A bill awaiting the Governor could dictate how local school districts in Madison, Wis., teach sex education, according to a published report.
Senate Bill 286 would require schools that provide sex education to present abstinence as the best choice. Right now, it is up to local districts to decide. Under the new bill, districts would have to promote abstinence, but there is no guarantee students would learn of other birth control methods.
Lauren Peterson learned a lot about safe sex long before graduating from Madison West High School last year.
"In the Madison public schools, you learn about different types of contraceptives," Peterson NBC15 News.
Nicole Safar oflanned Parenthood says if Senate Bill 286 passes, parents could be the ones left in the dark.
"Most parents assume teens are getting this information," says Safar.
Senator Mary Lazich says the subject should alarm parents, but for a different reason.
"Teens are not hearing it, they're not getting the message and it's obvious," says Lazich.
The story went on to say that according to the CDC, seventy percent of boys and sixty percent of girls have had sex by the time they are 18 years old. Ten percent of all students have had sexual intercourse by age 16 and a small percentage have had sex as young as 11.
"I think the bill, at the end of the day, what it does is require that students be armed with more information, information that they are not being armed with now," says Lazich.
"We just think it's very irresponsible to teach abstinence and to not address the seventy percent of teenage boys and the sixty percent of teenage girls who are already having sex," says Safar.
Lauren Peterson says having information about condoms, birth control pills and other forms of contraception have helped her make smart choices beyond her early teens.
"Without scaring them so that they feel like it's a decision they're not equipped to make, we need to give them all the facts," says Peterson. "That was something that really made me feel like I could make a more responsible decision in terms of what I wanted to do."
The story concluded by saying that the two amendments were introduced to the bill. One would have required districts to teach other contraceptive methods in addition to abstinence.
Another would've made schools tell parents if an abstinence-only curriculum was taught. Both of those amendments were shot down. The bill is on the Governor's desk right now. No word on whether he will sign it.
