Oily Awkward Bunnies

THEN in Texas- When I was 5th grader growing up in Texas back in the early 80s we were separated into two groups (boys and girls) and given sex education. The information flowed and continued on into our 6th grade year (to our delight) and by the time I got to Jr. High I had learned:  I was horny, what genital warts were, and that "no glove" meant "no love..."
We all learned this...
I'm sure abstinence was mentioned in the videos but we were there to explore every angle of the issue, not to be preached to. Our spirituality and morals were always respected and protected, but in a classroom setting you have to dissect the subject matter. You have to learn. The films they showed us and the information that was put out, caused a genius reaction amongst us. It sparked something new, it opened the doors so we could go home and bring up the subject with our parents for the first time without embarrassing them with unnecessary questions about wet dreams. (They were covered in the films and so much more...)
NOW in Texas- Conservative Christian lawmakers have taken those films away from our 5th grade classrooms. They claim we as a state can't afford sex education in Texas, even though they are the ones who have denied Federal funding for it as recent as this month.
Because the last thing Texas educators need is money!

​Condoms, birth control -- who needs 'em? Just don't have sex, Texas says to its horny teens. Just hobble that unbridled desire coupled with a limited understanding of consequences and say 'No, I'm saving myself for marriage.'
That's pretty much the message, maybe paired with an infographic demonstrating where the penis goes. Nah, that's too pornographic.
If you've ever been a teenager, you know it doesn't work. Especially here. Our kids are reproducing like oily, awkward bunnies. We're the third-worst for teen birth rates for girls 15 to 19, and the ever-lovin' worst for total teen births. They're expensive too: Teen moms cost $1 billion a year.

So it's dismaying to see that the state has, once again, chosen to turn its nose up at federal funding for sex ed, choosing instead to believe that our little princesses will not succumb to temptation. 

But even the Alabama Department of Public Health -- not exactly a liberal bastion -- found a way to use nearly $800,000 to educate its populace on safe sex practices. In Texas, only a couple of school districts and the University of Texas system have taken advantage of the money.

Instead, they applied for an abstinence-only grant. Tough to tell if Gov. Rick Perry weighed in this time around, fearing, perhaps, that engaging in real talk with our teens would tarnish his otherwise impeccable Christian conservative credentials in the Republican primary.