A large Oregon school district just got a refresher course in the birds and the bees.
And it stung.
Pushback was swift and loud by teachers, staff members and students when the Salem-Keizer school district, which includes more than 40,000 students, learned in October that they must report sexually active teens to law enforcement. The policy stems from a well-intentioned place, which is to protect kids from sexual abuse.
But, seriously?
Yes, seriously. Under Oregon law, anyone under 18 cannot legally give consent, even if the teens say it's consensual.
So, if a 16-year-old, for example, confides in a favorite teacher or counselor that she wants to get on birth control, or a 15-year-old shares that he's been thrown out of his house because he was caught with a same-sex fellow student, that trusted adult is mandated to report the youths' sexual activity, or risk fines and job loss.
The announcement, which district leaders say is merely a clarification of the law already in place, spurred a student-led change.org petition calling for an end to the mandate, a protest at the State Capitol and more than a few teachers saying they'll just ignore it.
Perhaps the strangest aspect is the timing. When it comes to teens and sex, we should be enforcing only one thing, and that's ice cream all around: The stats haven't been this good in decades.