February 5, 2009

Or We Could Just Tell Them To Hold An Aspirin Between Their Knees

Posted at 9:09 AM by Andrea Verykoukis

I know I’m a couple of days late to this discussion, but I have to contribute anyway. While getting away from our ridiculous state-mandated abstinence-until-marriage sex ed curriculum is a worthy goal, my problem with half measures is that we’re still denying kids the information they need to be safe. Jeez, I went to Catholic schools a long (long) time ago and we had comprehensive sex education in middle and high school. They certainly told us enough to know that abstinence is foolproof and the rhythm method is a joke. Why aren’t we doing the same now?

The Healthy Kids Act (which apparently hasn’t been filed in the House yet) would make it easier for parents of middle schoolers to opt for comprehensive sex ed, but it should require it, for high school too. Two weeks ago I cheered when I heard a certain someone pledge to restore science to its rightful place in American society. Let’s start here, where we have sooooo many scientists. Let’s not leave kids to the misinformation they pick up from Twitter, and let’s not pretend that they’re going to listen to all the nitty-gritty that Mom and Dad try to tell them. Let’s teach them the whole truth when they’re at school with their peers and reinforce the information that their loser parents tried to impart. (Who wants to think about sex with their parents in the room?) Let’s also stop pretending that everyone has parents who care enough, or are informed enough, to tell them what they really need to know. For crying in the night, there are bills in the House and Senate that would require boating safety be taught before anyone can operate such a vessel. All the kids in NC are operating human vessels, and I’m pretty sure there are more kids having sex than boating. Same as it ever was. Let’s not let them sink or swim alone.

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