Morning Read: Saratoga Springs-based Planned Parenthood booted out of schools
The Albany Times Union is reporting that a school district in Clifton Park has severed ties with educators from Planned Parenthood, following complaints from parents affiliated with the local Roman Catholic church.
Maureen Shifler, a district parent, was among those who pushed the school to cut its ties to Planned Parenthood. She recruited supporters to her effort through the bulletin at Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church in Clifton Park.
Shifler said a primary concern among the two dozen parents allied to her cause centered around the way abstinence was presented to children and that some parents were not given proper notification about their right to opt out of the coursework. She said that children were being lulled into a false sense of security and that they could still be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases.
“There’s a difference between teaching something and promoting something,” she said.
Planned Parenthood had been teaching in the district, offering regular seminars on safe sex, abstinence and other reproductive health issues, for twenty years. Read the full article here.
Tags: adirondacks, education
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“There’s a difference between teaching something and promoting something,” she said.
Does anyone else see the irony in that statement from a Catholic?
If the Catholic Church and all other churches want to act politically in the way the Taliban and other religious extremist like to operate, then they should start paying taxes on all the property they own.
I say this as a Catholic. Not only should there be freedom of religion, there should also be freedom from religions sticking there nose into everything secular, including education.
Presumably they wanted abstinence promoted by “teaching” the kids phony scare stories about STDs. That has never been very effective in any sense.
A lot of Christians feel like their religion is under attack anytime they encounter someone who thinks differently. I’m thinking of making up some bumper stickers that say:
I do respect your religion. I just don’t want your religion as my government.
Jim, I’d buy that bumper sticker in a minute!
The problem is letting a political organization, Planned Parenthood, into the public schools in the first place. This is teaching from an outside group that has an agenda and biases on a range of topics that I find offensive. Others don’t find them offensive and that is fine, but they certainly don’t belong in a public school.
The school is doing the right thing.
Mervel, Since when is giving accurate and rational information to young people a biased agenda? The only thing I saw that might qualify was that “some students were allegedly told” that oral sex didn’t count as sex. I love that “allegedly” bit.
FWIW When I was in HS my history teacher expressed some political ideas that I’m sure some parents wouldn’t agree with. You can’t protect kids from everything and limiting their access to legitimate expertise will only send them to questionable sources. Don’t believe me? Check out the level of dis&mis-information that abounds on the web.
I am not Catholic and don’t believe that Catholics should be setting the agenda in PUBLIC schools. I also don’t believe that Planned Parenthood should be teaching there either.
planned parenthood is a group that provides medical care for poor and young women. They are not a political organization. Birth control is a big part of what they do. Sex education is a natural.
I agree with Bob. I don’t believe that Catholics should be setting a religious agenda either and outside groups that have a known bias on controversial topics should not be doing the job of the school system.
I don’t have a problem with sex education at all, it should be done by the health teacher paid for by the taxpayers to do that job. In addition none of the planned parenthood “educators” are trained teachers many do not even have college degrees they are not qualified to be teaching anything in public schools. The fact is they ARE biased, that is fine but don’t bring it in the schools.
Not all the parents are Catholic or even religious who want PP out. According to the curriculum that the school provided parents, PP was exaggerating contraceptive effectiveness and minimizing, or not mentioning, the health risks.
PP is controversial. Check out this brochure:
http://www.ippf.org/en/Resources/Guides-toolkits/Healthy+Happy+and+Hot.htm
They were telling kids the perfect usage rates of contraceptives when cohabitating poor young adults have as high as a 48.4% chance of pregnancy if using the pill and 71.7% chance of pregnancy in one year using a condom, according to PP’s own research arm the Guttmacher Inst: (table 2)
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3105699.html
If we are being honest, people dont like planned parenthood because women can get info about where to get an abortion. Another problem is that children can get contraceptives. As most of us know – contraceptives are pretty effective if used properly (or used at all), for preventing pregnancy. If you dont use them, they dont work.
If we’re being really honest, people don’t like the idea of anybody talking with teens about sexy-time. It’s, like, ewwwww.
That is not true at all. Most people today have no problem with health teachers teaching reproduction and sexual health (including info on STD’s) to teenagers and younger. Some do have a problem, no doubt about it and they should opt out of the instruction and handle it themselves.
In our case we knew in 4th grade that our daughters would be hearing things that were not accurate and started talking to them about reproduction which was younger than the school started talking about it. But this helped us later talk about relationship values and our families values and beliefs about sex.
Planned Parenthood is way too controversial and political to be teaching students.
“She said that children were being lulled into a false sense of security and that they could still be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases.”
If they are being taught that oral sex is not a way to transmit STDs like HPV they are doing what she claims.
They (planned parenthood), unlike the various morality-focused groups, are not going to provide misleading or incorrect information. Why on earth would they? Its not as if they are trying to convince teenagers to have more sex. They are providing health care and health information.
Paul says: “If they are being taught that oral sex is not a way to transmit STDs like HPV they are doing what she claims.”
True, but is that what they are being told? I would be very surprised if Planned Parenthood is really telling students this.
They don’t teach that about oral sexy-time, Paul. Because it’s inaccurate.
Mervel said: “Most people today have no problem with health teachers teaching reproduction and sexual health (including info on STD’s) to teenagers and younger.”
I have kids in school, too, Mervel. It is my experience that there are always plenty of people uncomfortable with sex ed, regardless of who’s offering it, who make noise about it. And it’s always controversial, regardless of who’s offering it. So it’s watered down or snuck in quietly to fulfill govt mandates.
And so the kids learn it from Katy Perry and Lady Gaga on the radio, which is a good market-based solution.
Hey Mervel and you and that Shifler broad and all your neanderthal friends – you folks don’t like Planned Parenthood simply because they talk about sex like adults something you bible thumpers can’t do. You would rather tell kids to not have sex and think that was going to work. then when your little princesses get knocked up your the first ones to go to welfare for help. shen behaved like a bullied school kid afraid of that Shiflers threats. To say your in the dark ages makes the dark ages look enlightened. shen should be ashamed of their actions. I thought Robinson was above this political crap. what a shame. glad my kids didnt go to shen.
marcusaurelius, I did make that bumper sticker and you can buy one at my Zazzle store http://www.zazzle.com/bumper_sticker_separation_of_church_and_state-128568081577825920
The largest abortion business in America may have an agenda with sex-ed.