Sane People Must Fight for Public Schools

Conservatives’ insistence in meddling with science, history and sex ed in public schools is making the country dumber

Image by 14995841 from Pixabay

When I was in high school in the olden days of the late 1980s, I had an excellent tenth grade biology teacher. She taught us most of the foundations of biology, the scientific method and basic genetics, including the Punnett square. She also taught us a comprehensive section on sex ed, and even showed a video of a woman giving birth, with instructions to keep an eye on the classmates on either side of us in case anyone passed out. (This was in Kansas!) She taught us the consequences of unprotected sex, including pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. (We had to learn all the STIs and their symptoms to pass the test, and believe me, there’s more than you think.) It was a fascinating, highly informative class I enjoyed, one that has continued to prove valuable in my everyday life. And yes, we were required to turn in a permission form signed by a parent to take the class.

I still remember when my teacher let us know she would have to limit our discussions about evolution, though, because those discussions made some parents angry. Though I thought it was a little silly, I understood her decision to not ruffle people’s feathers. It was 1988, after…