23% of Washington (state) School Districts Ban Teaching About Homosexuality

[TechBear_Seattle]

23% Of Washington School Districts Ban Teaching About Homosexuality

Seattle, Washington) Nearly a quarter of the school districts in the state of Washington bar teachers from talking about homosexuality and nearly a third do not allow teachers to discus condoms.

The statistics are part of a study released Tuesday by the Healthy Youth Alliance, a coalition working to reduce sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy among teens in the state.

Two hundred of Washington's 296 school districts responded to a survey put out by the coalition.

Even though all 200 districts said they taught HIV/AIDS prevention from grades five to twelve, 29 percent of the districts said their courses focus on "abstinence only" and forbid teachers to discuss condoms.

Seventy percent of the districts surveyed said they stress abstinence in their curricula, but also include information about birth control and condom use to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, the report noted.

The full article can be read at http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/01/011607wa.htm

[WindRavenX]

1. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhh

:banghead:

[mitchtv]

2. Yeah , and Noah's great flood formed

the Grand Canyon 6 thousand years ago

[ninkasi]

3. Apparently, teaching abstinence only

is more important that teaching how to have safe sex. Do the powers that be truly believe that if homosexuality is not mentioned, it will disappear? I read, from time to time, some inane drivel about a "homosexual agenda". How stupid they are.

I can remember 25 years ago, when my daughter's best friend, a teen-aged boy, struggled with the reality of being gay. It was summer, and school was out, and my daughter knocked on my bedroom door at around three in the morning, begging me to talk to him.

Ok, I was divorced, and my house was the neighborhood teen gathering place. I put on a robe, and went to sit outside on my patio, and listened to the anguish pouring out of this sweet young man. He had already suffered at high school, because the kids sensed that he was "different". Now, many years later, he remains a dear friend, but is in a stable, loving, relationship with another man.

No law, nothing that the moral majority, or all of the Pat Robertsons, or Jerry Falwells of this world, could say, would make him change. He is happy the way he is. He is living the life he was born to live. Our country can try to ignore, or condemn homosexuality, but it will be in vain.

My dear friend was born the way he is. He has no desire to change who he is. What we should do is to teach tolerance, and understanding, and let our children know that not everybody is the same. Not mentioning something will not alter facts, and will not make gays go away, or change.

[dsc]

5. You did a great thing

It is so tough to deal with that issue when you are a kid. You feel dirty, ashamed, and alone. I am glad you helped him and glad he is happy.

[Jella]

6. Kuddos to you

Unfortunately, some will continue to struggle well into adulthood. Some will Marry, and some will abuse whatever substance eases their pain. Not all gays become happy couples with higher incomes, and disposable incomes.

Most liberals and moderates I've found all condemn the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world, however, supporting gay marriage bans, DADT continue to portray gays as misfits at best, and sexual diviants at worst.

Equal rights for all Americans will at least send a positive message.

[BeeBee]

7. What a great story.

Your daughter and her friend were lucky to have you around.

[ninkasi]

8. Thank you, and dsc, and Jella

for your kind words. My daughter and I were very lucky to have him as a friend. We met him in 1980, and he and my daughter are still best friends, although he and his partner live in another state. They adopted a little boy from the Ukraine last year, and are so very happy now.

Kids can be so insecure, and I remembered from my own teen years how much self doubt could consume a kid, and how confusion just made everything worse. He had those same insecurities as the others, but with an added one, the pain of not being accepted. At least he had one place where it was ok for him to just be himself, and not try to keep anything hidden.

Now, he is successful, happy in his relationship and new found fatherhood, and an asset to the world. I think he would have turned out the same way whether we were in his life or not, but it might have made things a little easier for him. I'm still amazed at the number of people who are so biased that they won't even consider that their attitudes might be wrong. I wonder how many of them have missed out on friendships which would have been wonderful, if they had only taken their blinders off.

[mondo joe]

4. We're lucky it's that much. A whole lot of WA state is creepy.

You take King County out of it and you might as well be in Ohio.

[NMMNG]

9. Yeah, because if you don't teach about it it will cease to exist

:eyes:

One of the counties in my state opted to teach that it exists, but omitted "gay positive statements" (such as "Gays can lead psychologically healthy and happy lives." and "There is no difference between gay parents and straight parents.") to keep the conservative whackjob protests to a minimum.

[insleeforprez]

10. The state of Washington

Is absolutely divided into two different states by the Cascades.

At my school in suburban Washington, I can't recall any specific mention of homosexuality (although I didn't identify as gay in Freshman year), though I can recall it getting discussed. A later health class that I took, in which the topic du jour was "relationships" in general, homosexuality was mentioned, but only after someone brought it up.