Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Wisconsin DA threatens to arrest teachers if they obey sex education law

It seems to me that this District Attorney is pressuring teachers to disobey the law, and threatening them with prison. It sounds like political extortion to me.

This thinking could logically make all education a crime. If you teach a child how to use a checkbook, that child could someday commit check fraud. If you teach the child to write, he could someday create a note that says, "I have a gun. Hand over the money."

I have a question. If this DA had had better teachers, could his lack of logic have been remediated? Or is he uneducable?



Wis. DA Threatens Arrest for Local Sex-Ed Teachers

April 7, 2010
Lisa Holewa
AOL News

A Wisconsin district attorney is urging schools to drop their sex-education programs, warning that the teachers involved could be arrested if they follow a new state law requiring them to instruct students on how to use condoms and other contraceptives.

In light of a letter from Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth, leaders at the five school districts in the county are evaluating what to do now, New Lisbon School District Superintendent Tom Andres told AOL News today.

"I don't intend to put our teachers in harm's way," he said. "We were just about to meet to discuss how to comply with the new law. Then this letter came, and this is another piece of the puzzle that we'll have to consider as we figure out how to move forward."
Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth
Andy Manis, AP
Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth sent a letter to leaders at the county's five school districts, warning them to stop their sex-education programs or risk the arrest of teachers if they follow a new state law requiring them to instruct students how to use condoms and other contraceptives.

The state law, called the Healthy Youth Act, took effect in March. Starting this fall, it requires schools with sex-education courses to teach students medically accurate, age-appropriate information, including how to use birth control and prevent sexually transmitted diseases. It also requires the classes to include information about how to recognize signs of abuse and how alcohol can affect decision making.

Parents will be permitted to remove their children from sex-education classes, as they could under previous state law. Schools also will be allowed the choice of whether to offer sex education, but must notify parents if they decide not to.

In his letter, Southworth told school district leaders the new law promotes sexual assault of children, and warns that teachers who follow the law could be charged with misdemeanor or felony delinquency of a minor, with maximum punishments ranging from nine months in jail to six years in prison.

"For example, if a teacher instructs any student aged 16 or younger how to utilize contraceptives under circumstances where the teacher knows the child is engaging in sexual activity with another child -- or even where the 'natural and probable consequences' of the teacher's instruction is to cause that child to engage in sexual intercourse with a child -- that teacher can be charged under this statue," Southworth wrote...

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