DA's sex ed warning befuddles Wis. teachers, kids

[joeybee12]

MAUSTON, Wis. – Mike Taake has taught sex education for 30 years, and he says he knows what doesn't work: just telling kids to wait.

The Mauston High School health teacher has used abstinence-only and comprehensive curriculums, and he said students need all the information they can get about sex to make the best choices. But teaching them about contraceptives could land him and other teachers in court.

Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth last month sent a letter to area school districts warning that health teachers who tell students how to put on a condom or take birth-control pills could face criminal charges. The warning has befuddled teachers, school administrators and parents in Southworth's poor, rural county.

"Seems like a step back in time," Taake said of Southworth's logic.

Southworth, a Republican and a Christian evangelical, took issue with a law Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle signed in February requiring schools that teach sexual education to adopt a comprehensive approach.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_sex_ed_wisconsin

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Teh stupid! It lives!!!!

[enlightenment]

1. Good grief - what law is he hauling out to threaten that?

Comstock?

[whistler162]

6. Here is his "reasoning"

"In his letter, Southworth told school district leaders the new law promotes sexual assault of children, and warns that teachers who follow the law could be charged with misdemeanor or felony delinquency of a minor, with maximum punishments ranging from nine months in jail to six years in prison.

"For example, if a teacher instructs any student aged 16 or younger how to utilize contraceptives under circumstances where the teacher knows the child is engaging in sexual activity with another child -- or even where the 'natural and probable consequences' of the teacher's instruction is to cause that child to engage in sexual intercourse with a child -- that teacher can be charged under this statue," Southworth wrote.

"Moreover, the teacher could be charged with this crime even if the child does not actually engage in the criminal behavior," he wrote, adding, "Our teachers should never be put in this position.""

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/wis-da-threatens-arrest-for-local-sex-ed-teachers/19430578

[RC]

2. The prosecutor can interpret the law however he sees fit?

Pick and choose those he likes and doesn't? Why isn't he in the unemployment line yet?

"Janine Geske, a Marquette University law professor and former state Supreme Court justice, said she didn't understand Southworth's legal logic. She said that if he tried to prosecute a teacher for adhering to guidelines approved by the Legislature and governor, the case would likely be dismissed.

"To be frank, I can't follow exactly what he's trying to get at," Geske said. "If a teacher is educating a student pursuant to state law ... I don't see how under any examination (that) could be criminal.""

[joeybee12]

3. Yeah, and calling this guy's leagal interpretation "logic" is far

too generous of the Marquette professor.

[TheMightyFavog]

4. This Scott Southworth was involved in a SCOTUS case ten years back...

He tried to sue the University of Wisconsin because some of his student fees were going to pro choice and GLBT groups on campus. He lost.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=98-1189

[joeybee12]

5. Loser!

Sadly, though, his stupid lives on.

[Overseas]

7. K&R. Encroaching Republican Theocracy.

Hope they can vote the guy out.

[TheMightyFavog]

8. Lots of fundies an other assorted right wing nutjobs in Juneau County...

He probably GAINED votes out of the deal.

[Overseas]

10. Sorry to hear that. //nt

[undeterred]

9. If we don't tell them about sex at school, they'll never figure it out..

:banghead:

[joeybee12]

11. Saw a great analogy...if you teach your children who to use a checkbook...

...that doesn't mean they're all going to start writing bad checks.

Same with sex ed.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. How does he tell teachers et. al that they will be breaking the law

by....umm...following the law? If the law tells teachers to do something (or that they can do something- like providing instruction about contraception), then how can they be breaking the law if they act in accordance with the law? I don't get it. :shrug:

Man, I hope THIS craziness doesn't catch on anywhere else (though, sadly, I fear that it can/will) or it could make the "evolution vs. creationism" controversy look pale by comparison.