School days, school days...

The invaluable Cursor.org recently linked to this news item from March, which gives a glimpse of how a "faith-based" program provided safety advice to high school students in Arkansas: School safety seminar takes a morality shift by Melinda Rogers Arkansas Democrat Gazette 03/28/05.

It seems that just before spring break, over 300 public school students in the Eureka Springs, Arkansas school district were treated to an assembly presentation by a group called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, a scary name all by itself. Rogers reports:

Some students who attended the assembly said that what began as a message to stay away from alcohol transgressed into rants from lecturers on topics including abortion, gun control, the sanctity of marriage and "the dangers of rock and roll."

Apparently presenters Bradley Dean and Stephanie Joy prefer to err on the side of caution when it comes to teenagers' safety. At one point they separated the boys and the girls into different groups for separate presentations:

During the girls’ session, Joy reportedly told teenagers they "would get black spots" on their wedding dress if they held hands with a boy. Later, the girls’ group was presented with a "treasure chest" theory in which they were told that any sort of physical contact with a man before marriage would result in a woman becoming "leftovers" for her husband, [junior Amy] Deitcher said.

Deitcher said she walked out with friends when Joy presented a list of "characteristics a good husband would have," which included the suggestion a prospect be a "God-fearing man." Boys were warned of the dangers of rock and roll and promiscuity, she said. "It seemed like total propaganda. It was like a cult. They were trying to get kids who can't think for themselves to think like them," Deitcher said in a telephone interview.

But Dean made an unusual characterization of his group, in discussing their fundraising; he said, "We got our poop in a group up here". Apparently they do.

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