You ask for abstinence education, Mr. Wier? Well, the majority of high schools across the nation still teach abstinence education, and that number has actually increased over the past few years.

Logic would follow that if abstinence education was effective, we would not have the problems you so adamantly cite in your article. In other words, those who undergo abstinence and abstinence-only sex education still have sex. It’s not a derogatory stereotype that college students become more sexually active. It is a simple fact, and the reason we have so few role models of abstinence is because it is simply unrealistic.

We must distance ourselves from archaic notions that sexual activity should be limited to the purpose of procreation within the confines of a marriage. I do not advocate sexual irresponsibility. On the contrary, I believe in providing an open availability of tools for sexual responsibility; the most important tool of which is an education. An education that eliminates the stigma, misinformation and shame surrounding sex. An education that includes the reality of contraceptives and embraces individual responsibility and empowers.

Jason D. Looney

Junior, political science