I am ... astounded. Simply astounded. This is America, right? We haven't abrogated our rights as protected under our Constitution and our political system is still a democratic republic, isn't it? I mean, this isn't like Iran or anything ... is it?
So .. what da heck is up with this?
(Log in with knoxnews@yahoo.com/knoxnews ... courtesy Bugmenot.com)
OK ... I grew up in that town and graduated from this high school. In fact, I was on staff of this newspaper during my senior year. I know for a fact that had the administration tried something like this on us, it would have erupted into World War III. The administration knew this too, and never would have even considered pulling an entire issue. We might have had a lecture on appropriate topics for a high school newspaper and blah blah blah. Like we would have listened ... but anyway, the thought of trampling our civil rights in this manner would have never have even been entertained.
Birth control and body art ... like these are highly controversial things anyway. Holy crap. The birth control article emphasizes the fact that nothing guarantees protection from pregnancy or disease, and states very plainly that only abstinence will fully protect one from these negative consequences. Are we getting so head-in-the-sand that we must not even bring up the topic lest our little darlings take that as condoning of teenage premarital sex? Talk about delusional.
I know very little about the body art article, but what the hell? You know, I can think of a lot worse things that kids could do than poke a couple extra holes in themselves. So a couple of these kids wanted to share their experience with body art. What the hell is so controversial in that?
What is so controversial in either of these subjects that it would prompt school officials to take such a fascist stance as this? Yes, I did say fascist because there is no other description for it. I am outraged. I may just have to give Principle Becky Ervin and Superintendent Thomas Bailey a little call on Monday morning.
Interesting .... I sent this over to John Ray at
, a site that "Carp(s) about the excesses of clueless crybabies since the turn of the century." They specialize in skewering outrageous instance of overly PC behavior. The site has a decidedly politically right/conservative lean ... obviously, since all things PC is a leftie/liberal concern, primarily. The reaction has been mixed, and fascinating in the
. While all are dismayed at the idea of censorship of a student newspaper because a few people might be offended, they are tripping over the birth control angle ... it is a conservative stance to teach only abstinence in schools and keep birth control out of the discussion. It would seem that it is OK to be offended if the subject is birth control .... how very interesting.
about the editing of a photo of a kids book illustrator to remove the cigarette from his hand. Oh the outrage! "How about shut up and publish, and leave the anti-tobacco zealotry to the ashtray cops?" says Michelle. I wonder what, if anything, she will say about the censorship of a birth control article? Will we see the same outrage?
The potential for hypocrisy is enormous ... we shall see.
(Well crap ... I can't win for losing. Another blogger posted the article too, and THEY get the
... at least I got a tiny nod in a
. It looks like that was good for 12 hits at least! /sarcasm)
Through sources, I have been able to obtain a late draft of the birth control article ... it is in the extended section ...
I paste it here as is, just as it was sent to me, typos, errors and all ... this is not the final draft that was submitted for the final article:
=============================
According to a poll taken in 2001, if applied to ORHS
today, then there would be
34% of ninth graders = 143 sexually active students
41% of tenth graders = 147 sexually active students
52% of eleventh graders = 195 sexually active students
60 % of twelfth graders = 207 sexually active students
**This information was provided by Dr. Charles E. Darling, an
obstetrician with the Anderson County Health center. **
If these figures hold true, 692 ORHS students have had sexual
intercourse. There are many concerns for these teens, including
emotional health, STD's, and pregnancies. I want to discuss how to
lower the risk of unwanted pregnancy.
While complete sexual abstinence is certainly an option, these
statistics say that many teens aren't choosing that option.
My opinion is, if you're going to have sex, then be safe. There are so
man things out there that can keep you safe. These methods include:
The pill with an 8% failure rate
Male condoms with a 14% failure rate
Rhythm (avioding sexual contact when the female is fertile) with a 20%
failure rate
Withdrawal (pulling out) with a 24% failure rate
Cervical caps with a 20% failure rate
Spermicides with a 26% failure rate
Depo-Provera (an intra-muscular shot received every 12 weeks) with a
3.1% failure rate
Mirena IUD (a hormone releasing intrauterine contraceptive) with a
0.1% failure rate
ParaGaurd IUD (a non-hormone releasing intrauterine contraceptive)
with a 0.8% failure rate
A diaphragm with a 12% failure rate
"There are some things that a lot of people don't know about many of
these contraceptives that make the failure rate so high," Dr. Darling
cautions.
The only way for male condoms to actually work correctly is as soon as
the male ejaculates he must pull out so there won't be any leakage
into the vaginal area. This, unfortunately, is not widely practiced
and therefore ups the risk of pregnancy.
"If you are taking any medications and you wish to be put on
Depo-Provera you should go and talk to your OB/GYN before and make
sure that they will work together. There have been many cases where a
certain medication has shortened the 12 week infertility period by
almost 3 weeks. This causes women to be able to get pregnant during
this time period," said a current substitute teacher and a former
employee at a pregnancy center, who asked that we not use her name.
"Withdrawal is risky because many men do not realize when semen is
released the first bit of semen contains a large quantity of sperm,"
Dr. Darling stated.
If you are considering any kind of birth control, please talk to your
doctor first and let him know of any medications that you may be on to
be sure that it is right for you.
Statistics show the number of teens involved with sexual intercourse
has been declining since 1991; now 43% of women and 49% of men admit
to being sexually active in high school.
"Continuous use of the pill and the patch has not been well studied,
nor are there large studies done on the effectiveness of the vaginal
ring," said Darling.
"If you get a pregnancy test done and you find out that you are
pregnant, you can make sure that the parents do not know. Also
parental consent is not needed to obtain birth control," stated
Darling.
Contraceptives can be obtained through a local physician or the local
Health Department. The Anderson County Health Department is open on
Mon - Fri 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is located at 100 N Main St,
Clinton, TN 37716. You can reach them during normal business hours at
(865) 457-6228
although there is a growing number of teens that are now taking a stand and
have chosen abstinence, there's still a large number (majority) of those
teens who are sexually active. case in point - teachers, parents, and other
adults (as well as fellow students/peers) keep asking, "what can we do to
keep our children from getting pregnant, getting diseases, etc...?" and i
truly believe they are trying to watch out for our well being, i also think
that some of them might be trying to hide how they truly feel about the
issue and that their too consious to think that maybe their son or daughter
is having sex. for those who choose abstinence, i am not trying to put you
down or anything of like. i respect you in your values and sticking to them.
but for those who chose not to go that way, some of the teens who aren't as
up-to-date on how to protect themselves as others, its not always an easy
thing to ask their parents about what they should do to protect themselves.
if parents were more open in realizing what their kids were doing, their
kids wouldn't be so afraid of talking to them about important issues, sex
being one of the most important if not THE most important issue. if more
parents were willing to accept their childrens decisions and not telling
them that they've made a terrible decision, than maybe they'd talk to them
more.
i guess what i'm trying to say is that even though many of us know how to
protect ourselves from getting sick or pregnant, there are those who don't
and its not always easy getting access to whatever they may need. but when
it does become available it seems so many people are offended by it and
choose to take it away and think that its a parents right to know what their
kids are doing. and i do agree w/ that...but i also think that parents need
to be able to accept their children's decisions. they can't always make them
for us and it would be easier for us all if parents were more willing to
realize and trust their kids.
============================
We need to let these people know that our kids' rights are as important as our own. Loudly, but politely and respectfully. Join me, won't you?
« Hush me up!
