Will Someone Please Overprotect The Children?

[joreth]

 This is my new favorite phrase, read in an Onion article parodying the chaotic and illogical "debate" tactics of the fundies.  

So today I was driving across radio station zones and had my scan on (for those who don't listen to the radio, that means it scrolls through the FM stations until it gets a clear signal, then plays that station for 5 seconds, when it scrolls to the next available signal, until I hit the scan button again to stop it), and I heard the clear, dulcet tones of a female newscaster.

So I stopped to listen, because I was curious about what's going on in the world.

She announces that there will soon be age-appropriate sex education in schools, even for kindergartners.  This will include STD information and birth control.

Emphasis hers.

The way it *should* have been said was "there will soon be age-appropriate sex education in schools..." with the emphasis on "age-appropriate".

It just never ceases to amaze and anger me how deliberately obtuse people can be.  This newscaster (who was actually speaking on a religious station, as I found out when she stopped talking and a bible sermon came on) completely ignored the "age-appropriate" part and deliberately implied that 5-year olds would soon be reading from the Kama Sutra and learning about the vas deferense and ovaries.

Kindergartners will not be learning about what an orgasm is, they will be learning stuff like "don't go home with strangers" and "if anyone touches you in no-no places, tell an authority figure".  And high schoolers most definately need to learn about STDs and birth control.

I always say that credulity pisses me off, but the deliberate obfuscarism of information, science, and truth sometimes makes me sympathize with the "pull the plug on the humanity experiment" people.

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

I had sex education in kindergarten. I think it was very harmful, but that's because the entire focus was on molestation and rape. I think the introduction to sex should be: Sex is a wonderful thing when people who are ready for it decide that they want it. And it can be shared with someone else who wants to share it and is ready for it. However, you shouldn't do anything sexual with someone who doesn't want it or isn't ready.

Rather than the approach they had which was basically: well, adults might try to rape you, so assume everyone is a danger and don't let anyone touch you where your bathing suit is or else you'll be horribly traumatized and damaged for the rest of your life.

But the problem wasn't our age, it was the way it was presented. And I'd already been told about sex and how pregnancy happened by my family well before kindergarten.

[joreth]

I agree, less scare tactics are required, but as you say, it's not the age, it's the content