New Texas school program drops health & tech class requirement: Fat, pregnant, drunk and uneducated?

[elehhhhna]

The new Texas school program: Fat, pregnant, drunk and uneducated?
July 8, 6:42 AM
Drink up, pork out, and enjoy your car’s backseat” seems to be the message being sent to high school students this fall from Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott. In a recent letter to school districts, Health class will no longer be a state requirement for high school students, making Texas one of the few states in the country with no required health education. Individual school districts can still require health classes as part of their curriculum, but must ultimately meet state requirements.

The state requirement has dropped one semester of physical education and TWO semesters of technology classes.

http://www.examiner.com/x-8616-Houston-Workplace-Examiner~y2009m7d8-The-new-Texas-school-program-Fat-pregnant-drunk-and-uneducated

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Preparing the citizens of the future - spending all day playing video games

in the back room of their parents old house or mobile home.

[kimmerspixelated]

2. Interesting,

But your post however is terribly misleading, don't you think?

[elehhhhna]

6. how so?

[mzteris]

3. huh -

my son was all "they only require three credits in math and in science" in Wisconsin - and I was "yeah, but *I* require four credits in both!"

[HubertHeaver]

4. Of course, there are republicans in charge.

The school districts are scrambling to cover for this legislative screw-up.

[blogslut]

5. And yet

...the sports programs will never be abolished.

*sigh*

[madmom]

22. BINGO can't play sports be a cheerleader! More bush clones in the making.

[Selatius]

7. Dropping technology classes? That'll be disasterous for the Texas economy.

Good luck to any tech company looking for a sufficient pool of labor qualified for employment in the state of Texas in about 20 years or so.

[seabeyond]

8. but switched to 4x4 in my area for high school. that is just starting this year

4 years math, science, history, english.

we never had that. requiring this increase, i am not surprised they have to make other adjustments.

my son got a health class in middle school.

i will check out what this is about... but havent read or seen anything on it yet.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. My health class was a joke and it wasn't even at a christian school or anything

Sure they told us about condoms (everybody knew what they were already, of course). The asshole gym teacher also told us "but you shouldn't have sex anyway because a lot of time condoms fail because people don't know how to use them properly." Had I thought about it I might've raised my hand and asked, "well gee coach, maybe you could explain to us how to use them properly?"

Anyway, that's just a rant. I wish they had good health/sex ed everywhere.

[seabeyond]

10. my son has had at least of touch of sex education all four years of his middle school

this school starts in the 5th grade and they start lightly. by 8th grade they are pretty explicit.

[Hippo_Tron]

11. We started in 5th grade too, still never was useful

It's mostly due to the fact that the guy who taught it during middle school was both a moron and an ass. Spent all of his time talking about how we would almost certainly get STDs and die if we had sex, and how we would get thrown in prison for statutory rape. It was just as bad as sex ed from the religious nuts in that he was clearly trying to deter us from having sex rather than giving us the information that we needed.

[seabeyond]

13. of course they are trying to deter 11-14 yr olds from having sex. at least

until they are old enough to be responsible enough to use condoms and other protection. you think that is a failing? do you think the schools ought to be advocating that our 5th graders go out and start fuckin around now? 1 in 3 kids have an std. that is pretty damn serious. this area is top on teen preg. they are issues. they are being taught. along with the condoms, birth control and everything else the schools can throw at the kids to get them to think twice here.

what should that class have taught you that you did not get.

[Hippo_Tron]

14. I'm not saying they shouldn't be deterring us at that age

But they should've taught us about the different types of birth control and things like how to use a condom properly.

[seabeyond]

15. you werent taught about birth control adn condems? well you are absolutely right

you should have been taught the different contraceptions and given the facts on how effective they are, failure rate and what they protect you from. that is the basics. i wonder about any school that doesnt

my kids school does.

[Hippo_Tron]

16. They definitely didn't teach us that

The first time I learned about all of the different methods of birth control in a school setting was actually 11th grade anatomy class. I'm fairly sure my parents gave me a book about them before that, but it was never taught in school.

[seabeyond]

17. i dont know/remember what was taught in my day. so long ago. i dotn think any of the shit taught i

schools today. but seeing the boys go thru school, i am seeing what is being taught, in this area of texas, and how hard they work at combating so many social ills that really have to do with parenting and shouldn't even be in school. seems we have shifted our parenting to the expectation of schools properly raising our children.

i just do not see how our schools have the time in the day to do ALL things that should be a collateral effort between school and parent.

[Hippo_Tron]

18. Well my argument for teaching it in schools...

Is that Christian fundy parents won't teach it to their kids at home. IMO, kids should have the right to know things even if their parents don't want them to. Ultimately they are the ones who will have to make the decision whether or not to have sex.

[seabeyond]

20. i agree. and in this area, this is what i argue. when someone tells me should be left in home

i exactly use the argument, would eb nice if we could, but we cant cause too many parents aren't doing their job. in my area we have the highest teen preg across the nation. the people do take it seriously, even in their fundie ism. three years ago, at a pta meeting for middle school, listening to some board of education members discuss this issue. and one a real bigoted, southern, all the way fundamentalist. surprisingly, and happily she said... abstinence programs are just not working. and as i say, what i see my school doing to educate the children is beyond ... where i would want them to go. with my kids anyway. but i know they need to because of other kids that need it. so be it. a village, not all about me and my preference.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

12. You dont need to learn as much to work jobs that don't exist. ;)

[Deja Q]

21. Regrettable but true

if this is to become the new republican world order

[Strong Atheist]

23. Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[mitchum]

19. Conservatives expanding their base

[anonymous171]

24. Oh well. nt

[guitar man]

25. Fat Drunk and Stupid

as no way to go through life...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hnwvWhbJw

[hedgehog]

26. Do health classes really do the job people expect them to do?

They were a joke when I was in high school and they still are.