Wisconsin sex ed teachers could face charges for instructing about contraception

Parent Cafe
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<p>"MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin prosecutor is warning sex education teachers they could face charges if they follow a new state law that allows them to instruct students about proper contraceptive use.</p>

<p>A letter sent to five school districts by Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth said the instruction could amount to contributing to the delinquency of a minor if teachers know students are sexually active. He said the districts should drop sex education until the law is repealed.</p>

<p>Southworth also argued that teaching contraceptive use encourages sexual behavior among children, which equates to sexual assault because minors can’t legally have sex in Wisconsin."</p>

<p>[Sex</a> Education Could Mean Charges for Teachers - Education - FOXNews.com](<a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,590520,00.html]Sex”>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,590520,00.html)</p>

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<p>So the role of the D.A. * isn’t * to uphold the state law?
:confused:</p>

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<p>So, I’m assuming we can’t teach about prohibition or drug laws either. Because automatically exposing someone to those terrible things like drinking and drugs is going to equate to more “delinquency of minors”. Right? :rolleyes: </p>

<p>People flat-out amaze me sometimes.</p>

<p>PS: Good for Wisconsin for passing a common-sense law. We need more like that in this country!</p>

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<p>PS: Good for Wisconsin for passing a common-sense law. We need more like that in this country!</p>

<p>Our state did it as well :D</p>

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<p>^ Amen emerald. </p>

<p>There is still a bit of hope left in the government of this country and the states.
But only a bit :stuck_out_tongue: </p>

<p>lol</p>

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<p>So the DA is threatening teachers with punishment if they obey the law. Hm…</p>

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<p>OTOH Washington educators allowed a 15 year old girl to have an abortion without parents notification.</p>

<p>SEATTLE – The mother of a Ballard High School student is fuming after the health center on campus helped facilitate her daughter’s abortion during school hours.</p>

<p>The mother, whom KOMO News has chosen to identify only as “Jill,” says the clinic kept the information “confidential.” </p>

<p>When she signed a consent form, Jill figured it meant her 15 year old could go to the Ballard Teen Health Center located inside the high school for an earache, a sports physical, even birth control, but not for help terminating a pregnancy.</p>

<p>“She took a pregnancy test at school at the teen health center,” she said. “Nowhere in this paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating abortion.”</p>

<p>Jill says her daughter, a pro-life advocate, was given a pass, put in a taxi and sent off to have an abortion during school hours all without her family knowing.</p>

<p>“We had no idea this was being facilitated on campus,” said Jill. “They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility.”</p>

<p>The Seattle School District says it doesn’t run the health clinics at high schools. Swedish Medical Center runs the clinic at Ballard High and protects the students’ privacy. </p>

<p>T.J. Cosgrove of the King County Health Department, which administers the school-based programs for the health department, says it’s always best if parents are involved in their children’s health care, but don’t always have a say.</p>

<p>“At any age in the state of Washington, an individual can consent to a termination of pregnancy,” he said.</p>

<p>THAT is absurd. You can’t buy a cigarette until you are 18 in Washington. I don’t think you can get a tattoo either.</p>

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<p>Something doesn’t add up here. Why would her daughter, a pro-life advocate, get an abortion?</p>

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<p>There is probably a reason for that. Look, if a 15 year old girl wants an abortion, she’s going to get one. At least the school is making sure it’s done in a clean clinic rather than a back-alley with a baseball bat. There is obviously a reason that she didn’t tell her mother, we don’t know. Who is to say her mother and father aren’t abusive? It’s not up to us to judge.</p>

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<p>Yes, all parents are abusive. First thing that pops into my mind. We make the laws so it iS up to us to judge. This law is bad.</p>

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<p>^ barrons, did I say that ALL parents are abusive? No, I said that there is a reason that the girl didn’t tell her parents. I was throwing out abuse as a possible reason. </p>

<p>Geeze.</p>

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<p>Gee, Barrons, way to try to change the subject from a deranged jackass D.A. threatening people who want to comply with the law.</p>

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<p>So would they rather have the students learn medically INACCURATE information?</p>

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<p>Perhaps the mother would have been happier had her daughter hidden the pregnancy, delivered the baby in the restroom and then put it in a dumpster. Seeing the way the mother has reacted, it is not a surprise that the daughter made the choice she did.</p>

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<p>The daughter is the one who is pregnant in this case, and she is only 15. I agree with what happened, the decision about whether to terminate the pregnancy is up to her. And thanks for pointing out romanigypsyeyes, what this may have done is facilitate a safe abortion so that the tragedy of the situation wasn’t compounded with the death of a 15 year old.</p>

<p>Back to the original post. I will be interested to see if this overzealous prosecutor’s threats have an impact on what gets taught in the classrooms. I think since the teachers have the law on their side they will assume they can follow it.</p>

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<p>It appears that the age of consent is 18 in Wisconsin, if it was 16 like in many other states or there were close in age exceptions, I cannot see how teaching about contraception could lead to the delinquency of a minor as the minor could legally have sex. I’m for the schools following the new law and teach about contraception. As for the 15 year old getting an abortion without her parent’s knowledge, I’m not the biggest fan of it, but state law does allow it and I do worry about the girl’s parental situation. The mother is saying that her daughter is pro-life, but I just read that as the mother is pro-life. The daughter should be allowed to have control over her own body and the mother should consider her own parenting skills as if her daughter was able to trust and respectfully disagree with her mother, then the daughter would probably have notified her mother.</p>

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<p>The daughter is the one who is pregnant in this case, and she is only 15. I agree with what happened, the decision about whether to terminate the pregnancy is up to her.</p>

<p>That is absurd. If she had a toothache and had a choice between extraction and other treatments would you not expect that the parents would at least have some input into the treatment? For any other surgical procedure I doubt the doctors could even treat her without consent of the parents. She is too young to make such a decision without considering all the options with her adult parents.</p>

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<p>barrons – this isn’t a tooth that needs to be pulled.</p>

<p>The parents should be involved if the 15 year old wants them to be and most 15 olds in this situation do tell their parents. I talked to my guidance counselor once when I was in high school. She said the worst days were when a girl came into her office and told they were pregnant. She counseled them, including encouraging them to involve their parents, and she told me that most of them did.</p>

<p>The 15 year old might indeed be too young to make such a monumental decision, but that is the lesser of two evils, the other possibility being that her parents would make the decision for her. No, she has to live with the decision and she’ll probably living with the painful memories of this unwanted pregnancy for the rest of her life. Since she is the one who has to live with the results of this sad situation the decision must be hers.</p>

<p>Anyway, I don’t necessarily get why the mother is so upset with the school. Someone should correct me if I am wrong but I think this girl could have gone to planned parenthood and arranged to have an abortion.</p>

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<p>The way the mother is reacting tells me everything I need to know about why the daughter made the decision she did and is evidence of why parental involvement should not be mandated. The mother is obviously willing to put her desires and beliefs over what is better for her daughter. I’m sure the daughter knew the battle that was ahead if she involved her.</p>

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<p>I finally had a chance to look at the link Northstarmom. I just wanted to highlight a few sentences. First the gist of the law.</p>

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<p>Next what the district attorney’s take on it is</p>

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<p>I think the district attorney is a nut. Anyway his action if sex education instruction continues is pretty noncommital</p>

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<p>He’s hedging too much, I don’t think he’ll follow through if the sex education is implemented or continues. He wants to push his own agenda but only if it doesn’t rise beyond the level of sending a threatening letter.</p>

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<p>Similar laws in other states explain why our kids aren’t getting as much sex ed as we did 30 years ago… unless you count the wrong info they are getting from the much more influential and “able to show anything” media.</p>