y sit down with his or her children and impartially discuss where to obtain contraception and what an orgasm is, this is not reality. When sexuality is left to be discussed at home, it is left undiscussed. Parents and adolescents may feel uncomfortable conversing about such topics or erroneously feel that it unnecessary. "Parents engage in denial of sexual activity" (De Leon). Of course, not talking about such issues does not merely leave a void of sexual ignorance in a young person's mind. Adolescents have questions, and when there is no adult to answer these questions "many learn about sexuality on the streets, picking up incorrect and inadequate information" (Elia). The mass media also dispenses inadequate information. Trinchieri 7Adolescents view between "1,900 and 2,400 sexually related images on television annually" (Elia). Many of these messages are inaccurate, contradictory, and confusing. Without sexuality education, these teens have no means of conferring about the images they see with anyone other than friends, who know little more than they do, perpetuating misinformation. Yet still, there are those that persist that teaching comprehensive sexuality education, with it's emphasis on safe sex rather than unattainable Christian ideals, is immoral, and that abstinence is the only word educators should ever say in response to sexual queries. In our pluralistic society, a religious group's moral convictions should not be taught as the norm in public schools. Schools should give the facts-- not a sermon. As Michael McGee, vice president for education at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, declares in response to comments on immorality of sex before marriage, "Our message has to be that it is immoral to deprive people of information that can save lives" (Motamed). In seeking to impose their values, abstinence proponents are marshaling arguments that fly in the face of both science and human experience. Ab...
