Just Say No (to Abstinence)

So today I was subbing in a health class. Which is, by itself, scary enough. I knew going in that most of my classes were going to have a guest speaker, so I would just have to be there, with my shiny teacher-certification, and let him do his thing. Sweet.

I did comment to Lisa that I hoped it wouldn't be a sex talk.

It was a sex talk.

But the fun didn't stop there. No, indeed.

It was a SEXUAL ABSTINENCE talk. And I had to sit through it THREE times.

And....this was in a public school.

I was more horrified than I can tell you. Frankly, I disagreed with nearly everything the guy had to say. It was all I could do to keep from shouting out in argument. (Which would have been a bad career move, I imagine.)

When did our public schools become a bastion of conservatism? This wasn't being presented as an option - it was being presented as "what is right."

Now, don't get me wrong. I believe, generally, it would be a good idea to wait to have sex until you are 18. But that's not what this guy was advocating. He was saying that you need/should/must be abstinent until you are MARRIED. Dude - I don't know anyone who thinks that unless it's a christian relgious thing. Furthermore, I knew these arguments. I could have predicted what he was going to say (before I heard it for the second and third time). Because I used to talk that way. When you've been inside the christian cult, you know what's coming next. And religion has no place in our schools. Ever.

This guy had the world divided into two types of people. One one side, there were sluts (or manwhores, as he ACTUALLY phrased it once). On the other side are those who wait til marriage. No middle ground. None.

:Sigh: One of the main duties of teachers is to try to get young people to see that the world ISN'T that black-and-white. That there are grey areas. This guy set us back at least a month. My only consolation is that the kids didn't seem to be buying it. (Duh!) In fact, they probably all went and fucked their brains out that night in protest. I know it sure made me want to.

I could give you more examples about how this guy manipulated language and statistics, or how he jumped to amazing conclusions from small grains of truth, but why bother. You've all heard it. Just probably not in a public school. And probably not three times running.

Sad thing is, I actually really liked the guy that was doing the speaking. When he wasn't talking about sex, he was a really fun, hilarious, nice guy. Oh well.

Then on the way home there was a guy on the MAX reading a bible.

And then there was a christian tract thingy at the little cafe we went to tonight to see Nick Jaina play.

I swear, Jesus really is stalking me.