Is teaching teenagers how to use a condom illegal? A district attorney in Wisconsin thinks so.
Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth is reportedly telling teachers to abandon their sex education curriculum, saying that complying with a new law that calls for teaching students how to use condoms might lead to criminal charges against teachers. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal caught the story.
In a letter to school officials, Southworth wrote that such instruction “promotes the sexualization — and sexual assault — of our children.” He went on:
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. It is akin to teaching children about alcohol use, then instructing them on how to make mixed alcoholic drinks.
Southworth then suggested that teaching teens about contraception amounts to aiding illegal sex between minors:
If a teacher instructs any student aged 16 or younger how to utilize contraceptives under circumstances where the teacher knows the child is engaging in sexual activity with another child – or even where the ‘natural and probable consequences’ of the teacher’s instruction is to cause that child to engage in sexual intercourse with a child – that teacher can be charged.
Southworth did not immediately return TPM’s call seeking comment.
Wisconsin State Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (D), who helped write the new law calling for teaching students about condom use, said Southworth is “not a credible legal source on this matter,” saying his “purpose is to intimidate and create enough panic in the minds of school administrators that they’ll turn their backs on young people and their families.”
Full story here.
