In class the past week or two, we have been discussing sex education in schools and the influence of politics on the matter. As we all know, the media is a huge source of information for many Americans and the political media, especially, has an impact in the way people vote and, therefore, what amendments, laws, politicians, etc. are voted for. The links below are from two news sources (Fox News and CBS) each of which tend to lean one way, politically, over the the other.
CBS News - Sex Education Lacking
Fox News - Proposed Sex-Ed Program Shocking and Outraging Parents
So what are your opinions, ladies?
- How far do you think the media goes in influencing public opinion about sex ed?
- What about negative media images about sex (pornography, objectification of women, defining masculinity for men)? How should these be worked in the discussion of sex in schools?
- Special classes for teachers who will teach sex ed?
- If you were to teach a sex ed class, how would you go about doing it?
- Are there boundaries?
- etc.
Feel free to elaborate or answer in what ever way you please :)
::Maura B.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
A Sexy Post About Sex Education & Its Funding
In an article that relates to this week's topic of sex education, we learn that President Obama has passed legislation that will fund abstance-only education with $50 million each year, for the next five years.
During the discussion in class on Wednesday, the women sitting in my row and I were told to converse over the differences between subjects brought up in class in red and blue states. The conclusions we drew were that either way a pregnancy can easily result in shame and ostracization no matter which way the state leant politically. In some ways getting pregnant in a conservative state was easier because if you did what was expected of a parent (keep the child, get married) over time the stigma would pass, but in liberal states, which are more likely to have access to contraceptives and comprehensive sex education, it would be frowned upon because the pregnancy could be viewed as a blatant disregard of the resources provided by the community.
However, in this same bill there is also funding for alternative sex educational programming that will total $75 million + $25 million, so for me (a woman who does not believe that abstinence-only education works) there is some hope. But, the real problem lies with the fact that the government programs instituted to help teens, usually creates packs of ignorant teenagers who have hormones pulsing through their veins who also do not have access birth control contraceptives.
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What are your views on this subject?
In school, what type of sex education did you receive?
If sex education was not a course you could take, was there a given reason?
Do you think the new health care reform funding will do good things for sex education? Bad things?
Any other comments and opinions would be appreciated!
-Claire L.
During the discussion in class on Wednesday, the women sitting in my row and I were told to converse over the differences between subjects brought up in class in red and blue states. The conclusions we drew were that either way a pregnancy can easily result in shame and ostracization no matter which way the state leant politically. In some ways getting pregnant in a conservative state was easier because if you did what was expected of a parent (keep the child, get married) over time the stigma would pass, but in liberal states, which are more likely to have access to contraceptives and comprehensive sex education, it would be frowned upon because the pregnancy could be viewed as a blatant disregard of the resources provided by the community.
However, in this same bill there is also funding for alternative sex educational programming that will total $75 million + $25 million, so for me (a woman who does not believe that abstinence-only education works) there is some hope. But, the real problem lies with the fact that the government programs instituted to help teens, usually creates packs of ignorant teenagers who have hormones pulsing through their veins who also do not have access birth control contraceptives.
-----------------------------------------------------
What are your views on this subject?
In school, what type of sex education did you receive?
If sex education was not a course you could take, was there a given reason?
Do you think the new health care reform funding will do good things for sex education? Bad things?
Any other comments and opinions would be appreciated!
-Claire L.
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