Saran Wrap Sex-Ed Bill Fails

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2018/08/01/saran-wrap-sex-ed-bill-fails/

A bill that would have required all public school districts in Massachusetts that teach sex education to adopt state standards – which include a curriculum showing students how to use thin plastic wrap as a makeshift barrier – failed in the Massachusetts Legislature.

The Massachusetts Senate passed Senate Bill 2128 by a vote of 31-6 on July 20, 2017, but the House never took up the bill before its formal session ended earlier today, after midnight.

A supporter, state Representative James O’Day (D-West Boylston), tried a late push last month, but he said he had trouble persuading other state representatives that the bill would not encourage sex among students.

Supporters said that the bill would ensure that students in school districts where sex education is taught are given medically accurate information that would help keep them from getting venereal disease and help them avoid unwanted pregnancies.

Opponents said the bill would force teachers to promote unsafe, immoral, and degrading sexual practices among students, including those too young to hear about them. They also argued that local school officials ought to be able to made their own decisions about sex education without state education officials telling them what to do.

The bill was the subject of a widely read column in New Boston Post last year by Andrew Beckwith, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, who argued that it could end up requiring local school officials to teach 12-years olds about anal and oral sex.