In States Where "Gun Ed" Is Prevalent, Comprehensive Sex Ed Is Nowhere...

[MrsSmith]

marmar  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Sat Aug-07-10 08:53 AM
Original message

In States Where "Gun Ed" Is Prevalent, Comprehensive Sex Ed Is Nowhere to Be Found   Updated at 9:22 AM
   
AlterNet / By Lisa Russ

In States Where "Gun Ed" Is Prevalent, Comprehensive Sex Ed Is Nowhere to Be Found
Genitals, unlike guns, are in 100% of households. Why not use the same approach -- that knowledge is power -- and give our kids straight forward, age appropriate information?

August 6, 2010 |


Seems to me that simple, clear communication works best, even with young kids. When there is a threat or an opportunity I let my kids know in plain and simple terms. No running with scissors. Walk carefully near the edge of a pool. Put the matches down. So far this plain-talking strategy has kept ER visits to a minimum and led to a relatively peaceful life with 2 pre-schoolers.

Judging from the turbulence caused by a sex ed curriculum under consideration by the School Board in Helena, MT, there are people who disagree. According to Fox News, some local parents are in a tizzy about their kindergartners learning the actual words for their body parts, including those covered by their bathing suits. When we as parents want to communicate important information to our kids (or hear important information from them), why wouldn’t we use the right words? Their objections to the curriculum go on from there, but it seems grounded in the same basic fear of information.

The data, as usual, supports a reasonable approach. Teens who have accurate information, resources and support around their bodies and sexuality are better armed to make the daily decisions that affect their well-being both now and into the future. According to recent research, the average age for first-time sex for white Evangelical Protestants is 16, among the earliest average age for any group. They are also the least likely of any group of teens to use contraception, and the most likely to have been given abstinence-only sex ed, which I guess avoids using actual names for body parts until pretty late in the game.

This from the Dallas Observer last year:

In "Just Say Don't Know: Sexuality Education in Texas Public Schools," researchers David Wiley and Kelly Wilson of Texas State University took a comprehensive look at how sexuality is taught in Texas public schools. The short answer: It isn't really. Kids are, however, being taught: A) sex will KILL YOU DEAD RIGHT NOW; B) only depressive, suicidal, loser slut bunnies ever have sex outside of marriage; and C) condoms kill more people than handguns.

Despite the fact that Texas ranks third in the rate of teen pregnancies and that its students are more sexually active and that they have more sex partners than the average U.S. student, sex ed here is nearly exclusively devoted to abstinence education, often with a religious bent. Information about contraception, disease prevention and STD testing is most often scarce or, worse, wildly inaccurate.


Like Texas, many of the same States that resist comprehensive sex ed are the same places that pride themselves on loose laws for gun ownership. Gun-rights advocates maintain that straight-forward education, not regulation and licensing, is the best way to keep kids safe. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/147762/in_s... /

Parents appeared most worried about pieces of the plan that teach first-graders about same-gender relationships, fifth-graders that sexual intercourse includes "vaginal, oral, or anal penetration," and high school students about erotic art. The curriculum would also teach kindergartners anatomical terms such as penis, vagina, breast, nipples, testicles, scrotum and uterus.

Nope, nothing at all objectionable about telling 11 year old about oral and anal sex. 

postulater  (1000+ posts)  Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Sat Aug-07-10 09:24 AM
Response to Original message
2. "condoms kill more people than handguns" 

How many people were killed by guns in America last year?
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_were_killed_by_guns_in_America_last_year
According to the Center for Disease Control(CDC)

In the year 2007

Homicide with a firearm: 12,129
Suicide with a firearm: 17,348
Death by accidental discharge of firearm: 721
And roughly 5,000 deaths from legal interventions(I.E. police shooting criminals)

So, in 2007, about 35,200 people died from gunshots, nearly half of them ON PURPOSE.

How many abortions have there been in 2007?
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_abortions_have_there_been_in_2007
Answer

I don't know that information has been compiled for this year yet. There are about 3,700, every DAY in the US. That equates to 1.37 MILLION per YEAR. Worldwide, there are approximately 46 MILLION per YEAR.

Yeah, I think we could make the case that condoms kill more people than handguns without even counting those that were exposed to AIDS or other diseases because they didn't realize that they can break, they can leak,  they can slip, and they give a false sense of security.

[JohnnyReb]

They should learn about sex where I did....on the farm and later in the backseat of a '57 ford......or the more advanced course...the front seat of a '68 VW....

[Chris_]

They should learn about sex where I did....on the farm and later in the backseat of a '57 ford......or the more advanced course...the front seat of a '68 VW....

I tried that once, my foot hit the clutch, the bumper hit a wall, all was not well

[AllosaursRus]

I tried that once, my foot hit the clutch, the bumper hit a wall, all was not well

"Toots' was in my "lap" and fell back against the horn button! The guy across the street walked out from his garage to see if I was honkin' for him!

Just a touch uncomfortable, for about as long as it took me to get the car started and in gear!

[miskie]

I'd say 'Gun Ed' works as a nice addendum to Sex Ed..

as in... ' You touch my daughter, and I will teach you about guns. My gun.  Ill also teach you about that quarry pond in the back of my property. '

thats pretty much how my FIL gave me a sex-ed class while the future wife and I were in High School- except his lesson was ' 17 years ago I brought this baby home from the hospital. She was a perfect, beautiful baby and is still my baby today. If in nine months or so, she can't..you know.. button her coat... Ill F***in' kill you, and no one will ever find you. Have a nice night at the prom. '

BTW, My FIL owned a roofing business before he retired. And several guns. He could have made that happen. That quote is probably verbatum, as it is seared--  SEARED into my memory... 

I still feel a little odd when we bring the three grandkids by to visit.... 

[NHSparky]

"I have five acres, a shovel, and a .45.  You would not be missed."

[diesel driver]

"I have five acres, a shovel, and a .45.  You would not be missed."

I had 500 acres, a backhoe, and a 30-06.

However, I had 2 boys, so I didn't have to exercise that option, though I did hear that by brother used that threat once on one of my niece's dates.

He knew where the keys to the backhoe were kept.