No matter how you teach kids about sex, it's a fact that most of them will, inevitably, have it.

Despite President Bush's attempt to prevent kids from ever knowing about sex — let alone how to protect themselves when they have it — Wisconsin's sex education just got a whole lot better, thanks to Gov. Jim Doyle.

On March 3, The Associated Press reported that Mr. Doyle declined $600,000 in federal abstinence education funding because the "new rules would limit how recipients could talk about contraception or sexually transmitted diseases this year." In fact, according to the same report, had Mr. Doyle accepted the funding, Milwaukee Public Schools would have been prohibited from teaching "comprehensive sex education," also known as anything other than abstinence-only education. According to USA Today, abstinence-only education programs "teach that abstaining from sex is the only effective or acceptable method to prevent pregnancy or disease" and "give no instruction on birth control or safe sex."

Even more disturbing is that while the Bush administration has always promoted a "no sex is good sex" message to the nation's youth, increased funding is intended to try to extend the message to older adults. In essence, had Mr. Doyle accepted the money, residents between the ages of 20 and 29 — and not only school-age students — would also be subjected to abstinence-only education.

It is important to note that while Mr. Doyle may have turned down this money, several other organizations in the state will continue to receive money for abstinence-only education in the form of federal grants. So, instead of limiting what can and cannot be taught in sex education classes — which is what Mr. Bush would prefer — Mr. Doyle is ensuring that both abstinence-only messages and safe sex messages are taught.

Supporters of abstinence-only education often share the same values of those who staunchly oppose giving young women the HPV vaccine, which has been proven to prevent cervical cancer. Their arguments focus on the idea that the more information you give kids about sex — or in the case of HPV, a vaccine to prevent a sexually transmitted disease — the more they will want to have it and at increasingly younger ages. They believe that the only way to prevent this from happening is to control the information given to kids about sex. In other words, scare kids into believe the only thing they need to know about sex is that they should stay away from it, and if they don't, pregnancy is certain to result.

But as many of us know, and as some have probably experienced, this logic of only telling kids what you want them to believe is bound to fail.

Whether you see it on television or hear it from your friends, kids eventually learn about sex. It seems completely illogical to expect kids to make it through high school without ever hearing about sex from someone who is not their sex education teacher. What's worse is the idea that the Bush administration is in such denial of this that they are failing to see the need to provide safeguards. Bush's stubbornness is bound to result in exactly what he is trying to avoid: more unwanted pregnancies and STD epidemics.

While the Bush administration is obviously right in stating that more and more adults are having sex out of wedlock, other, more important statistics are being overlooked regarding the success and appeal of abstinence-only programs.

According to Planned Parenthood, 88 percent of middle school and high school students who vow to remain celibate until marriage engage in pre-marital sex. These same students are also less likely to use protection when they have sex — an obvious consequence of having learned nothing about how to use condoms or other methods of birth control. And as for parents and what they want their kids to learn: A whopping 75 percent of parents want their kids to receive a more comprehensive sex education. And if you're about to argue that Planned Parenthood is a biased source, even the National Institutes of Health condemns abstinence-only education.

The truth embedded in the debate over abstinence-only sex education is that making it the only option for both children and adults is dangerous to their health. We are lucky to have a governor like Mr. Doyle to reject Mr. Bush's assumptions, even if it means turning down extra funds, and to take a more logical and feasible approach to sex education.

Emily Friedman ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism and legal studies.