Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Wisconsin Bill 458

I support Wisconsin Bill 458

Pro life advocates are against it. Family Planning advocates are supporting it.

This bill would require school districts who offer sex education classes to include instruction in contraception use and discuss sexually transmitted diseases, neither of which are now taught.

Here is an excerpt of some of the topics that the bill would require to be included in health classes:

*skills to make responsible decisions about sexuality and sexual behavior throughout the pupil’s life span;

*the benefits of and reasons for abstaining from sexual activity;

*the health benefits, side effects, and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections;

*methods for developing healthy life skills, including setting goals, responsible decision making, communication, and stress management;

Parents would have the opportunity to review the material and opt out of the class for their child.

Do those topics sound dangerous to you? Do you think kids want to know? I know they do. I hear the questions they have. I see the girls who are pregnant. I see what it does to their lives. I know many of those babies could be at risk.

Pro-life says that this would promote promiscuity. I disagree.

When has educating anyone with facts become a bad thing? We are struggling with the media promoting sex to children. We have an alarming number of teenage pregnancies. We have children having children. We have more and more children living in poverty. We have many teenagers who don't know fact from fiction concerning reproduction and how to prevent pregnancies. "Just say no," or solely teaching abstinence, isn't working.

Here is the rest of the bill (pdf) if you care to read more.

If you have children, especially teenagers, there is an excellent website you should introduce to them. It offers information on any health topic that may be of interest to your child and is reviewed by M.D.s. It covers swine flu, how much sleep you need, acne, tattoos, piercing, healthy weight, exercise, you name it. It is written so that they can understand it.

Review it first, I'm certain you will approve. Sometimes kids don't feel comfortable talking with their parents about topics that embarrass them. The website is


OrbsCorbs said...

I support this. Hell, I support mandatory birth control for those who have proven they will not care for their own children.

Toad said...


I ALSO agree with ORB'S.

kkdither said...

Maybe it is better if their boyfriend tells them they can't get pregnant during "that time" of the month? Or, maybe if they hear that coca cola as a douche is an effective spermicide?

I have to believe that even people who are staunchly pro life can't think ignorance is better than knowledge...

Even if you are an adult, check out the kidshealth.org site. It is a very cool website. You can check out the parent section.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if I'm against this (have to learn more), but I do think that the viewpoint of the people who are against this is being misrepresented. My understanding is that the main reasons that people are opposed are that it takes control out of local school districts and it is not even allowed to be mentioned to the students that abstinence is preferable. Nobody is arguing for abstinence only or anything like that, but it can't even be mentioned that not having sex is probably the best option for a preteen or teenager? Also, the cirriculum calls for demonstrating (think condom on a banana) to kids as young as 10. And another main reason for opposition is that Planned Parenthood employees will be in the classrooms teaching it. Yes, us crazy extremist pro-lifers who are opposed to babies being murdered in gruesome ways (torn apart limb by limb for example) might have a bit of a problem with representatives of agencies that perform these horrific acts to be speaking with our young children.

I'm all for sex ed actually. And I would love for birth control to be handed out for free to anybody who will take it. I also agree with Orbs' point as well.

Anonymous said...

I also have to add:

you wrote- "This bill would require school districts who offer sex education classes to include instruction in contraception use and discuss sexually transmitted diseases, neither of which are now taught."

That's not true. Both were taught in RUSD when I was in high school in the 90's, and I personally taught a sex ed class in the early 2000's when I used to teach that included these topics. I don't know where you got the information that they are not taught.

Anonymous said...

Sorry- I just keep adding more. But people do realize that most of these girls that get pregnant (in RUSD anyway) do it on purpose, right? I taught these girls- it was ON PURPOSE. They were very vocal about it. I also used to be a big sister with Big Brothers/Big Sisters to 3 different little African American little girls from the inner city of Racine. All three of them told me that they wanted to be pregnant sometime during their teen years. I remember so clearly one little girl of about 10 years old telling me that she wanted to have a baby when she was 16 because then she could drive it around. And a few years later, that's pretty much what happened. She learned it from her mom who was only a couple years older than I was at the time (I was in college) and she had 5 kids by at least 3 different dads.

kkdither said...

Thank you for taking time with your rebuttal. You are right on some counts, anon.

However, people who are pro choice are not for dismembering babies. I agree that it is not the answer in many cases. I also believe that abortion should be available safely though a doctor IF that is the right decision. Government should not dictate to women about their health nor medical treatment. That is a step backwards.

Did you read the attached bill? There is nothing stating bananas nor agencies coming in and bending the minds of 10 year olds. It simply states ALL aspects need to be included IF that class is taught.

It does state that contraception is not currently in Wisconsin curriculum. I am in the schools every day and know it is not included. There are restrictions on what teachers can teach and say.

Abstinence IS a part of the proposal; in fact, I included that component in my blog, please look again. It NEEDS to be taught too.

Yes, there are a select group of young ladies who speak of wanting babies while in high school. We need resources to educate them about how beneficial it would be for them and the future babies for them to wait. Many of these girls are looking for someone to love them and do not understand the commitment nor the responsibilities of raising a child.

Anonymous said...

I did not read the bill yet, that's why I said I did not know if I was for it or against it. The information that I was told was told to me by teachers. I am now going to read the bill and decide for myself. Like I said, I think sex ed is great. And of course "bananas" aren't in the bill, but what do you think "application of birth control" means? I guess I don't even have a problem with that at the high school level, but not 10 year olds.

If I did have a problem with this, my main problem would remain the involvement of planned parenthood. Just because *you* are pro-choice doesn't mean that everyone wants their children exposed within the school system who is involved in anything having to do with abortions.

And, YES, people who are pro-choice ultimately are for dismembering babies. You can say it's not true, but ultimately that is what pro-choice people say should be legal and acceptable in our society. I don't actually think it will ever be illegal, but I think it should be left up to each individual state. It should also be something in our society that is called out for what it is even if it's legal, which is the killing of a human being.

kkdither said...

The best way to stop abortion is to give knowledge and intervention. You have the right to think what you want about pro choice people. Not everyone is a zealot. I can't believe anyone pro choice would think abortions are a good thing, but still believe it is between a woman, her doctor and her god.

Abortion existed back in Cleopatra days. The truth is, making it illegal won't stop it.

Planned Parenthood is not the devil. It does very good things in providing contraception and education to sexually active young people. They don't need to go out and recruit; kids ARE sexually active. PP also provides a wide range of medical services to those who can't afford it. They also forward women to doctors who provide abortions when asked to do so. If you read the bill, they are NOT going to be the ones in the school, teaching this subject.

What really steams me is that when education and availability of contraception could prevent the need for some of these abortions, teaching facts is deemed dirty.

Please do read the bill. It talks about all members of the community, including parents and clergy, coming together to create curriculum. It also talks about age appropriate lesson plans.

I guess I get steamed when that banana incident keeps getting thrown out there. That is just to incite controversy and is an ignorant argument. Yes, it did happen once, many, many years ago, and the teacher who did that was reprimanded. It wasn't appropriate then, it isn't now. The bill mentions the correct use of contraceptives, not a demonstration of how to insert or apply. Kids who want to know that, can easily find it online.

This bill serves both sides. Teaching human biology and sexuality should be factual and not propelled into a fight between "sides." Instead of stirring this into an issue about abortion, which isn't even an issue with this bill, the focus should be about education.

I think they did the wording right this time. Take a look.

cyndi said...

I taught sex ed out in Racine county just a few years ago and my classes included a great deal of discussion about STD's and contraception; Milwaukee schools provide contraception, so I'm a little confused about these bills. (and yes, all but the very rarest of students knew exactly how to prevent std's and pregnancy-- knew more than I did in some instances. The students just lacked the maturity to put that knowledge into practice-- all the "education" in the world can't change that, sadly.)