GOD HELP THIS COUNRTY!!

[Gilbert]

No explination needed.

[Timmikid]

Excuse my ignorance, how old are 6th graders? Pills are not very good, but at a very young age definitely not. Furthermore, there are more things one needs protection against than pregnancy I think. O BTW, it's not just your country that needs help. Gilbert...

[dkp]

Good grief. What can they possibly be thinking??? I have concerns with some of the material offered in sex education classes which would fall under the education umbrella, but how can they justify providing medication to students? Education is one thing, medicating is another. I didn't think they could even dispense Tylenol without parental approval.

6th graders would generally be around age 12.

-David

[Daddy Dee]

David,

You are correct. Tylenol requires permission from the parent.

Birth control pills....no problem.

[kaiser SET say]

I saw a bit of the clip about this while having coffee this morning and some 6th graders are actually 11 years old. Something is seriously wrong with this whole idea at this age and what exactly are we teaching our children today[]

My wife has been emailing and raising cane that there was no news reported of a pedophile trying to take a little pre k girl off my sons scholl grounds yesterday and we are lived that the scholl does not hire a scholl guard. (I understand they need headcount and they choose to only have teachers and aids)! I'm sure since the scholl does not hire security they are sure not going to go public they have peds trolling their campus[:@]

When your kids are bombarded from all sides on a daily basis (Umm nice tables also[]) from peers to media it's a uphill battle for parents but we must at all cost. If it's not a direct frontal assult from adds it subliminal[]

[Gilbert]

I believe this to be an indicator of the moral direction this country has been taking for too long. I am so sick of it. Does anyone in here remember our former country's Surgeon General, and what she tried to pull off with our grade school children (ages as young as 6 yrs old),.... does the name Joslyn Elders ring a bell. If you don't you should, because her great ideas flow perfectly parallel to this subject.

[Jay481985]

I love this media polarization

[jacksonbart]

I love good music, not 6th graders, at least not in that way. That said, 6th and 7th grades boys might disagree with me.

[garymd]

Polarization: In politics, polarization is the process by which the public opinion divides and goes to the extremes. It can also refer to when the extreme factions of a political party gain dominance in a party. In either case moderate voices often find that they have lost power.

Please Jay, explain your comment. I'm very curious since you speak for some of our younger, college aged folks.

[Jay481985]

Well recently I have taken a class by a well known professor of Political Science.

The media uses agenda setting to set the course of what they think you should be thinking.

Then the media uses framing to tell us how to understand an event

Well he did tell us the news does:

must be unusual: man bites dog

violent: if it bleeds it leads

etc......

I consider myself moderate but everyday increasingly going more libertarian/conservative. Not so much conservative on moral values.... that I am moderate. But I think the fact that the story aired and is front line news that causes such polarization is one that the media basically placed on our noses. I doubt the say if the story said the 6th graders all receive free candy. But I think that is will outrage half of America without even reading past the headlines and the other half will dismiss it. I bet somehow the story was more or less planted..... The more I learn about the American government the more I learn that half the shit that was brought up on constitutionality was basically manipulated and done so it can challenge the constitutionality of the law.

[oldbuckster]

This country is already in trouble ...................... It is NOT the schools place to provide birth control, THE ONLY SAFE SEX IS NO SEX, and that's the parents job, not the school's .................. Babies making Babies is wrong, unacceptable practice ................... Schools should focus on BETTER EDUCATION, not preventing babies ..... If a parent feels their child needs Birth Control, it should come out of their pocket, not taxpayers money ....... Parents do your job .............. in the words of CSNY, "Teach your children well"....................

ABSTINENCE ................. ABSTINENCE ....................... ABSTINENCE ......................... Teach them that word ................. ABSTINENCE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jay481985]

Polarization also makes people decidingly conservative or liberal. Since there is no real moderate party, both conservative and liberals must goto the extremes to make a moderate go either way. Put it this way, when a person weighs more family values above social reform, he/she will side with the republican party because that party is more in line with what they think versus say a person that believes universal reforms should be done by the government, in which they will side with the democratic party. If both parties were more moderate both sides would have a draw in getting votes. By polarizing some certain issues that Americans feel that it is important in their everyday lives, you make democrats or republicans.

When the great depression was happening, people put aside the differences of family values etc in place of social reform, welfare, social security, etc.... But when the economy started to become better things like abortion and homosexuality start coming into play..... Kind of like, when a man is starving all he wants is food, but when the man has food and shelter they go off and have different problems.

To be honest, we care more about the fact that Britney Spears lost custody of her children then we do about the war in Iraq. By polarizing certain things in the media, certain other things in the media is looked over (cough iraq)

[Jay481985]

This country is already in trouble ...................... It is NOT the schools place to provide birth control, THE ONLY SAFE SEX IS NO SEX, and that's the parents job, not the school's .................. Babies making Babies is wrong, unacceptable practice ................... Schools should focus on BETTER EDUCATION, not preventing babies ..... If a parent feels their child needs Birth Control, it should come out of their pocket, not taxpayers money ....... Parents do your job .............. in the words of CSNY, "Teach your children well"....................

I do believe in preventative measures but I would rather give my kid a condom if they are going to do it anyways..... OB I think you forgot how your hormones affected you in high school...... There is a counterpoint, although I do not believe in it, there is the fact that by giving birth control pills, it is preventative versus a child being born to a youth adult that may have to be on welfare for the remainder of her life and a drain on tax payers money. And then that spawns a generation of children that parents could not support their children etc etc causing generation of parents and children that grew up without say a father and a mother working at dead end jobs, neglecting the childing in the pursuit of putting food on the table.

[Jay481985]

btw if anyone would like to read the article or atleast one of them

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071018/ap_on_re_us/middle_school_contraceptives;_ylt=ArvoG0PfhufIvb3QVEFM2wis0NUE

"Portland's
three middle schools reported 17 pregnancies during the last four
years, not counting miscarriages or terminated pregnancies that weren't
reported to the school nurse."

this is a response to not a sex is okay.....

[garymd]

I think I'll just keep my mouth shut.

Thanks for sharing your point of view Jay.

[jacksonbart]

Are chastity belts still available? I don't know anyone's child, but at some point they become their own sexual being, which despite their parent's desire becomes apparent in one way or another. There are always exceptions and by no means am I saying that every person who expresses their sexual impulse becomes apart of a pregnancy, but to say it does not exist or that it must exist is the wrong approach.

[Jay481985]

I think I'll just keep my mouth shut.

Thanks for sharing your point of view Jay.

Gary, I am sorry for expressing my opinion.

[mas]

I would suggest forgetting that class and instead reading Daniel Boorstin's The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America.

By far still the best book on the subject.

Oh, and I love how so many will decry gridlock and differences, instead eschewing 'getting along', which by definition says compromise your beliefs in the name of passing a bill that simply assuages the ego of many.

Unfortunately after seeing how the Republicans have wantonly abandoned their so-called principles of less government and fiscal responsibility (while fervently holding onto their right wing-liberal social engineering principles in the form of their anti-science religious pandering), and where the liberals mantra is simply to claim that they have not spent enough on unfunded mandates, that have (in only 4 years!) expanded the current obligation from $3T to $8T! ...and then to come out with the "we've got to save Social Security" song and dance... I suspect they would have suggested the Titanic band play "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" as it was going down!

And to think, we would have a balanced budget amendment except that the Nobel Prize winner Gore as V.P. voted against it on the sole stated basis that the proposed balanced budget amendment would not allow for deficit spending in time of war.... I will leave you to ponder the irony of that!

But the real irony is that Bush IS a moderate! Financially and regarding the role of government (just as when as Gubner of Texas he was suggesting a state income tax!) he is anything But conservative! And as as far as his religious beliefs, he has no problem using the government and the rule of law as a means to socially engineer and impose his beliefs. A conservative? Where????? He's just a right-wing liberal.

And as far as polarized...really? Let's see: Regarding spending and governmental scope? Nope, both parties actively increase government spending and government growth in absurd proportions, with the only differences being in the rate and to which special interest they pander! And as far as intrusion in personal lives and beliefs? Nope! Both parties give us plenty of social engineering, be it in social theory or religion! The only difference being that the Democrat 'liberals', or 'progressives' as they now prefer due to the pejorative meaning associated with the term "liberal", all claim to suddenly be 'libertarian' when their own indiscretions are uncovered, while the Republicans eat their own. The only polarization seems to be between just which 'agenda' the government should dictate and impose regarding our beliefs and how they spend 'their' money. But they are both actively engaged in increasing both the scope of government and its growth. Polarization??? Oh yeah, must we read the Bible or Marx...

To the degree that they both actively employ social engineering, they are simply two liberal camps who see the role of government as expansive and social engineering as legitimate. while those of us who do not want government interference and growth and who do not want nor need government lectures in social/religious belief are just ignored and abused. And the media is simply the propaganda arm of each. I'm not polarized. I'm alienated and sick of both groups.

I personally wouldn't mind a lot more gridlock, as intelligence and responsibility is a rather increasingly dwindling resource.

As far as the topic at hand, its the school's role to provide education in the form of information and explanation to facilitate understanding. It is not their job to provide material resources enabling behavior. And if only adults had sufficient understanding to teach what they themselves too often are clueless about.

{And I love the editorial "It's had a couple low points where people
veer off topic and throw in their political beliefs at no one's
request", as some evidently believe that "polarization" regarding socio-political issues occur amidst a vacuum without context! Pray
tell, what would this entire topic amount to without the discussion of the 'optimal' nature and scope of government in society????)

Oh, and may I humbly suggest that we all worry about saving this "Country"! "Counrty" has been passe for some time...[][]

[dbflash]

gilbert,

this has to be a record.

3 locked threads in one week

danny

[Groomlakearea51]

No explination needed.

Cutting to a chase scene... When's the next election for that school board? ....

Many school boards have former teachers on the boards, many of whom could be characterized as "liberal" (in the sense that a cure is better than the more conservative approach - prevention by discipline, parental responsibility, etc.). Oh well, just my thoughts.