• Rich Barlow

    Senior Writer

    Photo: Headshot of Rich Barlow, an older white man with dark grey hair and wearing a grey shirt and grey-blue blazer, smiles and poses in front of a dark grey backdrop.

    Rich Barlow is a senior writer at BU Today and Bostonia magazine. Perhaps the only native of Trenton, N.J., who will volunteer his birthplace without police interrogation, he graduated from Dartmouth College, spent 20 years as a small-town newspaper reporter, and is a former Boston Globe religion columnist, book reviewer, and occasional op-ed contributor. Profile

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There are 7 comments on With Roe v. Wade Gone, Would Better Sex Ed Help Avert Unwanted Pregnancies?

  1. Quote from the article above: “While the teen birth rate has declined in recent decades (although it is higher among LGTBQ students than among heterosexual ones) . . .”

    One of the benefits of a good education is questioning assertions. I’m always ready to learn. (Yes, I followed the link . . .)

  2. I disagree that in order to improve sexual education in Massachusetts, we need to have top-down, state-wide mandates. I think this is best left to the municipalities to decide what to teach their children.

    Also, it seems that MA’s approach is working. We have THE lowest teen birth rate in the country (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/teen-births/teenbirths.htm). And we are on the lower end of STD rates by state (https://www.cdc.gov/std/statistics/2019/tables/2019-STD-Surveillance-State-Ranking-Tables.pdf).

  3. If you want to make sure you never get pregnant then abstinence is a good method. Same as if you ever want to get rid of gun violence, eliminating the 2nd Amendment is a good method. However, both of these methods are flawed and not practical. Parents, not schools, should have the confidence and courage to teach their children about sex and safe sex, abstinence or whatever they choose. I’m not a fan of abstinence because unless one is ugly then eventually they’re going to have sex. Hopefully, they are in a committed relationship and understand the consequences associated with this the same as married adults. Finally, I think this country has lost its mind over the Roe v Wade decision. It’s not the end of the world, life goes one, adapt and overcome.

    1. I completely agree that parents/guardians should be the ones to teach children about sex and relationships. As a public school teacher myself, it is crucial we respect that parents/guardians are the first and most important teachers of their children and know them best. It is troubling to me when school staff or others act or speak like it is their primary responsibility to educate and raise children, which is my experience so far of the current landscape of public sex education. If schools, officials, or politicians think they have understanding or resources that are good for youth, they should be going to the parents/guardians first and allow them to have responsibility and authority to decide what and how to communicate.

  4. You want to teach sex ed to elementary schoolers?? The majority of them aren’t even capable of getting pregnant. Why the need to shove all of this sexual stuff into their head? And you wonder where the “Groomer School” accusations from…

  5. California is leading the way with a state mandate requiring all public schools to provide comprehensive sex ed. We still leave it up to school districts to chose what curriculum their communities feel is best. Unfortunately, there is little to no funding for sex ed even though it is mandated.

    Health Connected (www.healthconnected.org) does a fantastic job of hitting all of the important points in a non-judgemental and inclusive, co-ed classroom which is very important. Health Connected has curriculum available to support special ed students, students in foster care, juvenile detention centers (trauma informed sex ed), etc. They conduct parent workshops and teacher trainings. I previously served on the board, in full disclosure ;-)

    Many high school principals have requested Health Connected educators to teach in the Fall instead of the Spring, because there was a noticeable positive change in student relationships — reduction in peer sexual harrasment and sexual assaults. Wow!

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