On June 11, Mr. Henderson submitted an opinion to the Sun Journal, countering the opinion I had published in the Sun Journal on June 1. While Mr. Henderson may think I do not know what I’m talking about, being a young person, I am quite aware of how sexual education is presented to teenagers, having gone through it no more than a few years ago, and working in area schools, I still see how teenagers are taught about sex.

Mr. Henderson takes the stance that Planned Parenthood “teaches abstinence, but also understands that abstinence often fails.” Being a young person, I know full well that if something isn’t stressed or pushed, then it is bound to fail. If we applied the stance Mr. Henderson takes to other teenage issues, such as underage drinking, the effect might be something like, “Well, kids are going to drink anyway, just let them drink, as long as they’re safe.” What kind of message does that send? It sounds like, “Well, kids will have sex, so let’s go ahead and let them, as long as they’re safe.” The safest sex is no sex, just like the safest drinking is no drinking.

Mr. Henderson also said, “Contraceptives tend to prevent pregnancy.” Personally, tend to prevent pregnancies isn’t very reassuring to me. Abstinence is the one sure way to prevent pregnancy. If Planned Parenthood were serious about preventing pregnancies, it would embrace Sen. Snowe-Mello’s plan to increase abstinence education.

Nathan Faucher, Auburn

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