SC must adjust archaic, unreasonable curriculum
Katelyn Campbell has a very interesting story. Her West Virginia High School hosted a speech on the general topic of sex education by a conservative speaker, Pam Stenzel. According to students, Stenzel made inappropriate remarks tantamount to “slut-shaming,” and also included numerous falsehoods in her speech. Campbell, much to the chagrin of her school’s principal, spoke out against the speech. The principal responded by berating her, threatening to call the college she was planning to attend and tell them that Campbell had “bad character.” Campbell has received an outpouring of support, and she was absolutely right to protest inappropriate and incorrect sex education. We must make a concerted effort to ensure that our children are taught correctly about sex.
South Carolina’s current sex education policy is based on abstinence. South Carolina also has the eleventh-highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. These two facts are related. We are doing our children a disservice by not making the importance of safe sex the main focus of sexual education. Currently, state law prohibits the mention of sex outside of marriage, an archaic and unreasonable rule that directly conflicts with the actions of many of our politicians.
There is a bill in the state legislature that would update the current curriculum, but it has seen delays. The new bill also teaches abstinence but would not ban instructors from discussing sex outside of marriage or non-reproductive sexual acts. This bill would be a marked improvement, but it is still not as progressive as it should be. The newer bill still stresses abstinence too much and restricts the mention of abortion as a pregnancy prevention tool. Though it does take much needed steps forward, the bill is still firmly rooted in the outdated foundations of our current sex education policy.
Sex education should emphasize that abstinence is the only way to completely avoid contracting an STD but also acknowledge that abstinence is unlikely — explaining the emotional and health repercussions of sex. Condoms should be available for students if they need them. Honesty is the best policy, and the students should be treated as adults and told the truth about sex, not the PG version that omits important information deemed “taboo.”
Though the bill is not ideal, it is still better than the current system. When we teach our children outdated and inadequate information about sex, they will go to other sources that can easily give them less accurate information and misinform them about sex and healthy relationships. Sexual activity among teenagers is a given; it will happen no matter what is taught. We must make sure that schools are instructing students on how to responsibly deal with it.