Posted on 07/18/2002 12:45:15 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
How much sex-ed is too much? How and what to teach children about sex and sexuality is a battle that is taking place in communities across the country. Many conservatives believe that the overt sex education classes and distribution of condoms to teenagers has failed miserably and that the time has come for increasing programs that stress abstinence. While the majority of parents agree that some kind of sex education should be taught at school, the sex-ed curriculum is becoming increasingly explicit.
In Arizona, the Legislature postponed a vote on the way sex education is taught due to the opposition from conservative groups. According to "The Arizona Republic," "Supporters want to eliminate a portion of state law that bars teachers from promoting homosexuality and to ensure that the sex curriculum is medically accurate." In opposition, Senator Ken Bennett, R-Prescott blasted programs such as one supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that includes a race where "children put condoms on the dildoes as fast as they can and the fastest line wins." I am by no means a prude, but it is my belief that a child should never be allowed, under any circumstances, to handle a dildo on school grounds. However, there are those who believe that sex-ed classes have not gone far enough.
In California, the Hayward Unified School District has given permission for homosexual teachers to discuss their "alternative lifestyle" without parental consent. Additionally, school districts in California are beginning to introduce pro-homosexual lessons beginning in the second grade. At Park Day, a private school in Oakland, California, children Kindergarten through sixth grade were introduced to 45 gay, lesbian and transgender speakers from their community. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "The youngest children had few questions about homosexuality, preferring instead to talk about the puppies or chocolate bars involved in the speakers’ jobs." Clearly, these elementary level children are not ready for such discussions. Whether you agree or disagree with homosexuality is not the issue, the real question is how early should children be learning about sex and sexual preference as part of the public school curriculum.
Some states, including Connecticut, have no policy on teaching sex education but do have a statewide policy on teaching about STDs. According to Connecticut state policy, if local schools do teach sex education, abstinence is not stressed but must be covered. Additionally, Connecticut, along with thirty-two other states, provides for limited parental discretion with opt-out policies. Opting out gives parents the right to remove their children from objectionable classes. Only three states, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, require parental consent before participation. There are some, however, who believe that local control does not provide the consistency necessary and that sex-ed should be controlled on a federal level. For instance, in an article for "Women’s Enews," correspondent Carol Lee complains that local control "not only dilutes the possibility of consistent sexuality education curriculums, but also allows direct parental input over what children learn." As if direct parental input is a bad thing. Maybe we should just relinquish all rights to the government at birth.
The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States ("SIECUS"), is a non-profit organization that promotes sexuality and sexual choice and is endorsed by the National Education Association and Planned Parenthood, among others. This Council has proposed guidelines not only for teenagers, but for children five and older too. These guidelines would have "early elementary" children taught about masturbation. For older students, the guidelines become much more explicit with detailed lessons in: "oral, vaginal, or anal intercourse, sexual fantasies, and the use of erotic photographs, movies, or literature." The future generation may not know where any of the state capitols are, but thank heavens they will know where their genitals are and what to do with them.
When our children leave home to attend institutions of "higher education," they are subjected to an over-abundance of sexual education. The University of Pittsburgh, for example, held a seminar during World Aids Week, sponsored by the Rainbow Alliance, entitled "Sex Toys 101." Under the guise of safety as the focus of the seminar, sex toys were not only discussed, but displayed and passed around. According to the school newspaper, "The Pitt News," "Many students turned out for the event, most of them curious about the different kinds of sex toys." Perhaps it should come as no surprise that many parents are leaning toward the abstinence only message.
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