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June 4, 2007
I sit reflecting
on a day of rounds in Washington D.C., talking with people who have
the power to change what our children learn about sex. This week,
eight meetings with Congressmen and Congresswomen who will vote on
funding needed to bring abstinence education to the children we all
love.
I have talked
with strong supporters of abstinence education. And with fierce
opponents. In all cases, our talk has been cordial. I welcome
questions and try my best to supply answers, making a list of follow
up reports and experts who might answer what I can’t.
Prepared with
statistics and testimonials about the positive impact of abstinence
education on our youth, I find these fall on the deaf ears of those
members of Congress who have been poisoned by rhetoric from Planned
Parenthood, NARAL, SIECUS, and the ACLU*. I try my best to convey the
truths about abstinence education, but one simple thought is renewed
at the end of each appointment…If They Only Knew…
If they only
knew, if they sat in abstinence classes taught by the educators I
know, if they heard the questions of the students, and the answers
that follow, if they knew the hearts of the parents and teachers…if
they only knew…there would be no way a conscionable person could deny
this education to the children and parents who want it.
If they would
sit in a class, hear presentations on the consequences of STDs for a
teen…for adults…diseases impacting their lifelong goals and the future
marriages and families most of them hope to have…
If they would
listen to a lesson on teen pregnancy, the demands it places on
everyone involved, the challenges it poses for teens in finishing a
high school education, the struggles of a single mother providing for
a child the attention and resources that two-parent families have at
hand…
If they would
participate in classroom activities and discussions where students
share their hopes for the future, their dreams for happiness and their
plans to make their hopes and dreams a reality…
If they
would…then these Congressional policy makers would know why sexual
abstinence is the singular message our youth need to hear, a message
that points to the path that guarantees that the hopes and dreams of
our teens will not be derailed by the consequences of sexual activity.
But they
haven’t. Many of these policy makers haven’t witnessed the realities
of the very education they will vote on. They haven’t seen the eager
and thankful reception of abstinence education by teens who know the
truth when someone takes the time to present it.
They haven’t…so
I invite them. Please, we would love to have you, our
Congressional member, or one of the members of your staff come and
visit our classes and see for yourselves. If you see it, you will
know the truth of what is happening in abstinence education, the truth
and support given teens in choosing to remain sexually abstinent,
securing their healthiest and happiest futures. Please, we want you
to see for yourselves.
There is
precious little time for Members of Congress to see the realities of
abstinence education before they vote on abstinence funding. It is
painful to think people who oppose abstinence education and vote
against it may also be people who have never taken the time to see it
in action for themselves.
If they only
knew!
Copyright © 2007 Jane Jimenez
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