Sex Ed Is Not Porn
Spotted on the Channel 7 web site: Seventh Grader on Sex Education Panel.
The Citizens Advisory Committee for Family Life and Human Development advises the Montgomery County Board of Education on matters involving the health curriculum. They were the ones, in fact, who proposed the new sex-ed curriculum that some people are in such an uproar about. And now an 11-year-old kid has been appointed to the committee.
Not surprisingly, there is a little controversy about this.
OK, we don't know what "leader of one citizen's group" they interviewed about this ... but we could guess if pressured.
And the quote is revealing.
See, MCPS is a public school system. Students learn about math, science, history, English and foreign languages, and health, among other things. One part of learning about health is learning about sexuality. The idea that schools would teach sex-ed was controversial decades ago, but people have accepted the idea, and it has turned out to be a pretty good thing for public health as well as parental sanity.
But listen: sex education is not porn.
This leader of blah-blah-blah does not seem to make that distinction. Yes, sex is an "adult" thing. We expect people who engage in sexual behaviors to have passed puberty, physically, and to have exceeded that threshold cognitively in order to make good, informed choices about their sexual behavior. Kids should not have sex, and generally, they don't.
But given the fact that all of our parents did it, (this is an example of a rare thing, a statistical certainty) we can be confident that a lot of today's children, even eleven-year-olds, will eventually have sexual intercourse. Maybe in ten years, maybe twenty, whatever. They're going to do it, if the species is to survive.
So you start talking to them about it. The guppy has little-guppies, and you talk about where they came from. People you know marry, and divorce, and you talk with your kids about it. They see stuff on TV, and on the Internet, and you talk about it. It isn't like, you wait till they get married, then ... boom, the lights come on.
The sex education curriculum is not porn. Teaching objectively and honestly about sex is a family value.
This eleven-year-old will be faced with some tough decisions. How can she know whether all ex-gays are phonies, or only most of them? You think it's hard for us to judge, it's going to be even harder for a kid. Are gay people evil? You and I, as adults, have known some gay people, and have heard shreds of the debate, and have opinions about it -- an eleven-year-old? Probably not.
So this is going to be hard. It's a bold move, letting a kid participate in the grown-up process of choosing what is appropriate for the classroom.
But it isn't porn.
There isn't anything in the curriculum that is adult in the sense that "adult book stores" are adult. We assume that this kid's parents have agreed she can handle it, so they must know there will be discussion of condoms and their use, of sexual orientation and identity. They're OK with it. So why does this leader of the blah-blah-blah complain about "extremely adult themes?"
I can only conclude that the poor guy confuses instruction in safe sex methods with pornography. He confuses discussion about sexual orientation and identity with pornography.
Nope. It's just stuff people do. And kids need to learn about it.
The Citizens Advisory Committee for Family Life and Human Development advises the Montgomery County Board of Education on matters involving the health curriculum. They were the ones, in fact, who proposed the new sex-ed curriculum that some people are in such an uproar about. And now an 11-year-old kid has been appointed to the committee.
Not surprisingly, there is a little controversy about this.
Sex education is something seventh graders are usually taught. But in Montgomery County, one student is on a panel that will recommend changes to the sex education curriculum.
WMAL Radio reports an 11-year-old girl from Takoma Park Middle School was appointed to the panel back in June by the county school board. The pre-teen is now one of four students on the Citizens Advisory Committee for Family Life and Human Development.
Montgomery County's coordinator of health education, Russell Henke, tells the station it's not the first time they've had a middle schooler on the committee. Henke also says all students must get a parent's approval to join the panel.
However, not everyone is happy. The leader of one citizens group says he's concerned about young children being exposed to what he calls "extremely adult themes in sex education."
OK, we don't know what "leader of one citizen's group" they interviewed about this ... but we could guess if pressured.
And the quote is revealing.
See, MCPS is a public school system. Students learn about math, science, history, English and foreign languages, and health, among other things. One part of learning about health is learning about sexuality. The idea that schools would teach sex-ed was controversial decades ago, but people have accepted the idea, and it has turned out to be a pretty good thing for public health as well as parental sanity.
But listen: sex education is not porn.
This leader of blah-blah-blah does not seem to make that distinction. Yes, sex is an "adult" thing. We expect people who engage in sexual behaviors to have passed puberty, physically, and to have exceeded that threshold cognitively in order to make good, informed choices about their sexual behavior. Kids should not have sex, and generally, they don't.
But given the fact that all of our parents did it, (this is an example of a rare thing, a statistical certainty) we can be confident that a lot of today's children, even eleven-year-olds, will eventually have sexual intercourse. Maybe in ten years, maybe twenty, whatever. They're going to do it, if the species is to survive.
So you start talking to them about it. The guppy has little-guppies, and you talk about where they came from. People you know marry, and divorce, and you talk with your kids about it. They see stuff on TV, and on the Internet, and you talk about it. It isn't like, you wait till they get married, then ... boom, the lights come on.
The sex education curriculum is not porn. Teaching objectively and honestly about sex is a family value.
This eleven-year-old will be faced with some tough decisions. How can she know whether all ex-gays are phonies, or only most of them? You think it's hard for us to judge, it's going to be even harder for a kid. Are gay people evil? You and I, as adults, have known some gay people, and have heard shreds of the debate, and have opinions about it -- an eleven-year-old? Probably not.
So this is going to be hard. It's a bold move, letting a kid participate in the grown-up process of choosing what is appropriate for the classroom.
But it isn't porn.
There isn't anything in the curriculum that is adult in the sense that "adult book stores" are adult. We assume that this kid's parents have agreed she can handle it, so they must know there will be discussion of condoms and their use, of sexual orientation and identity. They're OK with it. So why does this leader of the blah-blah-blah complain about "extremely adult themes?"
I can only conclude that the poor guy confuses instruction in safe sex methods with pornography. He confuses discussion about sexual orientation and identity with pornography.
Nope. It's just stuff people do. And kids need to learn about it.
posted by JimK at 11:56 AM
2 Comments:
If the kid's parents are okay with it, what's the problem? I think it could be a really beneficial thing to hear the opinion of someone who knows what other kids will and will not respond to. We need to stop dismissing the innate wisdom of kids, even if they're lacking in factual knowledge. This kid could be a real asset to this committee.
MB
Nice try MB.
MB
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