internet warz

For posterity, here's my response to a comment someone left about a note of my friend's on Facebook. To paraphrase, my friend wrote about our need to overcome Puritanical ideas and embrace a more personal and liberal version of sex education, which she believes is the key to reducing the abortion rate in the long term. The other girl responded with some confusing rhetoric that can basically be summed in one of her sentences: "I do agree with sex education however, just like how we're taught not to do drugs and to not drink excessively , it still doesn't stop stupid people from doing it . [sic]" I objected to her use of "stupid" to describe people who engage in risky behaviors because for many it is culturally or genetically mediated, and she amended her statement to "Education doesn't stop people who don't care for others health and safety , who do not respect live and never will and those who do not think of consequences."

... which really set me off.

Should we consider those born with bipolar or schizophrenia, for example, people who don't care for the health and safety of others? Or should we consider a young female who makes the hard decision to value her own life's potential over the potential in 100 dividing cells in her uterus someone who does not think of consequences?

Simply because you were fortunate enough to be born into a family with no genetic predisposition or family problems relating to addictions or other risky behaviors, a family who instilled you with a strong black/white religious moral background, because you are the sort of person who is able to be unquestioning in the face of opportunities, does not mean that everyone is so lucky.

I believe that abortion is up to each person and should therefore be legal. We can only understand the decision from each person's individual situation-- I wouldn't want someone to make a decision about your body for you. I believe what Abby is trying to say is that each person needs to be educated, but deeper than that-- that they need to be educated about themselves-- their UNIQUE needs, the singular nature of their own life history and future. Only by encouraging women to be less prudish about their own bodies and the independent nature of the consequences of their independent actions can we expect them to make responsible decisions.

Education about sex should not be some abstract chalk-talk using plastic penises and latex babies, it should be an attempt to become intimate with one's own biological processes, value system (religion-derived or otherwise), and personal goals.

If a girl is aware of her own wants (professional/social/sexua

l/etc) and the ways in which she can facilitate or damage her path to success, RATHER THAN attempting to blindly appease someone else (a boyfriend/parents/God/etc) she can be more confident and more wise in her decision making when it comes to sex, drugs, alcohol, academics, hobbies-- you name it.

In summary, arguing with high schoolers who can't even use proper grammar is too easy and I can find better ways to use my time.