A proposal to mandate premarital education classes in Colorado has been met with opposition by many young people who say the notion is intrusive and ill conceived.
The California-based Kids Against Divorce has proposed the Colorado Marriage Education Act for the November 2014 ballot, arguing “marriage license laws need to be amended such that a marriage license be treated as any other license and held to a minimal level of required education.”
While the group suggests such a law would reduce the divorce rate and slash the “billions of dollars taxpayers spend annually on divorce,” young people are not warming up to the idea.
In classroom conversations, newspaper columns and casual discussions, Colorado college students – the group that likely would be the most effected by the measure, if approved – have expressed an aversion to the idea of forced premarital counseling or education.
University of Colorado-Boulder sophomore Katie Boyer, 20, said marriage is a personal matter, and that government intervention wouldn’t solve the problem of divorce.
“These are private issues, the government doesn’t need to be involved in,” Boyer said in an interview with The College Fix. “There is something about this that rubs me the wrong way.”
CU Boulder senior Julian Adorney, 23, said the government doesn’t need to provide options for counseling that is already available through other venues, such as churches. He said it would be another government waste of time and money.
“This is going to do nothing except spoil the state’s coffers,” he said.
During an upper-division conflict resoltion class at CU Boulder in late January, about 35 students of different ages and political leanings debated the proposal, and it was clear progressives, liberals, moderates and Republicans all agreed that it should fail.
And writing in the Rocky Mountain Collegian, Colorado State Univerity freshman Sean Kennedy urged his peers not to support the endeavour, opining that “there are things that can be done to curb divorce, but invading the private lives of citizens is not one.”
Meanwhile, the proposal has also generated a nationwide discussion on its merits. Although the organization recently withdrew its petition, its website states it will resubmit the paperwork “soon.”
Kids Against Divorce’s website suggests faith-based organizations, such as churches, temples and other nonprofits, would teach a state-approved curriculum. It’s unclear exactly how the counseling would be funded or what the curriculum would entail.
As originally proposed, the ballot initiative sought to require engaged couples to complete 10 hours of pre-wedding education for their first marriage and additional hours for second and third marriages. The initiative also suggested a tax cut for couples who voluntarily complete additional marriage education each year.
Alyx Reese-Giles, who was married for a third time in November and had previously gone through premarital counseling through her church, told The Denver Post it was a bad idea.
“This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard,” Reese-Giles stated. “The government has no business deciding what education people should or should not get before entering marriage. Marriage is about communication and being ready to commit, and no class is going to teach you that.”
College Fix contributor Aslinn Scott is a student at CU Boulder.
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