Health Class In Catholic School

[Sojourner]

[quote]I think the problem in the schools also has to deal with our constant fear of stepping on  other people's toes. "What if people are already sexually active? You dont want to make them feel left out?" [/quote]

We cannot let fear keep us from preaching the truth. Of course kids are having sex. They need to know what they're saying with their bodies when they do it. They need to know what sex really means. They need to know the truth.

[quote]The other problem people have with not teaching contraception, is the fact that some people feel they need to use it because otherwise they could die (due to complications). [/quote]

There's one foolproof way to keep from getting an STD: DON'T ENGAGE IN SEXUAL CONTACT!!! Look, I'm 27, I'm celibate. I know how hard it is to not have sex. I know how hard it is to keep from lusting. I have fallen in these areas.

You're right, this is a hard topic. But we are called to DIE to our sin, and to find LIFE in Christ. If we don't issue this call to our teenagers (and to each other!!) who will? Every other voice out there is telling us to just do it.

Edited April 14, 2004 by Sojourner

[BeenaBobba]

I mean, I don't think sexually active teens should be demonized at schools. After all, love the sinner, hate the sin. But they shouldn't be condoned for their behavior either. Immoral sexual behavior is objectively wrong and should be condemned as such.

The statistics show that sex ed in schools has actually made teens more likely to have premarital sex and to therefore have a higher incidence of pregnancy, STDs, and abortion. I think that because of this, teens have a false sense of security when it comes to birth control and aren't willing to accept the consequences when their birth control method feels, which isn't too unlikely since they fail more often than MTV or other like groups would have teens believing. Plus, the anti-child mentality of contraception has a very strong link to abortion.

Because contraception thwarts the procreative aspect of sex, homosexual sex isn't considered as immoral and wrong as it once was. Many people think that if heterosex is "normal" even when the procreative aspect is deliberately thwarted during the act of sex, why wouldn't homosex be wrong? And because procreation is a big part of marriage, contraception in marriage has helped to make the divorce rate go up. And lastly, because contraception is rooted in the anti-child mentality, it also has strong ties to abortion.

I don't think it should in any way be promoted in Catholic schools.

[BeenaBobba]

Yeah, I totally agree with you, Sojourner, that teens need to hear the truth. Telling them the truth, regardless of whether they might hate hearing it, is the loving and Christian thing to do.

[DemonSlayer]

At a Catholic high school they should [b]only[/b] teach chastity.

[BeenaBobba]

Amen to that, DemonSlayer!

[crusader1234]

HAHAHAHAHA man... its things like this that make me roll my eyes at my own faith. Kids are having sex... kids are GOING to have sex. Catholic schools have just as many kids having sex as any public schools. Think about it, like I said before, kids know sex is a sin. We might as well keep them healthy so should they change their faith they wont already be crawling with Herpes and AIDS. Do you think that the Catholic guy/girl dying from AIDS is glad they didn't sin? Sins can be washed away thanks to Jesus' love. He didn't die so those who choose to sin would be left in the dark and die. Teaching contraception, while also making sure people are aware it is a sin, is something very important to every teenagers life education. Not everyone is chaste and I'd rather have my friends healthy than dead. Maybe you feel differently.

Being honest here, look around. How many Catholic (married) couples do you see? How many kids do most of them have? Usually around 2. Do you think they only got 2 kids by luck or by contraception?

[CreepyCrawler]

Just because other people (including many Catholics) sin doesn't mean that we should be teaching people about it. I think that people should be taught what contraception is (and that it's a sin and you shouldn't use it) just so that they know what people are talking about and they don't have to hear it from someone who doesn't know it's a sin. I also think I'd rather have all the kids at my school with Herpes but their souls free of mortal sin than the other way around. Anyway, I think that parents need to tell their kids about sex, not schools. I always thought that schools were for academic study, not public health policy.

[Sojourner]

[quote]Not everyone is chaste and I'd rather have my friends healthy than dead. Maybe you feel differently.[/quote]

I'd rather have my friends healthy and holy. Isn't that possible? Isn't there real power through the Cross? Did Christ die to give us coping mechanisms for our sin, or provide us with a means of obtaining changed hearts and new life? Of freeing us from the bondage of sin? Contraception delays the consequences of sin, but it doesn't free us from sin. I'd rather give my friends something real, something that will truly bring them life, than give them something that will help them along the road to death.

[quote]Being honest here, look around. How many Catholic (married) couples do you see? How many kids do most of them have? Usually around 2. Do you think they only got 2 kids by luck or by contraception? [/quote]

Do we define the standard by our sin, or our sin by the standard? Should we call our hearts to rise to the holiness of God's law, or defile that holiness by molding it to fit into the quagmire of our poor choices?

[crusader1234]

You are missing the message in my post entirely. I do not think that we should standardize sin, as you made it seem like I was trying to. I was simply shedding some light on the fact that contraception is a fact of life. As I said, if it is tought along with the Catholic beliefs about it, then it can do no wrong. Catholics won't use it. Non catholics and sinners will make informed choice should they choose to have sex. Also, I would rather hear about sex from a teacher than my parents. I doubt your parents (or mine) will be able to aptly tell you about STDS and contraception. Again, sin is a fact of life. [b]I do think health and holiness should go hand in hand[/b], but most people don't agree that contraception is a sin. And these people need to be informed, should they make the choice to sin. The large majority of my friends don't view chastity with the same respect I do. It is important to respect their views on what is sin... and if we are teaching them the Catholic views on contraception then it is a good thing. We need to enable those within our community (faith and otherwise) to make good desicsions in both matters of holiness and health. A well planned sex-ed course with the approval of Jesuits I believe is good.

On a final note, before I get too annoyed with this string... My school is Jesuit, and they see fit to educate those of us who do not make holy choices to make healthy ones, while at the same time encouraging those holy choices in the first place. I put my faith in those who have taken Holy Orders, I trust them to guide me. If they see fit to educate me and my friends about condoms and stuff, then I see fit to be educated.

[CreepyCrawler]

But then parents who want their kids to know about contraception can tell them about it and it's their responsibility (or lack thereof) about what they know and how it's taught. If the problem is who gets what information, it seems that teaching kids in one format in a huge forum like a school is a mistake because not all kids should/need/want to hear the same things about sex. Another reason that parents should tell their kids, not schools. It can be 'personalized,' so to speak.
Just because kids are uncomfortable with their parents talking about sex doesn't mean that this isn't the best way. Maybe if society didn't disassociate sex with procreation so much, we wouldn't be so squeamish about the idea that our parents know about and even, oh my!, have sex. I'm not blaming you or anything, because the idea of my parents talking to me about sex makes me blush, but I also wish that I didn't take sex ed in (public) school either b/c I think that knowing nothing would have been better for me. That's why parents should do it. Not schools. (sorry this is random).