You may remember the controversy over a middle school in Maine providing birth control to eleven year olds without parental consent. It was a hot topic a few weeks ago. Well, now we have this nice piece of propaganda from the AP.
People decisively favor letting their public schools provide birth control to students, but they also voice misgivings that divide them along generational, income and racial lines, a poll showed.
Sixty-seven percent support giving contraceptives to students, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. About as many — 62 percent — said they believe providing birth control reduces the number of teenage pregnancies.
“Kids are kids,” said Danielle Kessenger, 39, a mother of three young children from Jacksonville, Fla., who supports providing contraceptives to those who request them. “I was a teenager once and parents don’t know everything, though we think we do.”
Yet most who support schools distributing contraceptives prefer that they go to children whose parents have consented. People are also closely divided over whether sex education and birth control are more effective than stressing morality and abstinence, and whether giving contraceptives to teenagers encourages them to have sexual intercourse.
Wow! So, lets take a look at the details of the poll. Sweetness and Light rips the poll apart.
Remember:
Sixty-seven percent support giving contraceptives to students, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll.
Here is polling question upon which this grandiose claim rests:
Which would you prefer for the public schools in your community?
Provide birth conrol only to those students who have the consent of their parents: 37%
Provide birth control to all students who want it: 30%
Not provide birth control to any student: 30%
DK/NS: 3%
Is that how you read the results? That 67% support giving contraceptives to students?
Doesn’t this mean that only 30% approve of doing so, unless the school has the consent of the parents?
And speaking of parents, most of the respondents aren’t:
Are you the parent of a school-aged child, or not?
Yes 37%
No 63%
That is enough for me to toss this poll out the window, but if you need more convincing…Sweetness and Light keeps rippin.
—John Stephenson is editor of Stop The ACLU.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
POLL RESULTS?
November 1, 2007 - 21:19 ET by timzankThat poll is about as reliable as a used condom.
Hey!!!
November 1, 2007 - 21:29 ET by timotheUsed condoms are people, too!! Be nice!
As a parent of two middle
November 1, 2007 - 21:59 ET by msh1973As a parent of two middle schoolers...I say bull! What a crock of you know what!
The headline should read:
November 1, 2007 - 22:14 ET by TEThe headline should read: "Members of the Democrat party (i.e., Alan Fram and the rest of the Associated (with terrorists) Press, the pagans, the atheists, the tree huggers, the earth worshippers, the flag burners, the feminists (hahahahaha), the Marxists, the socialists, the race baiters and the fundamentalist homosexualists) want to impose their 'values' on other people's children in public schools and throw themselves and their 'values' into the bedrooms of other people's children."
Cipherin'
November 1, 2007 - 22:32 ET by acumenLet me guess...the writer of this AP article was Jethro Bodine.
Some Day...
November 1, 2007 - 22:52 ET by Del DolemonteI gotta have a LOOONNNG talk with that boy!!!
Jethro Bodine adding!
November 2, 2007 - 05:39 ET by USA4freedomOught times ought is... ought!
That boy sure can cipher!
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day
IPSOS
November 1, 2007 - 22:53 ET by Del DolemonteDipsos is a French polling outfit. 'Nuff said
Give birth control?
November 1, 2007 - 22:55 ET by BrillianceWho in the hell did they poll? Teachers???
School uniforms should include chastity belts.
If a school system gives
November 2, 2007 - 00:20 ET by MidAmericaIf a school system gives birth control to an underage minor without parental consent then not only are they usurping the role of the parents but if the sexual activity is not reported to the police as a rape then they are also guilty of concealing a crime.
"if the sexual activity is
November 2, 2007 - 02:41 ET by ckc1227"if the sexual activity is not reported to
the police as a rape then they are also guilty of concealing a crime. "
Which doesn't really make sense to me though. If two 12 year olds have sex, who is the rapist?
Traditionally the man is the rapist
November 2, 2007 - 03:01 ET by Daniel Bakerno matter what his age is.
"Traditionally, the man is
November 2, 2007 - 06:18 ET by ckc1227"Traditionally, the man is the rapist, no matter what his age is."
Which is ridiculous.
Which doesn't really make
November 2, 2007 - 05:14 ET by MidAmericaWhich doesn't really make sense to me though. If two 12 year olds have sex, who is the rapist?
The school. If they have the knowledge that two 12 year olds are having sex and refuse to tell neither the parents or any other authority then they are complicit in the crime. What happens when these kids develop a venereal disease? Some diseases are incurable or can lead to infertility. Will that be hidden too? If an abortion is performed is that only a school matter also? If an underage child needs mental health counseling to deal with issues stemming from sexual activity at too young an age will the school assume full responsibility? How is the school going to determine that a child is truthful in saying that their sex partner is also underage and that the sexual activity is truly consensual?
"If they have the knowledge
November 2, 2007 - 06:38 ET by ckc1227"If they have the knowledge that two 12 year olds are having sex and
refuse to tell neither the parents or any other authority then they are
complicit in the crime. "
What crime? Is it against the law for 2 twelve year olds to have sex? If so, I'll ask again: Who is guilty of the crime? Who is the "rapist" in my scenario? While possibly guilty of something, the school isn't the rapist.
"How is the school going to determine that a child is truthful in saying
that their sex partner is also underage and that the sexual activity is
truly consensual?"
I don't know, but that's not really the point I'm asking about. I'm interested in the cases where two 12 year olds consent to sex, not hypothetical maybes and what ifs. We already know who the criminal is in those cases.
And don't misunderstand me, I'm not for giving birth control to 11 year olds at all. I think it's a ridiculous idea that promotes behavior that you don't want middle schoolers engaging in.
And not only that, I don't want to pay for it. If I'm not having any sex, damnit, I'm not paying for the birth control of someone else who is. :(
I don't know, but that's
November 2, 2007 - 07:05 ET by MidAmericaI don't know, but that's not really the point I'm asking about. I'm interested in the cases where two 12 year olds consent to sex, not hypothetical maybes and what ifs. We already know who the criminal is in those cases.
Depends on how a states law is written and enforced. In some states both partners are guilty and could be prosecuted, but they rarely are.
The real crime here is that schools want to usurp responsibility from parents. However I doubt seriously that schools have the same level of interest in the welfare of the child as does the childs own parents.
The argument put forward is that some parents will not protect their child or the child is afraid of the parents reaction if sexual activity is present. What this argument says is that a child as young as eleven has the maturity to be sexually active and only needs positive support for that decision. There is also a message that the only real threat to a sexually active eleven year old is a negative reaction from a parent.
But hey... at least the schools want to keep Army Recruiters away from our kids.
I'm guessing a good chunk
November 2, 2007 - 06:42 ET by motherbeltI'm guessing a good chunk of the parents who said OK (even with their permission) said so because of the convenience.
Think about it: a mother would have to take a day off from work and take her daughter to the doctor for a prescription. Then she'd have to be responsible for going to the pharmacy to get the pills (if the girl is not 16 and/or doesn't have her own car.)
And if the pills are free at school, that's just another benefit.
Oh, and if the mother does it on her own, there's the responsibility of having to talk to the daughter about sex, being responsible, etc.
Why not just let the schools do it? Easier all around. And the ones who say OK even without parent's consent probably don't want to know their kid is having sex (Ignorance is bliss).
As far as I'm concerned these parents are just trying to abdicate responsibility for their own kids.
These bizzare behavior of
November 2, 2007 - 08:29 ET by Senior ChiefThese bizzare behavior of our school legislators will just get crazzier as the years go by. As parents, we need to be vigilant and get involve in our children's education and their extra curricular activities. Polls don't mean anything to me, as long as I am a part of my children's lives. I can afford to take my kids out of public schools, but their fight is my fight too, and make it your fight too.
I will not chicken out to confront head on with my children's school system here in Virginia. I've done it so, and I will continue on...
I guess...
November 2, 2007 - 08:55 ET by StephCIt's a good way to prevent unwanted pregnancies by all the pedophiles let loose in the schools these days.
I mean if a school hires pedophiles who father children on minors, who's the responsible party? Would that be grounds to sue the Board of Education for child support?
Or a teacher coming up pregnant from a tryst with one of <em>her</em> students? Easy access to birth control that would be easy to keep secret, such as in the cases of the married teachers? You know, a school can't come out and proclaim that kind of hidden agenda so it's another "for the kids" stupidity, not to mention that they are trying to usurp parents' rights.
And, no, I'm not really trying to be a comedian here. There are angles that people just don't talk about but are still a part of the Big Picture.
Polls
November 2, 2007 - 12:16 ET by iveseenitallPolls,Smolls. The fact is that millions of Americans would pull their kids out of public "schools" if they had a viable alternative. Public education is a disgrace and is getting worse all the time. Its number one objective is to "change" America, a land it sees as an evil European male-dominated country. A biased, narrow-minded view of American society is the only point if view allowed in American classrooms. Disgusting socialism/communism rules the day, brainwashing our kids and ruining the future for our once great nation.
Consider these few items (and many more):
Academic standards lowered, and lowered, and lowered
Respect and discipline --- gone
Prayer in schools---gone
Condom distribution in the "schools" ---here to stay
More and more "teachers" having "affairs" with students. (Shouldn't they be "teaching?")
Credentials for becoming a "teacher" lowered, not raised
Little or no accoutability for poor "professoinal" performance
A biased , liberal point of view which allows for no dissent in institutions of "learning"
Textbooks replete with liberal bias and outright falsehoods
An assortment of "strange" people posing as administrators, P.E. teachers, and guidance counselors
Wake up America! You deserve much better.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
Huh?
November 2, 2007 - 12:35 ET by vrwc13Are you the parent of a school-aged child, or not?
Yes 37%
No 63%
...says it all
v
just one more reason we homskul...
VAS clip for pre-pubescent boys!
November 2, 2007 - 19:00 ET by amberI've said this before. Why is bc the prepubescent girl's responsibility? Why not have all of the boys get a VAS clip? It is safe, it will not sterilize them, it can easily be removed and it is over 99% effective. Why isn't NOW out there yelling about the sexism in this school? Why should girls be the ones to take a hormone altering drug that could and probably will have lifelong implications for them?
Of course I am not serious, but, in my mind, that would be safer for all parties and yet no one has suggested it. The schools do not care about the mental or physical effects of what they do to our children. Our daughters will not only be viewed as whores, but abortions can cause horrible dammage mentally and physically and who knows what the pill will do to an 11 year old. I think the goal is to sterilize our children and the fact that there has not been a massive move of children out of the public school system in Maine is mind boggling to me. The parents who are "outraged" should be ashamed of themselves if they do not remove their children from public school. You may not beat them at the ballot box, but you can take their funds away.