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Your tax dollars at work

Rachel

Hat tip to Joe at Advocates for Youth…

The good folks at the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland were kind enough to send this info to me touting the work of one Derek Dye, the latest in the long, funny and sad line of abstinence-only sex education heroes. Dye uses his juggling clown schtick to draw the middle school kids’ attention, and then… Wham!

“Having sex before you are married is just like juggling machetes!”

“Sex before marriage will destroy all of your life’s dreams!”

As clownish as Dye’s words may sound to you, they are unfortunately not rare ones for young people to hear in classrooms all over the country. Thanks to George W. Bush and a complicit Congress, we have spent $1.5 billion to fund abstinence-only until marriage sex education in our public schools. And yes, that money goes to people like Derek Dye, as he is employed by the Elizabeth New Life Center that received a $800,000 CBAE grant in 2007 to promote abstinence until marriage. His qualifications? A “Bachelor of Fun Arts” from Barnum Bailey Clown College, and an abstinence educator certification that can be purchased for $50.

The video’s been pulled from YouTube and so isn’t on Joe’s post anymore, but if you’re really curious, there’s a clip on the clown’s website. I’m trying to imagine how seriously I’d have taken this guy when I was… how old are you in 7th grade, 12 or 13?

I especially appreciate his “dreams are delicate and easily destroyed” message. Actually, I want my kid to know that if he messes up, it doesn’t at all mean he can’t still achieve his dreams. No, I don’t particularly want him drinking, smoking, having sex, or smoking pot – you know, ever – but if he does I wouldn’t want him thinking it’s the end of the world. We will deal with it. I don’t know about you, but I was so dramatic at that age and the last thing I’d need is this clown adding fuel to the fire.

9 thoughts on Your tax dollars at work

  2. As someone who can juggle machetes (really!) and who has premarital sex on a regular basis, I must respectfully disagree. also, none of my life’s dreams have been destroyed as a result of either of these actions.

    This has been a public service announcement on behalf of jugglers everywhere.

  3. What I always wonder about this kind of thing is the effect it has on the kids who are, well, already experimenting. By 8th grade I’d already tried pot, so when I got DARE education telling me marijuana was as addictive as cocaine I did some stupid things (thankfully I had hippy parents to catch my fall). As amusing as juggling clowns are, my objection to abstinence only-education is that its likely going to have the effect of pushing some kids into more risky sexual behaviors while at the same time depriving them of important information.

  4. Feminist juggler checking in.

    That guy looks so lame; there are profoundly more talented people here in the local juggling club that takes place in my city. I would’ve felt embarrassed to watch him in seventh grade. I’m ashamed that my money is being spent on such a bad message and such a bad talent.

  5. Just watched the video on Derek’s website and it was absolutely bizarre. Not to mention dangerous. His message:
    1) Abstain from alcohol
    2) Abstain from tobacco
    3) Abstain from illicit drugs
    4) Abstain from pre-marital sex

    And if you don’t, you’re “life dream” will be ruined. And kids who partake in these practices DESERVE whatever ill-fortune comes their way. Life is about taking risks. Risks are not a bad thing. Abstaining from sex/drugs/alcohol is not going to make your life necessarily safer.
    Sex ed in the US is very similar to the anti-sodomy laws in African countries like Senegal. Sodomy laws–> lack of information about AIDs/STD prevention ( because of its association with the gay population)–> unsafe sex–>increased number of people contracting diseases. Abstinence based sex ed has a similar effect with regards to propagating diseases

  6. He neglects to make the connection that could have safely juggled the machete’s over the student’s body if he had placed a BARRIER over the student. Or he could have juggled the machete alone while watching the other guy juggle his own machete. Or he could have called the guy on the phone and had phone juggling. Or he could use silicone machete’s with absolutely no risk at all. Or they could have watched a movie about machete juggling and cuddled.

    I could go on all day folks . . .

  7. Heidi, that is by far the most awesome comment I have seen on this subject. And I’ve seen a lot of comments on this subject.

  8. It’s funny how schools that promote abstinence only education see no risk in hiring a clown to juggle machetes and balance ladders around children. For those who watched the video, it is clear that no protective barrier was used to prevent injury in the event of a fumble. Furthermore, it appears that the audience of minors is so close to the clown that if the ladder had fallen some children would have been smushed. I realize the clown has had training, but even “professionals” do (on occasion) screw up.

    The dramatics surrounding the clown’s unwillingness to juggle the machetes above the chest of the man lying on the ground was priceless. I particularly loved the reasoning behind the refusal- the risk of accidental injury. This “act of abstinence” does little more than highlight the stupidity of the clown (and school in question) by reinforcing the dangerous situation that these minors are in. I guess clown college doesn’t give you the foresight to connect point A (machete) to point B (child’s head).

    Given the clown’s message (abstaining from DANGER in order to achieve life goals), I have to wonder why this demonstration was used to “hit the point home”? The argument and evidence are illogical and intrinsically conflict with one another by their very nature. After watching this video I am left with one question: how would a machete plunging into a child’s cranium affect their ability to achieve their life goals?

  9. reading through a backlog of the feminist readers, I just saw this.

    Hell. I’m in Cleveland– my school’s GSA just donated money to the AIDS taskforce.

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