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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1993)
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They do not al ways have nurtur ing, informative parents as they should. Because of such realities, many traditional duties must be handled in uncon ventional ways. Unfortunately, one of these uncon ventionalities is students learning about sex education in the classroom rather than in the home. This has become more necessary because an increasing number of kids are experimenting $vith sexual behaviors at increasingly earlier ages. Parents and community members seem to be ignoring this tor one reason or another, leaving the responsibility to the schools. While I have nothing inherently against sex education in schools, I do feel that there are appropriate ways and methods by which to teach it. These classes should never be any thing akin to: "Here's how your body works. Use this condom, and you'll be fine." Not only should an accurate and thor ough biological account be given, but a moral, practical one as well. These morals should be set according to the beliefs of the community system surrounding the schools. More important ly, each instruction should be tailored as closely as possible to the children's real- life environment. A young girl growing up in an envi ronment in which early pregnancy is looked upon favorably will not be able to relate to an instructional position that birth control should be used at any and all times when having sex, because if she becomes pregnant, what has she to lose? She is not like the young girl who is encouraged and prepped to pursue high er education and a career. The goal-ori ented young girl is in a much better posi tion to understand why birth control should never be forsaken. If she were to become pregnant, it would be a remark able blow to her future plans and aspira tions. Therefore, it is extremely important that children receive the education appro- Morals should be set accord ing to the beliefs of the com munity system surrounding the schools. More impor tantly, each instruction should be tailored as closely as possible to the children's real-life environment. priate to their environment and real life circumstances. Many children are not being taught about their bodies and feelings and choic es. If they were given the chance to speak about these things, many would most likely be persuaded against learning through experimentation. They would no longer need to guess so much about what sex entails and the way it is performed. Sexual development is a part of being a normal, healthy human being. There is no reason for it to be hidden or talked around or ignored. When nurtured and guided like every other kind of human growth and devel opment, it will become an important, per sonal part of a child's personality. Thus, they will be more apt to think things through that involve sharing such a valu able, intimate part,of themselves. Tracey Jones is a senior psychology major I once heard a woman at a school board meeting say that if sex education was taught in schools, it would be like telling our kids that we approve of them having unbri dled, premarital sex without any moral instructions. Well, ma'am, I don't think so. With that type of reasoning, it must also follow that by telling people about safety belts and airbags we are giving them permission to drive recklessly. Education just doesn't work that way. The purpose of education is to provide facts from which an individual can then later decide what type of morality they wish to live by. Morality should be taught in the church and in the home, not in any public institution. Besides, it has taken too long to simply | decide upon what facts schools need to include in sex education classes. Decisions on the proper morality to teach would take forever. And we don't have forever to wait. The "just say no" morality theory of sex education is the same as telling our chil dren, "No, I don't want to talk to you about your sex uality." Instead, we should be using the "just say know" approach. Just one little wake-up call here. The Texas Department of Health released the statistics for 1991 on the leading cause of death for men. In the age group of 15-24, HIV/ AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death. For the 25-34 age group, it is the second, and for ages 35-44, HIV/AIDS is the number one cause of death. Since the average time from HIV infec tion to death is approximately 7 to 10 years, we can estimate that quite a few of these men were infected while still in their teens. Yet we are still telling teenagers to "just say no." The "just say no" morality theory of sex education is the same as telling our children, "No, I don't want to talk to you about your sexuality." Instead, we should be using the "just say know" approach. Our children need to know the basic facts before they can de cide on which morality to choose for themselves. The basic facts need to include letting the children know what is going on with their bodies, letting them know what op tions they have when it comes to their sexuality, and finally, letting them know the consequences of their actions, whatev er they may be. With complete and proper knowledge of the facts, I truly believe our children will do the responsible, moral thing. An added benefit is that these children will grow up to be responsible adults, some thing of which this country is having a shortage. Responsible sex education should be instituted into the schools and contain a core curriculum that includes the "ABCs of STDs": Abstinence, Be Monogamous, and Condoms. Morality, on the other hand, should be left up to the priests and parents. Do you want to let the school board decide what type of belief system your kid will inherit? That should be the job of the church and family. John Scroggs is a senior English and philoso phy major TRACEY JONES Columnist JOHN SCROGGS Columnist Catch 22 hits A&M English department Hey Ags! I got a little story for ya! Whoop! There once was this good senior Ag .... This was a typical Ag, he studied hard fore 4 years, doing the best he could to make decent grades. Whoop!! Unfortunately, this good Ag never took English 104. You see, he ain't nev er been no good in English and he didn't want to take English 104 his freshman year (especially after making a 'C' in English 103) so he decided Eng lish 104 would just have to weight a year or so. But when this Ag tried to enroll in English 104 his senior year he was auto matically dropped. Hssssss!! They said he should have taken Eng lish 104 his Freshman or Sophomore year. But this Ag was never told this when he was a freshman or sophomore. Hssssss!! So, this Ag went to the Department of English and asked them what to do, and he was told they weren't making ANY exceptions to this new "enroll ment management policy." This Ag can't graduate without Eng lish 104, yet the English Department won't let him take Englishl04. Looks like this Ag may never graduate. I can fully understand the need for "enrollment management" for required core classes like English 104 which are short on sections, but the answer is not to leave the juniors and seniors in the dark. Since this policy did not exist when I was a freshman, sophomore or junior, there should be a grace period of two years to allow the current juniors and seniors to take English 104. Matt Bendiksen Class of '94 Would Jesus have been a Republican? The cliche that the only problem with Christianity is that it's never been tried keeps creeping into my mind when I wonder why it is that so meant people who call themselves Christians align themselves with the Republican Party. I've read the Gospels, and there seems to me to be strong evidence that Jesus was a pacifist who believed in re distributing wealth. It was Jesus who said to love your enemies. It was Jesus who asked who would throw the first stone. It was Je sus who said a rich man could not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It was Jesus who encouraged the wealthy to give to the poor. If being a Christian entails trying to follow the teachings of the One who said when struck to turn the other cheek, it seems Christians might hesi tate to join a party that advocates build ing nuclear weapons, blocks every at tempt of gun control, cheers executions and supported attacks on Libya, Pana ma and Iraq. How do you think Jesus would feel about Pat Buchanan's idea about putting the homeless in jail or Rush Limbaugh characterizing the homeless as "human debris"? If perchance Jesus wondered into a meeting of the Young Republicans, Young Conservatives or the Christian Coalition, I don't think He would stay very long. I don't think He would feel wel come. Jill Webb Graduate student Anti-Greek letter promotes stereotype This letter is in response to Tom Ar- rigo's letter, printed on Tuesday, Sept. 14. It's important to note that Tom's letter was a rebuttal towards a previous letter. Tom, you were very disturbed by the fact that not all Ags seem to take part in Bonfire. You pinpointed the Greeks as being guilty of their choice "to participate in Aggie traditions only when it serves their goals." You also said that Greeks would only attend Bonfire "to have an excuse for another keg party, but they prefer to have someone else build it for them so they can sleep in Sundays to recover from their hangover from their eight- keg parties." You also criticized the previous let ter for being written without "informed judgment and prior contact to certain groups that were not involved." This was in reference to vulgar yells be tween C.T.s and non-regs. Tom, I don't know where to start. Your letter was intertwined with nu merous double standards and inconsis tencies, and it probably doesn't even merit a response, but I couldn't resist. First of all, every fraternity on cam pus is prohibited from having a keg party. Their national headquarters and the Interfraternity Council both restrict them. (I1 , . One or two mightjslip through the cracks, but they are nq^ regulaj occur rence. Furthermore, I didn't realize that you had to be in a fraternity to hold a keg party — I guess this is secretive in formation that you obtained because of your "informed judgment after speak ing to certain groups." Additionally, for the last four years, many fraternities have gone out to cut and stack together. That's not even counting the Greeks that have gone with their dorms or other organiza tions. 1 guess if you were there you might have noticed them. I sincerely believe that your lack of information helps perpetuate negative stereotypes and myths about Greeks and other student groups on campus. Tom, you should practice what you preach and use informed judgment be fore you make future generalizations. Jimmy Stathatos Class of ‘94 Play by rules when parking on campus Okay, okay. I read Mail Call for the same reason everyone else does...to complain. So here goes. For those of you, who for whatever reason, don't know yet, HERE is how parking at TAMU works: There is not enough parking to go around. Big news right? Rule #1: show up early. Rule #2, and the gripe this let ter is intended to address: WAIT YOUR TURN! I am so *!?-#!* sick of waiting at the end of a row for someone to pull out and as soon as they do some S.B. (boy, am I going to catch hell for that one) in her '93 Honda Accord, with shoe polish on the window, zips in from the other side because I'm blocked by the direc tion the person backs out. There's a reason people wait at the end of the row people- and it ain't to work on their tan. So PAY ATTEN TION. Good Ags don't lie, cheat or steal and I consider that kind of park ing violation cheating AND stealing. So, next time someone cheats to steal my parking spot. I'm going to consider that person a very bad Ag. No — better yet, a tea-sip in disguise. Learn the rules or transfer. K. Michael Prince Class of '94 Only tradition since start: No non-regs I am not a member of a fraternity, but I have always hated this certain T- shirt. "NO FRATS ... A TRADITION SINCE THE BEGINNING" is one of the most popular T-shirts at A&M. Today the person I saw wearing one got me to thinking. A non-reg was wearing this shirt. Now let's think about all of these tra ditions that were here in the beginning but have faded out in the past 20 or 30 years that didn't receive the same atten tion: No women — WHOA! Let's not even joke about a T-shirt like that. No blacks — that would get some one into real trouble. Finally, no non-regs. Remember that this school's greatest tradition is the fact that it was once a pure military school. It seems to me that the only people with the right to wear this shirt are the white, male members of the Corps. Think about it. Stuart McNair Class of '93 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorial board. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons and letters express the opinions of the authors. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will print as many as space allows. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author's name, class, and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters and guest columns Tor length, style, and accuracy. Contact the opinion editor for information on submitting guest columns. 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