The Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada may soon implement a more comprehensive sex education program, which lawmakers have been trying to accomplish for a number of years.
As reported by Tara Culp-Ressler of ThinkProgress, the following has already taken place, which has left some parents feeling uneasy about the possible change:
"In order to prepare for that potential policy change, school district officials began considering adopting some of the guidelines laid out in the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education, a model curriculum published by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). For over five decades, that group has helped schools develop sex ed classes that include age-appropriate information about anatomy, birth control, sexually transmitted infections, gender identity, and healthy relationships."
As I already mentioned, this has left some parents feeling uneasy.
At a Board of Trustees meeting in September, one parent said, "You want to teach my 5-year-old how to masturbate?"
Another parent said, "We certainly should not be teaching five-year-olds that masturbation and pleasuring one's body is good and that a 12-year-old should know about the very details of anal and oral sex."
Yeah, I'm not thinking these parents read what they thought they read. SIECUS director of programs, Kurt Conklin, is there anything you'd like to say in response to these angry parents?
"The section that became the lightning rod here is about five lines of text. It's just factual pieces of information about masturbation. The guidelines give teachers the tools to address it if the school district chooses to authorize them to answer students' questions."
So, no, in other words, teachers wouldn't be teaching 5-year-olds how to masturbate. Considering that kind of demonstration would be in violation of the law, it's hard for me to fathom how any even semi-intelligent adult could believe such a thing.
It frustrates me to no end how so many "pro-life" individuals consistently criticize comprehensive sex education, and instead, believe abstinence-only education would be a better, more effective method. Common sense dictates that the more people learn about something, the more prepared they'll be if that event takes place. Didn't these parents ever take classes or have jobs? Did their teachers or bosses just give them a test or a project without any form of education or training? They just said, "I know you're not prepared, but get to it! You'll be fine!" Sure, sex is a difficult topic for most people to talk about, especially parents to their children. However, it's not Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy - something they'll never see or experience in reality, and will all but be forget after a certain age. It's also not like the just-say-no message will always work. Did that work for these very parents when it came to things like sex, drugs, smoking, and alcohol? I don't think so... So wouldn't it be better to educate children so they're better prepared when they do finally have sex? Multiple studies will back me up on this, but when kids receive a comprehensive sex education, they're less likely to engage in unsafe sex, and due to that, are less likely to experience unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and sexually-transmitted diseases. So, what's it going to be, "pro-life" parents? Would you rather your kids receive a comprehensive sex education and be less prone to suffering the ills of teenage pregnancies, abortions, and STDs, or would you rather they receive an abstinence-only education and be more at risk to unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and sexually-transmitted diseases? If it's the latter option, I sadly picture the mother and her pregnant daughter engaging in the following conversation:
Theresa Ignant (daughter): "Mom, there's something I need to tell you..."
Mary Ignant (mother): "What's that, dear?"
Theresa: "I don't know how to tell you this..."
Mary: "Go right ahead..."
Theresa: "I'm, I'm, I'm pregnant..."
Mary: "You're WHAT?!?"
Theresa: "I knew something was wrong. I went to the doctor. I'm pregnant."
Mary: "How? What? How could you? You should know better than that! What did they teach you in school?"
Theresa: "Nothing, really"
Mary: "Yes, they did, Terry! What did they teach you?"
Theresa: "To just say no"
Mary: "That's right! So, how could you be so foolish?"
Theresa: "I really like Tommy. We've been spending a lot of time together, and one day, one thing kind of led to another..."
Mary: "Oh, Terry... I'm so disappointed in you. Do you have no self-control? Jesus does not approve of your behavior, young lady!"
Theresa: "Tommy and I went to the same school. We just didn't know about those condom things I learned about at the doctor's, so we weren't prepared."
Mary: "Well, you should just have said no!"
Theresa: "Did you ever have sex before you got married?"
Mary: "Uh..."
Theresa: "Mom?"
Mary: "Eh..."
Theresa: "Did you?"
Mary: "That's none of your... That's none of your... Your father is going to be very disappointed in you!"
Theresa: "Didn't you have me before you and dad got married?"
Mary: "Um... Chris (the husband/father)... Didn't you want me to help you with something?"
Theresa: "Dad's not even home..."
Mary: "We'll talk about this later! Just remember, you should always know what you never learned in the first place!"
Theresa: "Wait... What? Mom... That doesn't make any sense..."
Mary: "Hmph..." :: storms off ::
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/10/09/3577985/sex-ed-guidelines-controversy/
As reported by Tara Culp-Ressler of ThinkProgress, the following has already taken place, which has left some parents feeling uneasy about the possible change:
"In order to prepare for that potential policy change, school district officials began considering adopting some of the guidelines laid out in the Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education, a model curriculum published by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). For over five decades, that group has helped schools develop sex ed classes that include age-appropriate information about anatomy, birth control, sexually transmitted infections, gender identity, and healthy relationships."
As I already mentioned, this has left some parents feeling uneasy.
At a Board of Trustees meeting in September, one parent said, "You want to teach my 5-year-old how to masturbate?"
Another parent said, "We certainly should not be teaching five-year-olds that masturbation and pleasuring one's body is good and that a 12-year-old should know about the very details of anal and oral sex."
Yeah, I'm not thinking these parents read what they thought they read. SIECUS director of programs, Kurt Conklin, is there anything you'd like to say in response to these angry parents?
"The section that became the lightning rod here is about five lines of text. It's just factual pieces of information about masturbation. The guidelines give teachers the tools to address it if the school district chooses to authorize them to answer students' questions."
So, no, in other words, teachers wouldn't be teaching 5-year-olds how to masturbate. Considering that kind of demonstration would be in violation of the law, it's hard for me to fathom how any even semi-intelligent adult could believe such a thing.
It frustrates me to no end how so many "pro-life" individuals consistently criticize comprehensive sex education, and instead, believe abstinence-only education would be a better, more effective method. Common sense dictates that the more people learn about something, the more prepared they'll be if that event takes place. Didn't these parents ever take classes or have jobs? Did their teachers or bosses just give them a test or a project without any form of education or training? They just said, "I know you're not prepared, but get to it! You'll be fine!" Sure, sex is a difficult topic for most people to talk about, especially parents to their children. However, it's not Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy - something they'll never see or experience in reality, and will all but be forget after a certain age. It's also not like the just-say-no message will always work. Did that work for these very parents when it came to things like sex, drugs, smoking, and alcohol? I don't think so... So wouldn't it be better to educate children so they're better prepared when they do finally have sex? Multiple studies will back me up on this, but when kids receive a comprehensive sex education, they're less likely to engage in unsafe sex, and due to that, are less likely to experience unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and sexually-transmitted diseases. So, what's it going to be, "pro-life" parents? Would you rather your kids receive a comprehensive sex education and be less prone to suffering the ills of teenage pregnancies, abortions, and STDs, or would you rather they receive an abstinence-only education and be more at risk to unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and sexually-transmitted diseases? If it's the latter option, I sadly picture the mother and her pregnant daughter engaging in the following conversation:
Theresa Ignant (daughter): "Mom, there's something I need to tell you..."
Mary Ignant (mother): "What's that, dear?"
Theresa: "I don't know how to tell you this..."
Mary: "Go right ahead..."
Theresa: "I'm, I'm, I'm pregnant..."
Mary: "You're WHAT?!?"
Theresa: "I knew something was wrong. I went to the doctor. I'm pregnant."
Mary: "How? What? How could you? You should know better than that! What did they teach you in school?"
Theresa: "Nothing, really"
Mary: "Yes, they did, Terry! What did they teach you?"
Theresa: "To just say no"
Mary: "That's right! So, how could you be so foolish?"
Theresa: "I really like Tommy. We've been spending a lot of time together, and one day, one thing kind of led to another..."
Mary: "Oh, Terry... I'm so disappointed in you. Do you have no self-control? Jesus does not approve of your behavior, young lady!"
Theresa: "Tommy and I went to the same school. We just didn't know about those condom things I learned about at the doctor's, so we weren't prepared."
Mary: "Well, you should just have said no!"
Theresa: "Did you ever have sex before you got married?"
Mary: "Uh..."
Theresa: "Mom?"
Mary: "Eh..."
Theresa: "Did you?"
Mary: "That's none of your... That's none of your... Your father is going to be very disappointed in you!"
Theresa: "Didn't you have me before you and dad got married?"
Mary: "Um... Chris (the husband/father)... Didn't you want me to help you with something?"
Theresa: "Dad's not even home..."
Mary: "We'll talk about this later! Just remember, you should always know what you never learned in the first place!"
Theresa: "Wait... What? Mom... That doesn't make any sense..."
Mary: "Hmph..." :: storms off ::
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/10/09/3577985/sex-ed-guidelines-controversy/
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