I found out about this from The Troubador's diary at the top of the rec list. You should read it. From the Charleston Gazette:
A student at George Washington High School asked for an injunction in Kanawha Circuit Court against the school's principal Monday, after she alleges he threatened to call the college where she's been accepted and tell them she has "bad character" for speaking up against an abstinence-only assembly held at the school last week.
Katelyn Campbell, the school's student body vice president, refused to attend an assembly where Christian speaker Pam Stenzel told GW students "condoms aren't safe" and warned that any type of sexual contact would lead to sexually transmitted diseases and cause women to be infertile, according to an audio recording of her presentation.
Troubador's diary focuses on Katelyn Campbell and her brave struggle against this
slut-shaming and misinformation. But when I looked into the actual content of this "abstinence only" presentation, I was appalled at what I found.
Campbell said several students had recorded the presentation, where Stenzel allegedly made comments like, "If you take birth control, your mother probably hates you" and "I could look at any one of you in the eyes right now and tell if you're going to be promiscuous."
Wow. This was at a public high school. It was paid for with our tax dollars.
According to Speaker Mix, a database to help people book public speakers for events, Stenzel charges between $4,000 and $6,000 for an appearance.
Before her rant at George Washington, Stenzel spoke at Riverside HS.
Riverside freshman Lindsey Hawks said Monday that the presentation made her feel "really uncomfortable."
"She was attacking and bashing the girls more. She was saying that it was all our faults. She was just crazy," Hawks said. "She said things like, 'It's your parents fault for putting you on birth control' and that birth control makes you more sexually active and more likely to get STDs."
Cierra Henderson, a Riverside freshman who also attended the event, said Stenzel said, "If you're on birth control, your parents hate you."
In
another article from the Charleston Gazette
[George Washington HS principal] Aulenbacher and members of the school's staff blocked the gym entrance and told students who tried to leave that they had to stay the entire time, according to the complaint.
Students were offended. But one school board member doesn't think that's a problem.
However, Kanawha County school board member Becky Jordon, who attended the assembly, said dozens of students left the assembly and "complained before they even heard [Stenzel] speak."
Jordon also did not stay for the entire assembly but said what she heard was not inappropriate for students.
"As a parent and a board member, I was glad she was there. Kids all over Kanawha County need to hear her message," she said. "I'm just sad it couldn't have been in all high schools and middle schools. Kids need to understand that what they think is one night of fun can change their lives forever."
Wow. Let me repeat that: She said "I'm just sad it couldn't have been in all high schools and middle schools." These people want this offensive crap in
every high school. In the high school that maybe your kids go to.
It should be encouraging that a a few brave students aren't having it.
Students took to social media during the assembly, posting messages to Twitter like, "She doesn't like you if you're not a virgin" and "I hope people are calling in about the sex ed speaker this morning. Shaming girls for having sex isn't teaching abstinence."
As for Kaetlyn Campbell, the college she applied to had this to say on Twitter:
Wellesley College @Wellesley
Katelyn Campbell, #Wellesley is excited to welcome you this fall. http://bit.ly/...
The phrase "Abstinence Only" does not accurately convey the offensive, appalling, factually wrong bullshit that these zealots who call themselves 'educators' are feeding to our kids. What teens are hearing in "Abstinence" education is offensive, abusive and intimidating. It's wrong. And it needs to stop.
Edit: One commenter has suggested that the speaker was paid for by Believe in West Virginia and not by taxpayers. The Gazette articles were ambiguous about this. I may not be able to look into this until later this afternoon. But the reality is that are kids are being force fed this Abstinence crap, and these are public schools.