May 8, 2013

Headline misread.

I've been reading too many articles about making the morning after pill available to females of all ages. I saw — under the NYT category "Room for Debate" — "At What Age Should Sex Education Begin?" and thought the debate was: "At What Age Should Sex Begin?"

28 comments:

rhhardin said...

At what age should sex begin was discussed on Imus, and Wyatt Imus, age 14, said 14.

KCFleming said...

Not misread.

The real title is wrong. The stage is being set.

TJIC said...

1963, according to Philip Larkin.

rhhardin said...

I don't recall any sex education in school.

There was a health talk in 6th grade where the boys and the girls separated, and the boys got a decoy talk without content.

Presumably the girls learned about the feminine needs section of the supermarket.

edutcher said...

Pogo is right, but so is Ann.

And, yes, you do get punchy.

As I said to Meade last night, at our age the neurons start flaking off a little faster.

KCFleming said...

The benefits of sex education are assumed to be true without proof.

What supposedly does it provide to a 5 year old that is superior to never having an authority figure tell you?

I do not mean the usual hypotheticals, I mean proven differences.

Renee said...

As long as it is a medical/educational professional, and speaks to my children in that manner. Speak to my children in the same manner my pediatrician/doctor would speak to me on sexual health. I'm OK.

I remember reading some of the Planned Parenthood literature that speak 'down' to a teen's level with immaturity and penis/vagina jokes.


Did children need the talk 100 years ago?

If they lived on farms with animals mating or in urban area in smaller living spaces with more siblings. People didn't have privacy, you could of easily overhead your parents having sex.

Today most of sexual norms come from the TV, and parents don't have sex with each other anymore.

Are there examples of healthy relationships on TV? It isn't really the issue of sexual content, real life isn't like the Bachelor or TMZ.

Renee said...

""At What Age Should Sex Begin?""

100 years ago, two years after the start of menstruation.

Today, what's the point of having sex?

edutcher said...

It's not sex education anymore (if it ever was), it's sex indoctrination.

Astro said...

Okay. So...?

What age?

IIRC, in 'Brave New World' the age was like 5 or 6.
That's where we're headed, aren't we?

samanthasmom said...

Sex education begins at home when children are very young. Fred Rogers taught my daughter how to sort the people in her life into the boy column and the girl column. I don't know how he did it because I was in the other room, but it delighted her to know. Schools should teach the biology of what happens, but the why you do it, when you do it, and with whom you do it belongs at home no matter what the age of the child. It isn't fair to pass that job on to teachers and then bash them if they don't share your values. It's also not fair to parents to have their children taught that everything their parents value is unimportant. The excuse for moving sex ed to schools was that too many parents are uninformed about the biology of sex themselves, but any parent can pass along their moral code.

sojerofgod said...

"QualitySex Ed" (according to the woman writing the article) should begin in kindergarden? Really. and what pray tell do you explain to 4 year olds that they would understand? I raised a daughter, and I can tell you that they would take to that like the explanation of the color red to someone blind at birth. Where would the frame of reference come from? I really don't think there is a problem with explaining to older children the biology of it in middle school, and even basic mechanics in High School. IF it is seasoned with an explanation of why this is something that adults do, and the serious pitfalls of beginning it too early. The real problem here is the indoctrinization into pop culture that goes along with this. As a parent i took deliberate action to protect my child from the sewer that flows out of the TV. No different that stopping her from eating a poisonous mushroom.

Saint Croix said...

I read Where Did I Come From? when I was six.

Later, in sixth grade, I was bamboozled by the fallopian tubes. I think the Southern Plan For Sex Ed was to make sex as boring as possible.

Here is the African-American version of Where Did I Come From?. I haven't read that one. I'll bet they come from the same place, though.

They haven't come out with the Asian-American version yet. Maybe it's like George Lucas and he's planning a trilogy. Or a nine-part saga.

Kids are gonna want their money back. "I seen this already."

sojerofgod said...

And another thing... We have a horse farm, and when she was about 6 or so we were driving off one day she noticed one of the geldings trying to mount a mare out in the pasture. (got to give him an E for effort anyway) She asked, "Daddy what are the horses doing?" My wife looked at me mortified, but I quickly said, "Why honey, they're just playing Leap Frog!"
That was my contribution to sex ed for 6 year olds.

Saint Croix said...

My new, 21st century Southern Plan for Sex Ed is to scare the crap out of kids.

First I hit 'em with untreated syphillis. That's always fun. I wonder where that finger has been? I saw a lot worse in my undergrad Psychology of Sex/Sexual Deviation class.

Then hit 'em with some abortion photos. That'll keep 'em awake.

And then, for the upbeat, positive side, let's take the kids to the hospital so they can see a live birth. Yea!

And just to add to the confusion, maybe we can show some animal porn

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"When they're old enough to ask, they're old enough to know."

I can remember when that was considered a belief shocking in its modernity.

Bender said...

When should it begin?

In the womb. At birth. Throughout infancy. It must begin at the very beginning because the proper foundation for teaching about human sexuality is to teach them about love.

"Remote preparation includes infancy, childhood and adolescence and takes place first of all in the family and also in the school and formation groups, as a valid assistance to the family. This is the period in which respect for all authentic human values both in interpersonal and social relations is transmitted and instilled, with all this implies for the formation of character, self-control and self-esteem, the proper use of one's inclinations, and respect for persons of the other sex. . . . Children's education thus begins before birth in the atmosphere in which the new life is awaited and welcomed, especially through the mother's loving dialogue with her child (cf. Ibid., 16). This continues in childhood since education is "before all else a reciprocal 'offering' on the part of both parents: together they communicate their own mature humanity to the newborn child" (Ibid.). "In giving origin to a new life, parents recognize that the child, 'as the fruit of their mutual gift of love, is, in turn, a gift for both of them, a gift which flows from them'" (EV 92). . . . In this period, a faithful and courageous education in chastity and love as self-giving must not be lacking. Chastity is not a mortification of love but rather a condition for real love." - Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage, Pontifical Council for the Family

carrie said...

You weren't misreading-I think you were honing in on the real point. There has been an effort for years to normalize pedophilia and removing an age limit for Plan B and starting sex education at earlier and earlier ages fits right into that effort.

test said...

Renee said...
and parents don't have sex with each other anymore.


Speak for yourself there Pedro.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I was a little kid and I asked my mother where babies come from.

My mother said "a slit between a mommy's legs" and that was the all of it.

For years I thought my mother's right leg had been partially severed from her torso, giving birth, the existence of the vagina being somewhat counterintuitive.

Bender said...

In teaching about human sexuality, 90 percent of it should have already been covered over the years before you ever get to Part A goes into Part B.

Renee said...

My husband and I are the exception.

Most parents are divorced not with the other parent or in loveless marriages that require aides to assist with sex.

Bender said...

Meanwhile, little kids are more than satisfied with the explanation that they came from mommy's tummy, especially if told to them while mommy is pregnant with brother or sister.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

What Age Should Sex Education Begin?" and thought the debate was: "At What Age Should Sex Begin?"

Why.....just as soon as you are educated, of course.

I guess about age 7 or 8 according to today's progressive standards. Not to worry though. Your child can get an abortion pill without any ID or your knowledge. Not a problem. At least she is educated.

Birches said...

I made sure that our daughter knew how babies were made before she went to school. It was important to me she learned from us and not from some kid who's parent let them watch cable unattended. But its a very scientific explanation and fits into her worldview about how everything gets made. Every female has an egg and every male has a sperm. Those get put together to make a baby which grows in mom's tummy and comes out where the pee does.

I think its very important that kids don't feel sex is something shameful or secret, so that's why we start early.

But I would never want the school teaching my kids the same information. In the context of home, sex is something that happens with married moms and dads who want to have babies. The school would never adopt that POV.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

The questions should be: At what age are men and women capable of self-moderating, responsible behavior? At what age are men and women capable of accepting responsibility for the potential, but predictable outcome of sex?

Sex education should consist of teaching human biology, evolutionary principles, and moral principles. If the education system is worth anything at all, then teaching the principles of nature and morality should be sufficient for people to understand the terms and circumstances of reality.

There is a reason why the Left is pro-abortion/choice. There is a reason why the seek to normalize dysfunctional behaviors. It's the same reason why they promise people material, physical, ego instant (or immediate) gratification. They advance their political, economic, and social standing through exploitation of corruption, both latent and manufactured.

kentuckyliz said...

Wasn't it a John Grisham novel in which some men tied a girl up in the trees and raped her, and said, if they can walk, they can fuck?