A recent survey that found some Florida teens believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy has prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state. The survey showed that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant.
Somehow, I’m not surprised that this story comes from Floriduh, home to some of the strangest, most convoluted (allegedly) Christ-centric ideology to be found anywhere in this great land. In a state where most of the public school curriculum seems to be drawn from Revelations, should we even be surprised that Florida’s children seem to be growing up without even a rudimentary grasp of human sexuality and reproduction?
That this situation even exists to begin with is criminal. Florida parents and educators should be ashamed of themselves for tolerating an education that not only produces, but apparently also condones the sort of stunning ignorance. You’d think that someone would be held accountable for tolerating an “education” system that’s unwilling to adequately and accurately address basic human sexuality in a way that would arm children with enough accurate information to allow them to make sound decisions. If children grow up thinking that you can get HIV/AIDS from door knobs or toilet seats, how can we expect them to make sensible, intelligent decisions about sex and sexuality.
Then again, if all you really need to do to avoid getting pregnant is to take a few hits of prime Colombian ditchweed, what else do you need to know? Condoms? Safe sex? Nah…you’ll be too high…which can only mean that you’re safe…right?
Yet another reason why the federal department of education should NOT exist, at all, period.
Uh, Bob...this is really about Florida's curriculum, which determined at the state level. Yes, the federal Department of Education is a clusterf--k, but THIS clusterf--k is Florida's baby.
My bad... I erroneously assumed the Title V funding (with a mandatory 75% match from the state) was from Education. The money for this nonsense actually came from the welfare budget, so my advice is to close the DHHS and the Dept of Education. :)
DING!!! Don Pardo, tell the man what he's won!!
Uh, Bob...this is really about Florida's curriculum, which determined at the state level. Yes, the federal Department of Education is a clusterf--k, but THIS clusterf--k is Florida's baby.
Is there an echo in here?
Even at the state level, I don't see a lot of practical benefit to a centralized, highly controlled, virtually monopolistic system of public education. While it might be appropriate for states to determine accreditation criteria, etc., dictating curriculum state-wide can be a really bad thing. (Google "creation science")
Considering Texas, do we really want a bunch of right wing nut-job politicians that can barely find their way to Austin deciding what is taught in every school district in the state?
Or might a system of public education that provided real choices, encouraged innovation, and discouraged political interference better serve us in the long run...
Bob, MT is ridiculously slow in processing and posting comments, which is why I see a lot of double postings, but this is the first time I've seen MT take ALMOST 13 HOURS. Jeebus.... It's comical enough, I just can't bring myself to delete my duplicate comment.