Today I attended the school board meeting. The 2 issues of major importance were abstinence based sex education and random drug testing being implemented into our schools. I am in favor of both, but I found it interesting to hear the arguments from both sides. I did not speak out at the meeting because I was not aware of procedure in which the meeting would be conducted, so I did not prepare anything. I also feel a little uninformed on the details because I had to miss the informational meeting last week. However, I do have my own opinions, and I have decided to share my views.
I agree with abstinence based sex education because teen pregnancy is a growing problem in the high school, and is trickling down to the middle school. A change in the sex education program needs to occur that puts more emphasis on abstinence instead of just promoting the use of contraceptives.
I am also in favor of random drug testing. I am well aware of the 4th amendment involving search & seizure. However, students are required by law to attend school, at least until the age of 16. While attending school, the responsibility for protecting the students falls on the school system. A student using drugs causes harm to themselves and potentially those around them. I believe that the implementation of random drug testing will reduce the number of student users because of the increased chance of getting caught, therefore protecting the students.
Another argument raised against this issue is that random drug testing infringes on the students privacy. I disagree with this statement and say that drug testing is no more an infringment on privacy than requiring student to change clothes for gym class in an open locker room. Drug testing is an effort to protect students, not take away their privacy.
It was exciting to attend this meeting and see people willing to standing up for what they believe is right. It was encouragin to see that there are many supporters of these issues. Hopefully the board members will be able to set their reputations aside and make a decision based on what they know is right.
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3 comments:
Excellent post Super-K! I enjoyed hearing both sides as well.
I couldn't agree more. Great rebuttal to the arguments. There will be more school board meetings before this is over. You'll get your chance and we will continue to pray that the school board makes the rightous decision.
A sweet post, I must say! I agree that schools should emphasize more on abstinence than just "safe sex" period... and I think that drug testing is beneficial as well.
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