W.Va. student asks for injunction against principal over abstinence-only speaker

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

Source: Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A student at George Washington High School asked for an injunction in Kanawha Circuit Court against the school's principal Monday, after she alleges he threatened to call the college where she's been accepted and tell them she has "bad character" for speaking up against an abstinence-only assembly held at the school last week.

Katelyn Campbell, the school's student body vice president, refused to attend an assembly where Christian speaker Pam Stenzel told GW students "condoms aren't safe" and warned that any type of sexual contact would lead to sexually transmitted diseases and cause women to be infertile, according to an audio recording of her presentation.

In her YouTube videos, Stenzel shouts and says things such as women who take birth control are "10 times more likely to contract a disease . . . or end up sterile or dead." She allegedly told GW and Riverside students, "If your mom gives you birth control, she probably hates you."

Since the assembly, Campbell and other students and parents have voiced their concern with the school's allowance of Stenzel's presentation, which was sponsored by Believe in West Virginia, a religious organization. Campbell, 17, was featured on CNN Monday morning to talk about the assembly, which she referred to as "slut-shaming."


Read more: http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201304150062

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Katelyn Campbell, a student at George Washington High School, said Monday that her principal, George Aulenbacher, threatened to malign her character to the college where she's been accepted. Campbell spoke out against an abstinence-only speaker at GW and Riverside high schools last week.


VIDEO here: http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/130412_15268.shtml

[Stuart G]

1. Fire the principal..nt.

[DeSwiss]

13. +1000

[Initech]

21. +100000

[alp227]

2. Read the article...you'll know WHY she filed the injunction, it's not her opposition to the speaker.

As much as I am a First Amendment absolutist, because I know a lot of abstinence-only education is misinformative I tend to support restricting such speakers at public schools. Also the fact the principal threatened a dissenting student says a lot about the principal.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

3. right - the real story is buried under the headline

kind of surprised that an outlet as good as the Gazette would put such a 'blah' headline on a story like this

[alp227]

9. And wow Charleston, WV has TWO daily papers?

Last edited Tue Apr 16, 2013, 12:58 AM - Edit history (1)

The Gazette and Daily Mail (no relation to the British trash tabloid)? I know that the cities of San Francisco, Detroit, Boston, Washington DC, New York, Chicago, Salt Lake, and Los Angeles have a big enough population for multiple daily papers. Seattle, Denver, Las Vegas, and Cincinnati have all in recent years lost their "second daily papers" from either mergers or moves to "online only". but CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA has two daily print newspapers??

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

15. yup, though, oddly enough, in the same building

One side belongs to the Gazette. the other the Daily Mail.
one leans left, the other right.
different ownership, but share printing facilities and stuff.

[alp227]

30. The Detroit dailies (Free Press and News) have a similar arrangement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Media_Partnership

[BlueJazz]

4. It's starting dawn on me where Planters gets all of it's nuts.

"10 times more likely to contract a disease . . . or end up sterile or dead." She allegedly told GW and Riverside students, "

Good Grief !

[JBoy]

5. Smart of her to go to war with this douche of a principal.

Not only didn't she back down in the face of his threats, I think she's now immunized herself against anything he might say.

BTW, she's apparently been accepted to Wellesley College. They obviously made a good decision on her.

[d_r]

10. yeah, go ahead

and call Wellesley principal dipstick

[cojoel]

26. they would probably laugh at him

[eppur_se_muova]

32. LOL, I don't think Wellesley is going to reverse itself on this one.

They might give her some extra scholarship money, though.

[Skittles]

6. thanking Ms. Campbell

[47of74]

7. Just further reinforcement of my opinion that...

....school admins and school boards are an especially lower form of life.

[Sinan]

8. Wellesley?

I contacted them regarding my daughter a few years ago. She was a nationally know volleyball player and they expressed an interest in her. The first question the coach asked was "how good are her SATs?". I said OK. She said that the average score at Wellesley was 2200. I said not that good...this kid is smart, really smart. Good for her.

[maindawg]

11. Idiot teabagger HS principle

messed with the wrong student. It took her about 15 minutes to own him, chew him up and spit him out. He should go hide in his closet and be glad if she drops it at that. He is a piece of garbage. Its is a shame that these kind of idiots are the positions they are. The students of that district deserve better. They are all the victims of ignorance and they will suffer from it.

[WinstonSmith4740]

12. Fire that principal.

This is total bullshit. I can understand he would be upset that the student went to the media instead of going to him first. However, there's also no doubt in my mind that if Ms. Campbell HAD gone to him first, he would have heaped the same abuse on her and made the same threats, and she knew it. He obviously knew what that guest speaker (who BTW, is crazy!)was going to say, welcomed it, and blocked any students who wanted to leave. This is simply more RW apologists trying to load their religious beliefs on everyone's back to carry. I teach Health in a Nevada high school, and our curriculum DEMANDS clinical, accurate information on all aspects of sex ed, including STD's and birth control. We are encouraged to promote abstention, which is extremely easy to do without the heavy religious undertones. As I told my students just today, it's not my place to tell them what their values should be, or what decisions they should be making regarding whether they are sexually active or not. BUT, it is my job to give them the proper information so they can make SMART decisions, and abstention is smart. Not holy, righteous, superior or anything else. Just smart. And they respond.

What this generation of kids DOESN'T know about sex is scary. When I started this section, I asked them to write down something they thought they knew about sex, but have found out they were wrong. Now, when I start this unit, I hit them on day one with some of the stuff I'll be covering, like birth control. And that yes, you can get pregnant the first time you have sex. About 45% of my students listed that as what they found out they were wrong about. Believe it or not, in 2013, kids STILL think you can't get pregnant the first time. Or if you're on top. Or he pulls out in time.

And that folks, is what 20+ years of "Abstention Only" Sex Education gets you.

[knitter4democracy]

14. In talking with some of my students about it once, I was horrified.

One student said she couldn't get pregnant because she douched with bleach afterward (Eeeep!!!), several were shocked when I warned the girls to have a back-up method for when they were on the pill and given an antibiotic, and they didn't even know that condoms come in different sizes, shapes, and thicknesses. *sighs*

Our county's pregnancy rate has skyrocketed in the last few years. It's crazy what the kids don't know.

[brett_jv]

20. Not to nitpick, but ...

If he pulls out 'in time', it's true that you can't get pregnant.

Because that'd be what 'in time' would mean ... he pulled out early enough i.e. 'in time'. It's like, by definition, if you know what I mean

I know what you meant though ... typically 'in time' would mean quite a bit earlier than when your average teenager ... would think ... is 'in time'

I'm baffled though, I'd never even HEARD this canard about how a girl can't get pregnant the first time. I had pretty damn good sex-ed though and knew all the details long before I ever actually engaged in it. Thanks mom and dad for not being too uptight to let me get a good education!

What is the 'logic' that they use to support such a ridiculous notion? Or do they just tell each other that, and believe one another, without ever considering that it makes zero sense?

[WinstonSmith4740]

29. Logic?

What is this "logic" you speak of? Seriously, I have NO idea where not getting pregnant the first time came from, all I know is I hear it and "the condom broke" more often than I should. Basically, I think your final comment hits it...they just tell each other that. The fact it makes absolutely no sense is up there with logic. Unknown and unnecessary in their world.

Actually, I'm being kind of harsh on the kids here. A vast majority are pretty good. Their world is SO different from what I grew up with. But the state of education has been so dumbed down over the years, the whole concept of critical thought seems to have gone by the wayside. It's not really their fault. Yeah, they can be lazy as hell sometimes, but the stress in education has not been to strive for excellence...it's been to pass the damn test. They're so used to being fed the information they'll need to know, they don't know how to figure it out for themselves.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

16. Website for Kanawha County Schools, which oversees GWHS

http://kcs.kana.k12.wv.us/kcs11/

in case anyone's in a mood to write some e-mails and stuff

[MountainLaurel]

17. That principal is going to regret this

According to some friend in that area, WV ACLU is now involved, and a class action suit is in the works.

[ZRT2209]

18. good

[RainDog]

19. Pam Stenzel and other such worthless assholes should not speak to students

I detest people like this stupid piece of shit lying to young women.

I hope the student gives the principal hell. What an ASSHOLE principal.

[MsPithy]

24. The lying is a huge problem.

A school should be about facts, scientific evidence and intellectual reasoning. And, a little logic wouldn't hurt either.

Anyone involved in allowing a lying religious zealot to speak to students, should be fired.

[friendly_iconoclast]

22. Good on you Ms. Campbell, for not backing down to this bully!

[MsPithy]

23. The principal is a bully, and a stupid one at that!

Does he think his call to WELLESLEY, to tattle on an uppity girl, will be met with anything other than howls of laughter? HA!

Has he never heard of Wellesely? Not really known for educating doormat girls.

[LiberalFighter]

28. Yes he is a bully. Failed to be professional with his job.

[leanforward]

25. Admirable response to the Ignorance

My hat's off to Ms Campbell. That principal needs to be relieved. He has a lack of understanding of the school population he is supposed to be mentoring. The speaker and the principal are (were) wrong in neglecting the other side of the other side of sex education. The students need the facts.

[Heathen57]

27. BRAVO!!

This young woman didn't back down from authority that was being abused, took on the threats against her when she saw something that needed correcting.

Now, as far as the principal goes, firing would be just the start IMO. There should be major amounts of funds flowing from his pockets and into hers.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

31. nice to know that the generation has some leaders with real potential

makes those of us fretting over the grey in our temples have some hope about the future of this country

[nomorenomore08]

33. Pam Stenzel? I'm familiar with this "individual." The world would be a better place

without people like her.