Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, is using one mother’s fears about sex education as a springboard to craft a new state law.
In this case, the mother is upset her ninth-grade daughter is learning about the birds and the bees.
Current law says parents who wish their children be kept in the dark can “opt out” of sex ed classes. Pilcher wants to change it so that the default is that students will not receive sex ed unless their parents “opt in” for it.
Currently, only three states have such “opt in” policies, with the vast majority having sex ed as part of their normal curriculums.
Sex education is an important part of a school’s curriculum. Students need to know about sexually transmitted diseases, how to prevent a pregnancy, the responsibilities of parenthood, what constitutes a healthy relationship, and the rewards of abstinence.
Such matters need be taught with medically accurate information with an age-appropriate curriculum.
Can this be done at home? Absolutely.
Is it? By and large, nope.
BY PUTTING the responsibility on parents to see that their children are enrolled in sex ed classes, those that need it most are least likely to receive it.
Let’s face reality here.
If the state made it law that parents must sign a consent form for their child to attend sex ed, which parents would follow through?
Bingo. Those who are involved in their children’s lives.
Who wouldn’t? By a large majority, those who probably shouldn’t be parents in the first place, but are.
If Kansas made sex ed an “opt in” policy, it would work to perpetuate ignorance — at a high cost to the state.
