District Attorney threatens schools teaching sex ed in Wisconsin

Crossposted from Amplify

Scott Southworth wants prosecute educators for teaching young people how to protect their health and lives in the era of AIDS.  

In a move meant to terrorize Wisconsin school teachers and scare administrators away from comprehensive sex ed programs, this Republican District Attorney in Juneau County, Wisconsin, has threatened to press charges against sex ed instructors.

At question is The Healthy Youth Act, a measure signed into law this February by Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle. The Act mandates that public school students receive comprehensive sex ed that is medically accurate and age appropriate, and leans on science-based methods that have been proven to work at reducing sexually transmitted infections and unintended teen pregnancies.

Republicans in the state legislature failed to block the bill, so Southworth has launched a one man vendetta against any teacher or school system that would dare to actually educate Wisconsin teens.

In a March 24 letter, District Attorney Scott Southworth issued a brazen ultimatum to the County’s teachers, demanding that they end any plans to teach comprehensive sex education during the Fall 2010 school year and beyond. If the teachers refuse, Southworth has signaled that he will pursue criminal charges against them for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Southworth’s threat constitutes a direct ideological attack on
science-based education policy.  More importantly, it’s a shameless
assault on the rights of youth – namely, their right to complete,
accurate, and honest information about their sexual health.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke
the story earlier today. Upon examination, Southworth’s apparent
legal challenge defies more than logic. In his letter to teachers, he
writes:

Forcing our schools to instruct children on how to utilize
contraceptives encourages our children to engage in sexual behavior,
whether as a victim or an offender,” he wrote. “It is akin to teaching
children about alcohol use, then instructing them on how to make mixed
alcoholic drinks.

His best argument?  Well, here you go:

[The Healthy Youth Act] promotes the sexualization – and sexual
assault – of our children.

Unfortunately for Southworth, decades of research have shown that
teaching young people about sex does not cause increased rates of
sexual activity…to say nothing of the fact that Southworth has
apparently invented an entirely non-existent definition of contributing
to the delinquency of a minor in order to frighten the very
people he was elected to serve.

And did you catch Southworth’s causation argument above? If you teach
public school students about contraception and making responsible
choices, you are somehow promoting sexual assault.

In a way, this gutting and politicizing of science and law aren’t
surprising. These ideologues use the same old tricks: they prominently
point to something designed to scare the public, and pretend that it’s
synonymous with something that most people actually (and rationally)
support. Marriage equality would be just like trying to marry your dog!
Abortion is the same as genocide!

And apparently sex education will brainwash Wisconsin youth into
sudden and uncontrollable promiscuity…Just because Scott Southworth
says it will! This terrifying prospect of adolescent knowledge and
responsibility must be stopped at all costs – even if it means throwing
teachers in jail.

Hopefully, school administrators, teachers, parents and young people –
not to mention the Wisconsin State Legislature – will stand up to
Southworth’s shameless bullying.  He may not have legal
precedent on his side, but the far-right has proven time and time again
that it is willing to attack science in the name of ideology.

But this time, it’s not just about politics.  The lives of
Wisconsin’s teens hang in the balance.