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Vol.
I No. 8
Friday,
January 6, 2006
Letters to the Editor
Speaking Out Against Brutality
 I
am now speaking out against Arcata’s police brutality. The police
are violating our rights, they are very disrespectful in Arcata and they
need to stop harassing youth like myself who are innocent victims.
I feel targeted. I have no warrants and I am not on probation, yet I
am constantly harassed and IDed and intimidated.
I am just trying to make it. I am studying law and I am a kind and caring
person. I am the future of Humboldt County but these police are making
life hard for me. The Arcata police give me no reason to respect law enforcement
officers.
I want to do good things in life and I want to be allowed without police
harassment or abuse.
Jake Dues
Arcata
Comprehensive Sex Education
is Essential
 The
American Civil Liberties Union, Redwood Chapter, has recently been discussing
the congressional funding of abstinence only sex education programs in
public schools.
Further, statistics have consistently demonstrated that nearly two-thirds
of all high school seniors in the U.S. have had sexual intercourse, and
that each year approximately 9.1 million 15-24 year olds are infected
with sexually transmitted diseases. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention estimate that one-half of all new HIV infections occur
among people under age 25, with the majority contracted through sexual
intercourse.
In allocating nearly half a billion dollars since 1997 to schools promoting
abstinence only sexual education programs, Congress has cited no conclusive
evidence that demonstrates that abstinence only programs reduce the rate
of unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections; indeed, some
evidence has shown that abstinence only programs have deterred teens from
using condoms and/or other contraceptives. These programs further preclude
public school students from information which could help them make responsible,
healthy, and safe decisions about sexual activity.
An independent and federally funded 1996 study found that Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage
sexual education programs in public schools are not necessarily effective,
and that they specifically censor vital health care information, and therefore,
jeopardize teenagers’ health.
The ACLU has gathered evidence that programs that include information
about contraception, as well as abstinence, are effective in delaying
the onset of sex, reducing the frequency of sex, reducing the number of
sexual partners among teens, or increasing the use of condoms and other
forms of contraception among sexually active teens. More comprehensive
sex education programs have historically and substantially decreased the
risk of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies among young people.
We are especially concerned that some abstinence only programs have adopted
religious doctrines for determining appropriate standards of sexual behavior,
primarily because such programs violate the First Amendment by commingling
issues of church and state, and utilize tax dollars to endorse religious
beliefs.
Secondarily, however, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs stigmatize
homosexuals and marginalize gay and lesbian students by wholly ignoring
their need for critical information about protecting themselves.
The ACLU is also informed that parents, teachers, and major medical groups
take the position that public schools should provide students with comprehensive
sexuality education in public schools.
For the reasons stated above, the ACLU Redwood Chapter advocates that
your public schools offer a sexual education program which is comprehensive,
and which incorporates education of contraceptives as well as education
of abstinence.
Christina Allbright
Carlotta
Chair, ACLU Redwood Chapter
(Note: This letter was sent to every school district in Humboldt
County last week by the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union. -Ed.)
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