Latest news with #JenPlumb
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah lawmakers work to ensure modesty, privacy for children in schools
A bill meant to ensure privacy and modesty for students in the public education system advanced through the state Senate education committee on Friday. SB105, sponsored by Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, would require schools to provide a private place for students to change, when having to change for PE classes, sports teams or other school activities. Plumb said this bill is something she started working on last year and has since then she continued to work with stakeholders. She has also talked to children about what they feel their right to privacy in school should be. 'I value my modesty and prefer to keep private things private,' said Rachel Williams, a 16-year-old girl who spoke during the bill's committee hearing. In her presentation to the committee the senator reflected on when she was on the dance company in high school and would change in an open area with her teammates, with coaches and teachers and other adults sometimes walking through the area. 'It's bothersome, it still bothers me now,' Plumb said. 'I don't know why we do this to our kids.' She also pointed out that now people have cellphones and they can easily take photos in these situations. 'I have never met an adolescent who is totally comfortable with their own body,' said Bill Cosgrow, a retired pediatrician who spoke in favor of the bill. The bill establishes an expectation of privacy that says students are entitled to privacy and modesty in the public education system and they do not have to be in front of others while in states of nudity or undressing. The bill would prohibit local education agencies, or LEAs, from requiring students to undress in front of others, either in restrooms or changing facilities. The LEAs can comply with these regulations by offering a variety of privacy options. These privacy options include single-occupant facilities, floor to ceiling partitions or curtains. There is not mandate on what specific privacy measure should be used, just that privacy is expected. 'Let's maybe put our money a little bit where our mouth is, that we do value privacy for all of our kiddos and that we value the dignity that comes along with deciding who and when someone sees you without clothing on and make it a priority for our kids,' Plumb said.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Utah bill would further restrict teenage marriages, lower legal age gap to 4 years
Senate Minority Assistant Whip Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, is pictured on the first day of the legislative session at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch) A Utah bill to restrict the allowable age gap between an underage minor and his or her adult spouse cleared its first legislative hurdle Monday. The Senate Health and Human Services committee voted unanimously — without debate — to endorse SB76. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration. Currently in Utah, a minor must be at least 16 years old to be married, but those under the age of 18 must have signed consent from a parent or guardian and permission from a juvenile court. State law also already restricts a judge from allowing a 16- or 17-year-old from marrying anyone more than seven years older. With SB76, sponsor Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, wants to lower that legal age gap for minors to four years. Her bill would also restrict the courts from issuing a written authorization for a minor to marry until at least 72 hours after the time at which the minor and his or her parent or legal guardian file paperwork for permission. 'Ultimately, for me, it is about protecting our young, our kids,' Plumb told lawmakers on the Senate committee. 'It is likely more our girls, but it is all of our kids who could be put in vulnerable situations when they're in this young, critical time in their lives.' Jennifer Brinton, a pediatrician and a member of the Utah chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, urged support of the bill. 'I really wish that children weren't victimized by child marriage at times, but unfortunately the data shows that sometimes it's used to cover up statutory rape and sometimes child trafficking happens as well, giving kids fewer options for their future,' Brinton said. Brinton cited a 2021 study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health that showed nearly 300,000 minors under 18 were legally married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2018, and a vast majority were ages 16 or 17. The study also found that included mostly girls wed to adult men an average of four years older or more. 'I really recommend looking at ways we can help strengthen the support and protection for these youth, to not limit their future potential and to not make them victims without a voice,' Brinton said. Over the last five years, the Utah County Clerk's Office has issued 28 marriage licenses to 32 minor applications, according to Russ Rampton, who works in that office's marriage license division. He said in that time frame, the average age gap was about one and a half years, while the highest was three and a half years. Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman said her office has issued seven marriage licenses to minors since 2019. Of those seven, she said three had an age gap larger than four years. 'But for the most part, most of them were relatively close in age,' she said, speaking in support of Plumb's bill. Lawmakers then voted unanimously to pass the bill and forward it to the full Senate for consideration. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
