Kansas: Parents must sign off on sex ed

[estranged4life]

Kansas rules parents must give permission; abstinence instruction proposed

TOPEKA, Kan. - School districts in Kansas must get parents' written permission before teaching their children sex education, the state Board of Education decided Wednesday.

The board adopted the policy in a 6-4 vote. Up to now, most Kansas districts had an "opt-out" policy - they enrolled children in sex ed unless a parent objected in writing.

Only a few other states have such "opt-in" requirements on sex education, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, a group that promotes sex education. Among them: Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Board members who voted for the new policy said some parents told them they did not know their children were taking sex education until the classes had started.

"It's about empowering parents. That's the bottom line," said board chairman Steve Abrams.

Critics of the measure said that the children whose parents who won't see a permission form or won't turn it in are the ones most likely to need the courses. Some also said that the rule may violate the Kansas Constitution, which gives local school boards broad authority.

One board member wants the new policy to go further and require abstinence-only courses. "We need to send the correct message," Kathy Martin said.

Under her proposal, a school could lose its state accreditation if it did not offer nine weeks of instruction on "abstinence until marriage" at least once in grades 6-9.

The board said it would discuss Martin's proposal at a later meeting.

Wednesday's vote came less than three weeks after the state Senate approved a bill requiring all school districts to continue requiring sex education classes and prohibit them from going to abstinence-only courses. The bill is now before a House committee.

The board had similar regulations in place for nearly two decades, but they expired.

In November, after a debate that attracted worldwide attention, the board adopted standards that treat evolution as a flawed theory.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[amber]

That abstinence thing is lame. Our parents had to okay sex ed too, I think. In the seventh grade. But I grew up in a whitebread mountain town.

[Patti]

I don't have a huge problem with parents having to opt-in. However, I do have a problem with losing a school's state accreditation if they don't teach abstinence until marriage. That's just bogus bullsh*t. Hayley, what's your home state doing here???????

[diamondsnake]

What's the big deal?

[Rickypt]

Opt-in means that some kids won't get the sex education because they and their parents will forget to sign the form. This is what anti-sex education advocates try to get when they fail to eliminate sex education altogether or have abstinence-only education.

The burden should be on parents to think about why their kids shouldn't get sex education and act to take them out.

I just spoke to a bunch of college kids who didn't know all the basic of HIV transmission. It's criminal to deny young people basic info on sex, pregnancy, and STDs.

[hayley]

Originally Posted by Patti

I don't have a huge problem with parents having to opt-in. However, I do have a problem with losing a school's state accreditation if they don't teach abstinence until marriage. That's just bogus bullsh*t. Hayley, what's your home state doing here???????

How many times can they say "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free" in NINE WEEKS? That's insane.

Who knows what they're doing. I also never learned the concept of evolution, so

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by hayley

How many times can they say "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free" in NINE WEEKS? That's insane.

Who knows what they're doing. I also never learned the concept of evolution, so

Wow, education is so different in MA!

I think kids should be told what their is to know about sex and birth control and told not to have sex. It's too heady for them to handle. Some are going to cave though and so should be informed.

[DavidMn]

WHat's the deal with Kansas. I know they have that one senator, Brownback that's a hardcore conservative. I guess I never figured Kansas to be that kind of state.

[irishgrl]

Isnt Kansas part of whats called the "Bible Belt?" that would explain their stance I think.....


These dingleberries dont seem to realize that these kids are going to get their "education" out on the street (or in a backseat or whereever) anyway and that without the information regarding safe sex and STD's these kids may wind up pregnant, or afflicted with something they wont deal with (and time is of the essence with those things....) because their parents are too closed minded.....

I feel so bad for this upcoming generation.......

[hayley]

Kansas is one of the most conservative states in the country. It is nearly entirely Republican, and only in the last ten years or so have we elected a few more progressive politicians to Congress and into local government. It's the home state of Bob Dole and Sam Brownback, is very conservative Christian, and is the epicenter of the Creationism vs. Evolution in school debates.

[DavidMn]

And I know that's where that psycho Fred Phelps has his Baptist church in Topeka.

[Sorcerer386]

Originally Posted by diamondsnake

What's the big deal?

Unfortunately there is still this strong urge to "save the children." Because, you know, if they completely blind the children of sex, they'll never have it. Personally, I don't understand it at all. I mean, just four hundred years ago, and even less, people at 15 and 16 were married and ready to have children. Society, of course, has changed, so it's now culturally and morally unacceptable even to have sex at these ages. The thing people fail to understand is biology really hasn't changed all that much. Kids at 15 and 16 today still have the same urges as kids 400 years ago, and that's where the problem lies, between biology and social rules.

[SuzeQuze]

There's a whole book about Kansas being conservative that I'd like to read eventually!

What's the Matter with Kansas?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The largely blue collar citizens of Kansas can be counted upon to be a "red" state in any election, voting solidly Republican and possessing a deep animosity toward the left. This, according to author Thomas Frank, is a pretty self-defeating phenomenon, given that the policies of the Republican Party benefit the wealthy and powerful at the great expense of the average worker. According to Frank, the conservative establishment has tricked Kansans, playing up the emotional touchstones of conservatism and perpetuating a sense of a vast liberal empire out to crush traditional values while barely ever discussing the Republicans' actual economic policies and what they mean to the working class. Thus the pro-life Kansas factory worker who listens to Rush Limbaugh will repeatedly vote for the party that is less likely to protect his safety, less likely to protect his job, and less likely to benefit him economically. To much of America, Kansas is an abstract, "where Dorothy wants to return. Where Superman grew up." But Frank, a native Kansan, separates reality from myth in What's the Matter with Kansas and tells the state's socio-political history from its early days as a hotbed of leftist activism to a state so entrenched in conservatism that the only political division remaining is between the moderate and more-extreme right wings of the same party. Frank, the founding editor of The Baffler and a contributor to Harper's and The Nation, knows the state and its people. He even includes his own history as a young conservative idealist turned disenchanted college Republican, and his first-hand experience, combined with a sharp wit and thorough reasoning, makes his book more credible than the elites of either the left and right who claim to understand Kansas. --John Moe --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/080...Fencoding=UTF8

[AliceLover]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

Wow, education is so different in MA!

I think kids should be told what their is to know about sex and birth control and told not to have sex. It's too heady for them to handle. Some are going to cave though and so should be informed.

In seventh grade we had to have our parents sign on off for this too.

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

In seventh grade we had to have our parents sign on off for this too.

Well, I can't remember having to do this for 6th grade but I might have. My Mom had already give me some grody children's book on the matter.