My name is Ilka Sankari, and I’m a junior at South Eugene High School. Last week, the crisis pregnancy center Dove Medical taught abstinence-only education at my school. This is not an isolated incident; they’ve taught at 4J schools before. Their curriculum, “Stop and Think,” works to convince young people that abstaining from sex is the best choice.
This kind of education shames young people who are sexually active, want to be or have been sexually assaulted, by implying that those who’ve had sex are less valuable.
In addition, abstinence only education doesn’t work. Research shows that it correlates directly to higher teen pregnancy and STD rates.
Teens aren’t going to stop having sex; schools should be teaching us accurate information to manage the risks that come with sexual activity. Planned Parenthood is an excellent resource for educating students, and they do teach abstinence as an option for preventing pregnancies — just not the only option.
This kind of “education” should never have been allowed by the school board, which is why we need someone like Dr. Martina Shabram to fight for students. She’s running for a 4J board seat Position 5 this May, and as a student who cares about medically accurate sex ed, I support her.
Ilka Sankari
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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