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Group Objects To Abstinence Program At High School

(Created: Thursday, October 19, 2006 9:16 AM EDT)

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ByCharlie Jackson

A Loudoun County High School assembly, during which Christian comedian Keith Deltano advocated the benefits of abstinence, has drawn criticism from one local group.

Mainstream Loudoun, a local watchdog group that states its purpose as to preserve religious and personal freedom and pressed to maintain a separation between church and state, released its scorn in the form of an open letter to school board members and Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick. The group argued that Deltano's presentation to the entire Loudoun County High student body served as an argument against forms of contraception other than abstinence.

Deltano conducted two assemblies at the school on Oct. 12. Mainstream Loudoun, in the letter from its President Katherine Hawes, argued that Deltano's claims that condoms fail 10 percent of the time and that contraception doesn't work are misleading and inaccurate.

Hawes asks: "Is Mr. Deltano really qualified to conduct a curriculum-related program on sex?"

Loudoun County High School Principal William Oblas said Deltano was invited after the encouragement of a parent. He said the presentation contained nothing inappropriate and Deltano's message was one that is beneficial to students.

Prior to the event, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to Oblas urging the principal to ensure the Deltano assembly did not include religious references, did not promote his religious books and videos and did not include written or oral invitations to off-campus religious activities to be issued during the assembly. Oblas said he felt the ACLU's concerns were valid.

Rebecca K. Glenberg, legal director of ACLU Virginia, said Tuesday that the program did comply with the requirements of the separation of church and state, though she added that Mainstream Loudoun's concerns over the accuracy of information presented are valid.

Schools spokesman Wayde Byard said the assembly was what school staff expected and that Hatrick sent a letter in response to Mainstream Loudoun indicating willingness to meet and discuss the Deltano presentation. Hawes said that offer would be accepted.

Both Byard and Oblas said the school system's Family Life Education curriculum does teach abstinence. Byard said Deltano cited statistics from the National Institutes of Health. Byard said abstinence is the only 100 percent way to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases and that Deltano did go over other means of contraception and safe sex practices.

Hawes, who indicated she attended the assembly, said that Deltano cherry-picked facts, gave children inaccurate and incomplete information and misrepresented the effectiveness of condoms.

"On a personal level, I'm a parent," Hawes said. "We will encourage our children to wait. But at the same time we want them to get [complete and unbiased information]."

The Loudoun school system's Family Life Education curriculum-which includes sex education-emphasizes abstinence, but does educate students on the use of other forms of contraception.

Deltano's Web site, www.keithdeltano.com, states that "teens across the nation are revolting against the idea that they must date or have sex to be 'cool' or 'in.' Keith will take this topic head on with audience interaction, humor, energy and facts. Keith will empower your teens to join the New Sexual Revolution: abstinence until marriage and a fulfilling sex life afterwards."

Oblas said he would not rule out bringing Deltano back in the coming years.

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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of Leesburg Today.
Total Comments: 10 comment(s)

George Hidy wrote on Oct 27, 2006 10:45 AM:

" Where is Dick Black when we do not need him? Oh yeah, I forgot. His extreme right-wing ideology was thrown (voted) of office a year ago by a majority of the voters. What is wrong to send a positive message to our children, if one can be reached the message was a success. "

Recent Teenager wrote on Oct 26, 2006 10:17 AM:

" With the schools sex ed program and being taught to abstain from sexual activities isn't doing these kids justice! Without teaching kids about different kinds of birth control and protection methods you are going to have more problems on your hands then teaching them how to be a little safer! No SEX is safe SEX! BUT kids are going to do what they want to do whether parents ok it or not so why not have them better protected than NOTHING? No teenagers shouldn't be having sex but they are! So instead of ignoring that fact why not educate them about protecting themselves instead of saying ABSTAIN ABSTAIN ABSTAIN! thats not going to work! Thats where you get the higher teen pregnancy rates and other sex related problems! "

Nanette Moreau wrote on Oct 21, 2006 8:53 AM:

" When you present your comprehensive message to Dr. Hatrick, I hope that you include that condoms, or any type of birth control does not protect these students from the emotional, physical, social, intellectual and yes, the spiritual consequence of premarital sex. Please talk about the heart issues, and about how this will effect their future and perhaps their childrens future. I can speak from experience that birth control did not protected me from the shame, guillt, grief, depression, and anger from having an abortion. NO ONE told me how awful I would feel for years because of what I did. I also know many woman that are unable to have children or have cervical cancer because of STD's Let's get off of statistics about failure rates and help our youth make the best decision for their futures. I have heard some of the comments from the students that were at Keith's assembly and they said they were headed in the wrong directions and his message has made them rethink what they are doing. Isn't that enough?Let's listen to them - I think they are ready to hear the truth on this subject! "

Jason wrote on Oct 21, 2006 8:21 AM:

" Kindergarten to 12th grade your kids are subjected to family life education which is the same as state sanctioned religion. It is based on an ideology of secular humanism and forced into the main stream by a minority of activists at the highest levels of our government. Organizations like SEICUS and Planned Parenthood have been forcing thier brand of contraception education on the American public for 30 years. Your kids will still be taught what the ACLU wants but when a wholesome message makes it through the liberal walls count it as a blessing. At least your kids have another choice. One that has been mostly silenced. Finally a chool board intouch with local values. Oh yeah, studies on condom effectiveness need to be looked at in terms of typical use for teens. When you see those stats the numbers are shocking. Kieth was being generous. "

Jonathon Moseley wrote on Oct 20, 2006 6:03 PM:

" The real scandal is that Deltano IS CLEARLY CORRECT. It is well-documented that condoms DO fail at least 10% of the time for a wide variety of reasons. One big reason is that they have been stored improperly and have deteriorated. A young teenager who keeps a box of condoms in the car (or one in his wallet) may not realize that the intense heat in the summer and the freezing cold in the winter over a period of time have destroyed the condom's integrity before he even puts it on. Young people especially are likely to hang on to condoms, in hope that someday they will get to use them. When they finally do, they may not realize that the condoms are no longer good protection. And there are other reasons as well why condoms fail. Furthermore, condoms were not designed to stop STD's which involve vastly smaller viruses or bacteria than the itmes condoms are designed to stop. The effectiveness against STD's is much, much, less than against pregnanccy "

Bob Baker wrote on Oct 20, 2006 12:12 PM:

" It should be obvious to everyone involved that no one has ever gotten pregnant by remaining abstinent. Further, if we believe medical authorities, no one can contract an STD by remaining abstinent, So whats to fear from abstinence? Why Mainstream Loudoun, or anyone else for that matter, objects to presenting abstinence as an alternative to promiscuity or even occaisional sex is beyond comprehension. The old canard that these programs are really a smoke screen to (gasp) talk about Christian morals just doesn't fly anymore. Even if Christian morals are discussed, what does one have to fear about that. Could it be that the ACLU and organizations like Mainstream Loudoun simply want a society with no limits on behavior? These organizations are always crying Choice, Choice. Yet when someone presents an alternative approach to one of their favorite topics, suddenly they want no choice. Go figure. "

David Weintraub wrote on Oct 19, 2006 3:54 PM:

" Since we all share the objective of insuring the best life for our kids, this discussion really ought to be about what works best to influence behavior, not what makes parents feel good. The only references Deltano made to contraception and "safe sex" (which actual professionals refer to as safer sex) was to make fun of them. This is not responsible. It only makes kids think that there's no point in using condoms if they do have sex. The evidence, measured by rates of STDs and pregnancy, clearly indicates that an abstinence only approach doesn't work as well as a comprehensive approach that includes factually and medically accurate information. That is simply objective fact. Let's stop fighting each other and talk about what will actually bring about the result we all want, which is less disease transmission and pregnancy. "

cody smith wrote on Oct 19, 2006 2:05 PM:

" What a great message to bring to today's youth, but Katherine Hawes is letting all this go to her head...She makes me laugh that people are that crazy and will fight and argue over the smallest simplest details... I just hope her kids don't turn out to be 40yr old virgins "

Michaela wrote on Oct 19, 2006 2:00 PM:

" So we tell kids not to steal cookies from the cookie jar, then say, "But if you DO decide to steal the cookies anyway, here's how you can do it safely." Then we're surprised when they make that choice. Contraception info is EVERYWHERE, the kids probably know more about it than most adults. Mainstream Loudoun should quit trying to *act* like they care about these kids, and learn that abstinence is a message that is good for them to hear in a fun delivery. "

Katherine Hawes wrote on Oct 19, 2006 11:14 AM:

" I would like to clarify something for your readers. Our main concern was that we're putting our children at risk by not providing them with information on how to protect themselves. To be most effective, the abstinence message (which we agree with) needs to be delivered in a comprehensive context along with accurate information on condoms and birth control. "



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