Sexual health -Accurate and age-appropriate sex-education necessary.

LETTER: Accurate sex education is necessary

EDITOR: Wisconsin law now sets a higher standard for school districts that choose to have sex education instruction. Area school districts are deciding how to change their curricula so it is medically accurate and age-appropriate.

In a recent interview for www.belowthewaist.org, James Wagoner called on our communities to a new "radical pragmatism." Wagoner is the president of Advocates for Youth -- a national organization supporting comprehensive sex education. He says we must put to rest the mistaken belief that teaching young people how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy will cause them to have sex. "Sure," he said, "like umbrellas cause rain."

After more than a generation of working with schools on sex education, I think the most important principle to keep in mind through what will be a noisy process is that the winners or losers will be the students and their families in these communities -- not the advocates or the opponents of sex education. The contest is between students' need to know and the schooldistrict's willingness and responsibility to teach.

It's been impossible to reach consensus for the last thirty years, and we won't reach it now. Each school district will need courage to stand for education in opposition to ideology. To protect students' reproductive and sexual health throughout their lives, we'll have to understand that medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education causes irresponsible sexual activity just like umbrellas cause rain.

Lon Newman, executive director, Family Planning Health Services Inc., Wausau  (wasau dailyherald.com)