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The three Greenwood, Miss.-area
school districts opted for an abstinence-plus sex education curriculum, but
according to Jennifer Wilson, the Greenwood Public Schools interim school
superintendent, only two of the three schools in the school districts—The
Carroll and Leflore County schools—are teaching curricula that include discussion
of contraception. The Greenwood Public Schools do not include contraception in
their abstinence-plus program. Wilson explained that abstinence-plus was
adopted to enable the district to teach about STDs, not contraceptives.
Shalonda Matthews, division director
for HIV, STD and Teen Pregnancy Prevention for the Mississippi Department of
Education, stated that an abstinence-plus curriculum must include some
discussion of contraception. She said that school districts have been
instructed on what was supposed to be included in the curriculum.
Greenwood Public Schools implemented
an abstinence-plus policy called “Choosing the Best.” The “Choosing the Best”
website states that numerous contraceptive methods are discussed with complete
information about the effectiveness and limitations of each with respect to
pregnancy and STDs.
The crux of the problem seems to be
whether a curriculum that does not include a discussion of contraceptives is
really abstinence-plus, and this seems to be contingent on the interpretation
of the law passed in 2011. The law requires all Mississippi school districts to
offer some kind of sex education beginning with the current academic year. It
lists seven components and states that an abstinence-only curriculum may
include whatever components of the list are deemed appropriate to the school
district, and an abstinence-plus program must include all components of the
list. In the list, the two references to contraceptives are “The teaching of
abstinence as the only way to avoid pregnancy, STDs, and related health
problems. The instruction may include a discussion of condoms or
contraceptives, but only if that discussion includes a factual presentation of:
the risks and failures of those contraceptives; the teaching of state law
related to sexual conduct; the teaching that a mutually faithful monogamous
relationship in context of marriage is the healthiest option.”
Wilson argues that because the law
specifies that the instruction “may” include a discussion of contraceptives,
that component is not necessary for a curriculum to be considered
abstinence-plus; it is optional. Matthews disagrees with this view and
maintains that abstinence-plus includes contraceptives.
Personnel in the other two districts
where they teach contraception agreed with Matthews. Cassandra Taylor, Leflore
County Schools nurse responsible for implementing the abstinence-plus program
for that district, reasoned that the goal of the program is to protect students
by offering as much education as possible about sex. She felt it was important
for the children to know how to protect themselves because they are having sex.
Taylor maintained that abstinence will be taught as the primary mode of
preventing pregnancy, HIV, and other STDs, but that teaching only abstinence is
a disservice to the children. Billy Joe Ferguson, superintendent of the Carroll
County Schools, added that his district was already teaching an abstinence-plus
program that included contraceptives. He said that they try to be realistic and
that he saw part of his role as having kids really be prepared to face the real
world.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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