Spring Break
Learning from Mom
Getting an abstinence-only education at age 20
Kate Harsh
Issue date: 2/17/06 Section: OpEd Page
"Did you know that condoms have expiration dates?" my mother asks me, excited to share her newfound knowledge.
"Yes, Mom," I answer, not looking up from my magazine.
"Did you know syphilis is passed from skin-to-skin contact?" She shudders this time, appearing to be grossed out.
What kind of book or magazine was my mom learning all this from, you might ask? Well, she wasn't reading a medical book or one of those pamphlets you get handed in high school health class. My mother is an abstinence-only educator.
This is a new direction for my mom, a former high school English teacher. She hasn't been in the schools since before I was born, so this is an experience for her on multiple levels. And it's a real experience for the rest of the family, to say the least.
I personally believe every high school student should receive thorough sexual education, covering STDs, all forms of birth control and abstinence. In the wise words of my high school health teacher, "I waited. You can wait. But I know you're going to do it anyway, so I'm going to prepare you." Everyone needs to know what is available to them because everyone isn't going to do what you think is right. When my mom called me at school to say she was going to be involved with abstinence-only teaching, we agreed not to fight about our ideals. And so far we haven't had a single problem.
My mother began her job right after Thanksgiving, so when I came home for winter break things were different. Not only were there chastity pamphlets and random objects she used in her abstinence skits just lying around, but sex and talk of sexually transmitted diseases (sexually transmitted infections, to be politically correct) had become part of everyday conversation. Even at the dinner table.
I'll never forget the day my mom came walking through the house asking us if we had seen her HIV picture. I never thought I would hear those words come out of my mom's mouth, let alone in the same sentence.
"Yes, Mom," I answer, not looking up from my magazine.
"Did you know syphilis is passed from skin-to-skin contact?" She shudders this time, appearing to be grossed out.
What kind of book or magazine was my mom learning all this from, you might ask? Well, she wasn't reading a medical book or one of those pamphlets you get handed in high school health class. My mother is an abstinence-only educator.
This is a new direction for my mom, a former high school English teacher. She hasn't been in the schools since before I was born, so this is an experience for her on multiple levels. And it's a real experience for the rest of the family, to say the least.
I personally believe every high school student should receive thorough sexual education, covering STDs, all forms of birth control and abstinence. In the wise words of my high school health teacher, "I waited. You can wait. But I know you're going to do it anyway, so I'm going to prepare you." Everyone needs to know what is available to them because everyone isn't going to do what you think is right. When my mom called me at school to say she was going to be involved with abstinence-only teaching, we agreed not to fight about our ideals. And so far we haven't had a single problem.
My mother began her job right after Thanksgiving, so when I came home for winter break things were different. Not only were there chastity pamphlets and random objects she used in her abstinence skits just lying around, but sex and talk of sexually transmitted diseases (sexually transmitted infections, to be politically correct) had become part of everyday conversation. Even at the dinner table.
I'll never forget the day my mom came walking through the house asking us if we had seen her HIV picture. I never thought I would hear those words come out of my mom's mouth, let alone in the same sentence.
