Strong Communities...Healthy Kids Act

WOW! This is a bill so balanced that opponents have to lie about its content to spur discontent.

This bill returns Human Growth and Development curriculum decisions to local school districts rather than in Madison. It will modify the 2009 Healthy Youth Act. It changes mandated topics to recommended topics. It expects school educational programs to be taught by educators. It requires the state to apply for all funding applicable to recommended topics so that school districts can pay for their chosen curriculums.

This bill does not mandate abstinence education. It does not make Comprehensive Sex Education illegal. It allows communities to determine what is best with the direct input from their citizens. It recognizes that parents have the greatest influence on their children, as is consistently reported in teen surveys. It "levels the playing field" by placing responsibility for children on local adults.

Research studies are read by both sides of the sex education issue. Two recent studies indicate more than 70% of teens and adults think teens should wait until marriage to have sex (US Dept. of Health & Human Services) and a whopping 98% of adults believe parents should be their children's sex educators (Journal of Adolescent Health, 1/2011). Abstinence proponents are willing to trust the opinions and intentions of average citizens. Our opponents continue to strip control from them.