How badly has the public education system in the U.S.
strayed? That is, why do kids today get to little educational
instruction and too many social services? Well, one example is in New
York. The New York City Department of Education is making the
morning-after-pill available to high school girls at 13 public schools.
Yep, for kids as young as 14 they hand them out, no questions asked and
no parent consulted. That system already hands out condoms to the kids.
There is something fundamentally wrong with handing out condoms and morning after pills to kids. It, uh, kind of says to them that we expect them to be immoral and irresponsible in their behavior. Maybe handing out math tests instead of condoms might work better, for an educated child will more often behave responsibly sexually and otherwise. Schools now not only act as the surrogate parent, but also as the child's physician, dietitian, social director, and it seems also... but rarely... as educators. Note I out education last on that list.
In the vast majority of cases the parent is more interested in the welfare of his or her child than is the school. So let parents make those other decisions, and let schools educate the child. The handing to educators by society of responsibilities unrelated to academic matters is a reflection of the society's failure to carry out the roles of those things at their former source. I have often felt that is teachers were allowed to teach and not be asked to parent, the children they educate would be far better off academically as a result.
Too, the lesson of free and easily available morning after pills for children is a lesson that teaches personal responsibility means sex for kids is ok as long as their is morning after to prevent pregnancy afterward. The real lesson is that there is not need for personal responsibility for reckless actions. While unwanted teen pregnancies may end with the free birth control for all teens, the emotional, relational, and other physical issues of being sexually active, particularly at such a young age, will remain. And that may prove to be the most damaging thing our society fails to teach to its children..
There is something fundamentally wrong with handing out condoms and morning after pills to kids. It, uh, kind of says to them that we expect them to be immoral and irresponsible in their behavior. Maybe handing out math tests instead of condoms might work better, for an educated child will more often behave responsibly sexually and otherwise. Schools now not only act as the surrogate parent, but also as the child's physician, dietitian, social director, and it seems also... but rarely... as educators. Note I out education last on that list.
In the vast majority of cases the parent is more interested in the welfare of his or her child than is the school. So let parents make those other decisions, and let schools educate the child. The handing to educators by society of responsibilities unrelated to academic matters is a reflection of the society's failure to carry out the roles of those things at their former source. I have often felt that is teachers were allowed to teach and not be asked to parent, the children they educate would be far better off academically as a result.
Too, the lesson of free and easily available morning after pills for children is a lesson that teaches personal responsibility means sex for kids is ok as long as their is morning after to prevent pregnancy afterward. The real lesson is that there is not need for personal responsibility for reckless actions. While unwanted teen pregnancies may end with the free birth control for all teens, the emotional, relational, and other physical issues of being sexually active, particularly at such a young age, will remain. And that may prove to be the most damaging thing our society fails to teach to its children..
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