach.

To fully appreciate Hefty's views on sex education and why he dislikes the idea of sex ed in our schools as such is being currently suggested by educators, please read his own column. As his writing always is, this editorial is a highly-crafted and adroit exploration of some of the topics germane to the situation, but that said, I have to strongly disagree with Andy's position and conclusions. While Andy feels that sex education is inappropriate I feel that it is much-needed and the basis of such education must be pragmatic and inclusive of the actual needs of all students.

I am younger than Andy Hefty: I was in high school not so very long ago and I know how many of today's high school and college kids behave. Many of us do not take the Christian view of sex that Andy and other conservative Christians espouse: we do not see sex as something only to be explored within the confines of wedlock. The truth is, (and if you wish to call it a "sad truth" feel free to for it is in fact sad in some regards) that today's youth are to a large extent sexually active. It is also true that sexually transmitted diseases are dangerous and commonplace. There are a variety of mechanisms for prudent precautions against sexually transmitted diseases which people can take, and yes, avoiding sexual intercourse of any type or sort is the most secure of such measures, but it's an unrealistic one for many young people.

Another area that Andy did not address and many educational plans fail to address is the plight of gay youth. Health care professionals such as Dr. Donna Futterman and Dr. Gary Remafedi have long argued for more comprehensive sex education for gay and lesbian youth in high schools. I do not feel that prior to the high school level such is merited, however, by high school sexual identity is an important part of adolescent lives and gay youth need to be informed about the risks and precautions involved in their lifestyles. In addition, they need to be made to feel that they are not shunned or marginalized within their schools. Just because a certain faith, when taken a certain way, is anti-homosexual gives no grounds for public education to exclude information which may seriously help some students. When Andy says that parents should be the ones to teach kids about sex-related matters, what of the gay kids with very conservative parents who would never even dare approach this topic?

Beyond the aspect of gay youth looms the larger issue of a lack of resources on the behalf of most parents to properly teach sex education. When I was in high school, science teachers with strong biology backgrounds taught sex ed as a part of their biology courses. This, I feel, is as it should be, and there is probably room for expansion in many regards too. I agree with Andy that teaching in-depth sex ed at the level of fifth grade seems too young, however, as kids become adolescents they need to know about the changes being manifest in their bodies. Most medical doctors and other experts on health would agree in this regard.

I do not believe that having sex education that is inclusive of science-based, unbiased, information will prompt further sexual exploration by students. Some kids will feel, for whatever reasons whether faith-oriented or not, best to wait until their wedding night and others will wish to partake in sex while in high school. We need to provide information that allows for prudent actions and the best choices given a young person's overall outlook on things, not a lack of information mandated by what one faith or church would suggest. Students who strongly believe in the mode of Christain outlook Andy Hefty promotes should have their views totally respected, but the views and desires of others also must be respected.

Allow educators to draft sex education plans that will be inclusive of all needs, of all students, and are guided by reason and a pragmatic view of how students live today. Look to doctors, researchers, teachers, and to students for opinions on how exactly such education should be constructed, but do not base it on the Bible or the Torah or any other faith-centric source. For the much-needed morals found in such sources, allow churches to concern themselves with that aspect, for this is where such faith belongs.

MIKE WALKER is a Gainesville, Florida, based writer and journalist. He writes for a variety of regional, national, and international publications on sports, travel, the environment and politics. He is also an avid mountain biker and skateboarder. Mike may be reached at: cloudrace@prontomail.com