Many of us can remember the days of sex education in our high school health classes. And soon, these classes may become a bit more informative.

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Assembly approved a bill already passed by the Senate that would require schools that offer sex education classes to classify abstinence as the preferred method of instruction. Discussion of other forms of birth control is not prohibited. And now the bill awaits Gov. Doyle's signature.

Unfortunately, Mr. Doyle may have the interests of his party and Planned Parenthood in mind more than the wellbeing of thousands of Wisconsin public school children.

While Mr. Doyle is contemplating his decision, he should be conscious of the fact that even the Centers for Disease Control stresses that no form of birth control is completely effective in preventing pregnancies or the spread of STDs except abstinence.

Furthermore, transmission of STDs can also occur from contact with areas of the body that are not covered with a condom. Condoms do not effectively prevent the spread of many STDs, including genital herpes, which currently afflicts over 60 million Americans — or 25 percent of the population ages 15 and over. The statistics are even more staggering on college campuses.

Contrary to popular belief, contact with the skin is all that is needed to spread many STDs — not intercourse. And most medical experts are quick to point out that the best prevention against STDs is avoiding skin-to-skin contact with those who are infected. Unfortunately, it's often difficult to figure out who is infected these days.

While statistics share one side of the story, life experiences share another.

Shortly after I wrote a column about abstinence last semester, I received an e-mail from a doctor in North Carolina. She discussed the devastating effects and prevalence of HPV among women and wrote: "I cannot tell you how heartbreaking it is to have a 28 year old childless woman have to have a hysterectomy for invasive cervical cancer — a sexually transmitted disease. [The cancer was] totally preventable."

Firsthand accounts of the devastating effects of STDs are always more shocking than the reality that 60 percent of the women on this campus will have HPV — the virus that is responsible for genital herpes and cervical cancer — at some point during their tenure at UW.

Our neighbors, including Illinois and Michigan, have laws that are similar to the Wisconsin bill on the books.

Critics of the bill, including Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, argue that requiring teachers to present abstinence as the preferred choice of sexual behavior does not reflect the realities of teenage behavior when it comes to sex.

But, maybe in addition to preventing a few unwanted pregnancies and the spread of STDs, the addition of abstinence education to health class can also teach adolescents the notions of self-discipline and delayed gratification.

Although some students will walk into the high school classroom with their minds already set on engaging in sexual intercourse, this should not preclude sex education from informing teenagers of another form of birth control and STD prevention — abstinence. Students should not be prohibited from learning about the most effective form of pregnancy and STD prevention.

If parents truly want the best for their children, then they shouldn't leave such an important piece of information out of their son or daughter's minds when it comes to engaging in sexual behavior.

A year ago, I was in Chicago and had the opportunity to meet Libby Gray, the director of Project Reality, an abstinence education program serving schools in Illinois. The previous evening, she had been on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" debating the effectiveness of abstinence education programs, and she brought up an interesting point about the difference between drug and sex education programs.

In junior high, drug education programs are prevalent. And in these programs, adolescents are taught to "just say 'no' to drugs" — as the popular DARE phrase goes. We tell our children that abstaining from drugs is the healthiest lifestyle choice they can make.

Why should sex education for teenagers be any different? Why can't we include a "just say 'no'" line in the classroom? Students will still get information about the other alternatives to abstinence, but shouldn't we also allow students to learn about the best alternative?

Mr. Doyle, get Planned Parenthood out of your back pocket and do something to help the teenagers of this state. Don't make a health issue into a moral issue. Sign Senate Bill 286 into law.

Darryn Beckstrom ([email protected]) is a doctoral student in the department of political science and a second-year MPA candidate in the La Follette School of Public Affairs.