Student’s Sex Ed Documentary Conceived of Curiosity
Monday, July 09, 2007 at 5:21 pm
- 18 Comments
Jim Winkle says he didn’t set out to make a documentary.
“It started small, with me just interviewing a few legislators. But I wanted to find out more, and that’s how I ended up traveling out to Washington and talking to people from the Heritage Foundation,” he said in an interview with Minnesota Monitor, in which he spoke about his documentary, “Sex Ed and the State.”
Winkle, a graduate student in the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, produced the film as both a master’s thesis and an attempt to figure out why states continue to shy away from enacting comprehensive sex education policies.
“I thought it was a paradox,” he said. Winkle added that sex education standards continue to lag, “even though sex ed has good evidence behind it — it’s been shown to increase condom use and delay the onset of sexual activity — and it also gets pretty high approval in polls.”
He says bills are offered every year in the Minnesota legislature codifying sex ed, and that he hopes his film will help him and others “find out where it fails in the legislative process.”
Winkle filmed during the 2006 session, when Republicans controlled the House. He said that sex education was “not anything most of them had on their mind,” but said that didn’t mean there were no strong opinions.
Winkle cited Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, as a chief opponent of the measure. “He thought if we were to teach sex ed, it should be what’s good and what’s bad, that abstinence is good, and having sex before marriage is bad.”
He also noted that Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, who sponsored the bill, was a strong advocate for the measure. “She has kids, and she thinks they deserve to be told the truth.”
Winkle said he thought the lack of sex ed could be behind recently rising abortion numbers in the state.
“I think it is a factor,” he said. “France, England and the rest of Europe has an abortion rate about a quarter of America’s, and they have comprehensive sex ed starting in fifth grade.” He also said poverty plays a role in the rising rates.
A consortium of abortion rights groups is sponsoring a free screening of “Sex Ed and the State” on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. SE, in Minneapolis.
18 Comments
Comment posted July 9, 2007 @ 6:31 pm
sandy pappas is a moron why doesnt she tell her kids the “truth”..instead of letting teachers do it?…sex ed is strictly a parental job…not the job of government employees…. this college boys thesis proves that abortion is mainly a birth control measure…. i believe the real reason for the rise in teen pregancies is because of the way sex is depicted on TV and movies…no holds barred
Comment posted July 9, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
No holds barred? And you don’t think sex is depicted “no holds barred” in Europe? Let me tell you, if you think it’s no holds barred here, you’d be blushing pretty hard in Amsterdam…
It has been proven time and again that abstinence-only education leads to an increase in the rate of teen pregnancy (and, consequently, the rate of abortion) and STDs. Comprehensive sex ed lowers the rates of both.
Comment posted July 9, 2007 @ 9:22 pm
europe…the epitamy of morals Max..do you have pregnancy rates for Europe?
Comment posted July 9, 2007 @ 10:42 pm
Some parents don’t Clearly some parents don’t do their job of educating their kids. Some kids have less than stellar parents, and school may be the only place they can get accurate health information that could safe their life.
Besides, comprehensive sex ed, such as the bill proposed this legislative session, would have involved parents in the education process. It was right there in the statute.
Comment posted July 10, 2007 @ 7:16 pm
wrong is wrong pardon my spelling..anyway….teaching kids how to have safe sex is wrong….teaching abstinence is right…… it does not matter what the end result is..if kids make bad incorrect choices so be it……if parents abdicate their responsibilities..so be it..shame on them….. it is not about reducing pregnacies..or abortions..it is about doing what is right
Comment posted July 11, 2007 @ 2:23 am
Then it’s good to be Wrong If it’s ‘wrong’ to teach kids safer sex, then we should all be ‘wrong.’ Because those kids will become adults. And when they are adults they are going to have sex. In fact, close to 90% are going to have sex before they are married. I’d much rather live in a society where those adults were taught as kids the responsibilities of child bearing and rearing, and the consequences of STDs. So, when the time comes for them to have sex, they aren’t exposed to diseases that could compromise their health, and that they don’t get pregnant in a situation where they aren’t prepared to raise children.
It’s is profoundly immoral that you argue that withholding information from people of reproductive age is appropriate, and it is disturbing that you have no other reason than “it is about doing what is right.”
Comment posted July 11, 2007 @ 2:34 am
So what is right…. …is for America to have a whole lot of kids born to teenaged parents.
You know, I’ll give you points for honesty — you really would destroy America to save it.
Comment posted July 11, 2007 @ 9:20 am
watch the presonal attacks, please you’re about 2 inches from getting your comment deleted…
Comment posted July 9, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
sandy pappas is a moron why doesnt she tell her kids the “truth”..instead of letting teachers do it?…sex ed is strictly a parental job…not the job of government employees…. this college boys thesis proves that abortion is mainly a birth control measure…. i believe the real reason for the rise in teen pregancies is because of the way sex is depicted on TV and movies…no holds barred
Comment posted July 9, 2007 @ 1:50 pm
No holds barred? And you don't think sex is depicted “no holds barred” in Europe? Let me tell you, if you think it's no holds barred here, you'd be blushing pretty hard in Amsterdam…
It has been proven time and again that abstinence-only education leads to an increase in the rate of teen pregnancy (and, consequently, the rate of abortion) and STDs. Comprehensive sex ed lowers the rates of both.
Comment posted July 9, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
europe…the epitamy of morals Max..do you have pregnancy rates for Europe?
Comment posted July 9, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
Some parents don't Clearly some parents don't do their job of educating their kids. Some kids have less than stellar parents, and school may be the only place they can get accurate health information that could safe their life.
Besides, comprehensive sex ed, such as the bill proposed this legislative session, would have involved parents in the education process. It was right there in the statute.
Comment posted July 10, 2007 @ 2:16 pm
wrong is wrong pardon my spelling..anyway….teaching kids how to have safe sex is wrong….teaching abstinence is right…… it does not matter what the end result is..if kids make bad incorrect choices so be it……if parents abdicate their responsibilities..so be it..shame on them….. it is not about reducing pregnacies..or abortions..it is about doing what is right
Comment posted July 10, 2007 @ 9:23 pm
Then it's good to be Wrong If it's 'wrong' to teach kids safer sex, then we should all be 'wrong.' Because those kids will become adults. And when they are adults they are going to have sex. In fact, close to 90% are going to have sex before they are married. I'd much rather live in a society where those adults were taught as kids the responsibilities of child bearing and rearing, and the consequences of STDs. So, when the time comes for them to have sex, they aren't exposed to diseases that could compromise their health, and that they don't get pregnant in a situation where they aren't prepared to raise children.
It's is profoundly immoral that you argue that withholding information from people of reproductive age is appropriate, and it is disturbing that you have no other reason than “it is about doing what is right.”
Comment posted July 10, 2007 @ 9:34 pm
So what is right…. …is for America to have a whole lot of kids born to teenaged parents.
You know, I'll give you points for honesty — you really would destroy America to save it.
Comment posted July 11, 2007 @ 4:20 am
watch the presonal attacks, please you're about 2 inches from getting your comment deleted…
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