This Valentine's season university students were bombarded with offers of condoms and sex education resources. How ironic that, if some conservatives have their way, the individuals who need this education most are the ones who might not be getting it.
Some students in high schools in Michigan and Orlando designated Friday the 13th - the day before Valentine's Day - to be a Day of Purity.
According to a CNN.com article, the students were able to carry the day off with sponsorship from Christian groups and Liberty Counsel, a religious rights group based in Orlando.
The Day of Purity stands in allegiance with a growing conservative effort to block out any semblance of sexual education or promotion of contraception and prophylactic use to sexually active teenagers in middle and high schools.
Of course, our president lends his whole-hearted support to this effort, just like he lends his support to most any Bible-thumping, holier-than-thou stance on the issue of sex and relationships.
Now don't label me a promoter of underage sex just yet, because I believe abstinence to be the best route for adolescents to take as far as sex is concerned. However, the fact of the matter is many teenagers will engage in sexual activity. As is evident by the advent of "chicken head" parties, named for the bobbing of the girls' heads as they engage in oral sex during these adolescent get-togethers.
Many of the early and pre-teenagers involved in these parties believed they were free from the repercussions that accompany unsafe sex since they were "not really having sex."
A good sexual health education class would have taught these adolescents that having oral sex puts them at just about the same level of risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections as sexual intercourse and that protection from infections is necessary in all sexual exchanges.
Self-righteous endeavors like those aimed at promoting abstinence-only education and eradicating condom promotion will only serve to alienate those youngsters who participate in sexual activity, hindering them from getting the protection and education they need to stay healthy.
While conservatives forge on with their high-minded blindness at home, efforts to spread this cloaked ignorance have made their way into foreign relations. Sadly, in an era when sexual health education - especially concerning condom usage - is vital to the survival of entire nations, members of our government consider preaching their personal values as important as offering aid.
Acknowledging the necessity for assistance in curbing the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa and some parts of the Caribbean, our government passed a Global AIDS Bill in May 2003.
Though any effort on our part to assist in the curbing of this disease is highly necessary, the stipulations attached to the bill leave much to be desired in the way of its potential effectiveness. According to an amendment in the bill, one-third of the HIV/AIDS fund should be designated to "abstinence-until-marriage" programs.
Just like its proposed abstinence-only sexual education for students in the United States - a proposition that will undoubtedly prove unsuccessful - the Bush administration plans to force these countries to follow his doomed lead.
The abstinence-focused campaign serves mostly as a means to export idealistic principles having more to do with supporters' self-righteous impositions than actual assistance to those in need. Give these countries the resources they need, and let them use those resources as they see fit to combat the epidemic. Their leaders will know what works for their citizens better than any smug U.S. conservative would.
Aside from encouraging and providing the means for condom usage, the only part of the AIDS bill that will be effective abroad is the amendment that calls for educating men in African and Caribbean countries - countries where young girls and women are raped and abused constantly - on women's rights and outlining respect for women and girls.
In the same respect, high school and middle school students should be afforded the education and resources they need to make healthy sexual decisions.
Instead of holier-than-thou purity days, let's have a lifetime of openness where we, as a nation, can examine why a 12-year-old girl feels that the only way to validate her self-worth is through her presence at a "chicken head" party.
We have to get to the heart of our problems at home before we attempt to ship afflicted ideals abroad.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
