A More Educational Option

Utah’s sex education policies have always followed strict standards. Our conservative state does not believe in teaching students the use of contraceptives or any other protection other than abstinence. As a board, we believe the state is depriving the minors of Utah their own safety. And so does Democratic Representative Lynn Hemingway and Republican Senator Stephen Urquhart.

They have worked together and combined the best parts of each other’s bills to create a new law for sex education. Currently, the bill is being drafting, but should be out very soon. This bill is still abstinence-based, but with enhancements, including contraceptives.

When Hemingway was asked if he felt abstinence only programs were still appropriate for schools today, he responded with a positive outlook for change.

“The law needs enhancement.The students need to know the risks,” said Hemingway. The need to know these risks is the main reason to expand the bill. So far, the state has responded very well to the new bill, with few negative reports.

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia require that sex education is taught, and many of them put requirements on how abstinence is taught. According to the Guttmacher Institute, (guttmacher.org), Utah stresses that in sex education abstinence be taught in schools, but contraceptives are not covered anywhere in the state. For STI/HIV education, Utah also stresses abstinence and does not cover any alternative safety.

Utah also happens to be the only state that prohibits teachers from answering any spontaneous questions from students that would create conflict with the state’s laws, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Shouldn’t educators encourage students to ask questions so they don’t have wrong ideas, or false interpretations of any health issues?

Hemingway laughed when approached about this law. “Teachers are afraid of questions,” he said.

As of 2006, according to the Utah State Health Facts website (statehealthfacts.org), teen birth rates per 1,000 is 34. In fact, every day, 12 girls between the ages of 15 to 19 get pregnant.

“Chlamydia is rising at an astonishing rate,” added Hemingway. The recorded number of chlamydia cases in Utah is 5,721.Apparently, the STD cases are not being taken care of. Being pregnant is not the only thing the educators and parents in Utah should be worried about.

A better decision for the schools in Utah is to introduce a system where the schools teach two different sex education classes.

Abstinence-Plus, according to the About Us website (aboutus.info), is a program that introduces abstinence as the only 100 percent safe way to not get pregnant or get any STDs. But to continue to keep students safe with more knowledge, the class would teach students about contraceptives, and/or birth control. This way, the students and their families could choose between the two classes, for whichever one they are more comfortable with.