Teach Sex Education in Wisconsin and Go To Jail

A Mauston High School health teacher has used abstinence-only and comprehensive curriculums to teach sex education, and he said students need all the information they can get about sex to make the best choices. But teaching them about contraceptives could land him and other teachers in court.

Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth last month sent a letter to area school districts warning that health teachers who tell students how to put on a condom or take birth-control pills could face criminal charges. The warning has left many teachers, school administrators and parents flabbergasted.

"Seems like a step back in time," Taake said of Southworth's logic.

Southworth warned that teaching a student how to properly use contraceptives would be contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months behind bars and a $10,000 fine. He said it would be promoting sex among minors, who are not legally allowed to have sex in Wisconsin.

"It puts the school kind of in the middle between two sides, between the government and state telling us what should be taught and what people think should not be taught," said Scott Lenz, a health teacher in the New Lisbon School District. He said he would teach contraceptive use if he got the approval of his school board.

Southworth said he doesn't want to drag teachers into court but feels he was ethically responsible for warning them of the new law's potential consequences. He urged the school districts to refrain from offering sex education courses until the Legislature repeals the law.

News Story Credit: The Associated Press, April 10, 2010

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News & Politics

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• Wisconsin
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• Contracetion
• Abstinence
• illegal
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• Court

[thudmother]

Mr. Southworth, you just got yourself a well-deserved "F".... moron.