- 1. How US Education System inturns Subverts and
SupportsTraditional Family Values (TFV)
2. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines TVFs as: values
especially of a traditional or conservative kind which areheld to
promote the sound functioning of the family and tostrengthen the
fabric of society The first usage of the term showed up in 1916
right afterthe end of the Victorian Era Currently, Traditional
Family Values are used (by theConservative Right) to mean anything
that supports: A heteronormative family structure Male
breadwinner/female homemaker 2.5 children, a dog, and a picket
fence 3. The most common form ofsex education involvesteaching
students aboutabstinence and onlyabstinence. Most school districts
relyon scare tactics in order tokeep teenagers fromexploring their
sexuality And non-heterosexualsexualities are either notmentioned
or mentionedin order to shame. 4. Nearly 70 percent of U.S. school
districts mandate someform of sex education, but very few include
the healthrisks and lifestyles of lesbians and gays as part of
thecurriculum. In fact, spurred by federal funding incentivesin the
1996 welfare law, school districts in 48 states haveadopted an
"abstinence-until-marriage" curriculumspecifying that "a mutually
faithful monogamousrelationship in the context of marriage is the
expectedstandard of human sexuality. Gay Teens Ignored by High
School Sex Ed Classes By Carol Lee 5. Abstinence is a good behavior
for curbing the spread ofsexually transmitted infections. However,
thats with proper education and the option tochoose whether they
want to be abstinent or not. Abstinence is often presented
hand-in-hand withmisinformation about sex acts and scare-tactics.
Instead offraming the concept so young adults have a choice,
mostschool board simply lie or withhold the truth. From Abstinence
and abstinence-only education: A reviewof U.S. policies and
programs: International treaties provide that all people have the
right to seek,receive and impart information and ideas of all
kinds, includinginformation about their health 6. As a whole,
higher education seems to subvert the ideaof traditional family
values. Coming to college (especially far away from your
homecity/state) equals freedom to be yourself. Where high school is
usually a stressful time because ofthe people and issues that other
people have with yoursexuality, college can be a place of freedom.
Depending on the college you go to, higher education notonly means
learning new things about the world, but alsoabout yourself and
your identity outside of theheteronormative. 7. Where the majority
of sex-ed programs in the united statesfocus on abstinence or
support heternormative expressionof TFVs, one school board in
Maryland tried in 2007 tochange that The Montgomery County Board of
Education approved new sex-education lessons yesterday for the
eighth and 10th grades thatteach what it means to be homosexual but
say little about howpeople become gay, resisting pressure from a
divided community todefine homosexuality as nature or nurture,
right or wrong. Approved by a unanimous vote, the lessons mark the
first timeMontgomery schools will introduce the topics of sexual
orientationand homosexuality. The materials, including a new
10th-gradecondom-demonstration DVD, will be field-tested in a
handful ofmiddle and high schools in spring, barring intervention
by the courts. 8. My sex ed teacher actually used the quote why buy
thecow when you can get the milk for free? whenencouraging us not
to have sex before marriage. thereare probably worse stories, but
the awfulness of thatstuck by me. - evangelineviola Oh, and I just
remembered another one, in highschool, the teacher gave us a
hersheys kiss and said Ifyou can wait until tomorrow, Ill give you
five, but if youeat it, you dont get any more I of course ate mine.
Shethen spent the next day telling us this is how abstinenceworks
and how no man will want to marry you if you havesex before
marriage. Oh, did I mention that our districthad an obscenely high
pregnancy rate? - artyourheartoutblog
