A bipartisan bill aimed at updating the sex education curriculum for Georgia public school students was passed in the House last week amid questions about which side of the culture war can better educate youth about the birds and the bees. It faced skepticism in the subcommittee.
House Bill 822, by Dalton Republican Rep. Casey Carpenter, would require sex education curricula created by Georgia's local boards of education and the State Board of Education to be “age-appropriate, medically accurate,” and require consent. Added language to state law mandating the inclusion of the concept. The language regarding AIDS has also been updated to include HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
“Abstinence will continue to be discussed in sex education. It's the best way, there's no question about it. It's the best and safest way for kids to not experience any difficulties in this area,” Carpenter said. the professor said.
“But 90% of people are not abstinent before marriage, they do have sex,” he added. “So we can continue to dig our heads in the sand as a state and say, let's focus on this because it's the best way to go, when 90% of us, including many Christians, are not following that path. So I think it's important to be serious with kids, because they're either learning it in a well-controlled environment in a school where local people can have some control over it, or they're learning about it on their mobile phones. Because it becomes.”
Keri Hill, president of the Georgia Campaign for Youth Power and Potential, an organization that supports comprehensive sex education, said Georgia's youngest students need to stay safe and protect themselves. He said they need basic, agreed-upon lessons to prepare them for when they become adults.
“Consent is included in the bill because addressing sexual assault and sexual awareness education without discussing consent is incomplete,” she said. “Discussions about consent in elementary school include how to identify a trusted adult, how to be a good friend, and medical information about body parts to provide children with the language they need if they need to report someone.” Contains information such as a discussion of the exact words to use to hurt or touch someone inappropriately. ”
Buford Republican Rep. David Clark seemed unconvinced.
“It has the potential, great potential, to move further into conversations about consent. I think it could ultimately encourage more sex with these young kids,” he said. said. “What are some examples of abstinence-based sex failing to teach children healthy boundaries?”
Carpenter pointed to data showing 57% of teens have had sex.
“We try to attack issues like this with the idea that everyone goes home and two parents are out and want to talk about it, but it's not the case that we live in It’s not the reality of the world,” he said. “I think in 1950 everyone had their parents at home and everything was great and fine, but then something happened.”
Locust Grove Republican Rep. Lauren Daniel said that for some people, the term “medically accurate” is not as neutral as it seems.
“I think it’s great on the surface,” she said. “But we've seen, and we introduced a pretty expensive bill last year in that some health officials and research studies were against it. That was one of the issues we were dealing with that was not consistent with what has been medically accurate. ”
Daniel was referring to a bill later signed by Gov. Brian Kemp that blocks hormone therapy for transgender minors. Hundreds of health care providers and organizations argued that the bill is unnecessary and harmful to transgender youth.
Carpenter said that's not a concern because local school boards will still be responsible for developing the curriculum.
“For me, I think that work is protected within the local work, where local people say, “That person says he's medically accurate, but he's not a real doctor, he's a fake doctor.'' 'I'm a doctor.''' But I think input from doctors is important. And if it's medically accurate for you to go to your OB-GYN and have these conversations, why shouldn't you be presenting the same information to kids in school?”
Danielle, who shared her story of overcoming adversity as a former teenage mother, said parents should be the ones deciding what to feed their children, and many parents in Georgia don't know what to feed their children. , argued that they did not trust the people who would decide what was appropriate. Medically accurate.
“I think it's important to teach our kids what's appropriate and what's inappropriate. And as a mom of a teenager, I realize that my kids are going to do what they're going to do in high school.” she said. “But at the end of the day, I believe that parents have the final say on what is age-appropriate for their children, and whether we agree with their views or not, When we bring different organizations on board, we think about what age means.'' That's appropriate – because we see it all over the place in books and other fields, but we're also thinking about what age means when we involve different organizations. I just want to be careful because what I personally believe is age-appropriate may be different than what is taught in school. ”
Carpenter's bill was not scheduled for a vote. February 29th is Crossover Day, the last day a bill can pass from one chamber to the other without legislative misconduct.
