sex education revisited
in high school we had this teacher who was supposed to cover a unit on sex ed. she looked about a hundred years old, and although we did see these reeeeeeeally vague diagrams (they actually looked kind of like the etron schematics for a car LOL) we never actually talked about *GASP* doing ..... THAT *GASP*
she was quite certain that the best way was to simply not GET .... SERIOUS. ever. until you got married. then you would have the rest of your life to figure it out. with that one person.
we now live in a world where you have to tell people that birth control pills don't prevent STDs; that ladders should not be used unless they are on level ground; that hot coffee is actually hot, and trying to take a massive swig of it while driving is really, really stupid.
in reading, listening to, and watching what passes for news, i've come to a conclusion:
education has failed to get the message across.
family has failed to get the message across.
and this generation is paying the price. when a college kid who has just turned twenty says she accidentally got pregnant, we've failed to get the message across. when she and her boyfriend throw themselves a baby shower and expect their friends to all bring really nifty presents, we've failed to get the message across. and when that young couple then goes on to complain that its impossible to find a reliable baby sitter (never mind that neither of them actually has reliably shown up for work or held down a job for longer than a few months at any given time) ... we've failed to get the message across. and when that young couple then make plans to extend what they get from welfare programs, child nutrition programs, etc. by trying to get their friends to agree to be listed as additional dependents (ISN'T THAT BREAKING FEDERAL LAWS???) ... we've definitely failed to get the message across.
we live in a world in which a teen mom has been sent out by her mother as a spokesperson for the abstinence movement. a world in which people assume that a woman who is older, nonwhite and travelling alone is good reason for searching everything a traveller is carrying. a world in which young people cannot pass a simple driver's licensing test unless the questions are read to them.
the federal government can't do it all, folks. and since we can no longer assume a nuclear family, that can't do it either. and further, since we can't hold children back who have not mastered a subject (it would be terrible for their self esteem and besides it would cost too much), schools can't do it either.
and you KNOW peer pressure isn't going to work. so where do we go from here? i'm not saying sex education needs to be explicit, but certainly young people should be better informed than i was.
she was quite certain that the best way was to simply not GET .... SERIOUS. ever. until you got married. then you would have the rest of your life to figure it out. with that one person.
we now live in a world where you have to tell people that birth control pills don't prevent STDs; that ladders should not be used unless they are on level ground; that hot coffee is actually hot, and trying to take a massive swig of it while driving is really, really stupid.
in reading, listening to, and watching what passes for news, i've come to a conclusion:
education has failed to get the message across.
family has failed to get the message across.
and this generation is paying the price. when a college kid who has just turned twenty says she accidentally got pregnant, we've failed to get the message across. when she and her boyfriend throw themselves a baby shower and expect their friends to all bring really nifty presents, we've failed to get the message across. and when that young couple then goes on to complain that its impossible to find a reliable baby sitter (never mind that neither of them actually has reliably shown up for work or held down a job for longer than a few months at any given time) ... we've failed to get the message across. and when that young couple then make plans to extend what they get from welfare programs, child nutrition programs, etc. by trying to get their friends to agree to be listed as additional dependents (ISN'T THAT BREAKING FEDERAL LAWS???) ... we've definitely failed to get the message across.
we live in a world in which a teen mom has been sent out by her mother as a spokesperson for the abstinence movement. a world in which people assume that a woman who is older, nonwhite and travelling alone is good reason for searching everything a traveller is carrying. a world in which young people cannot pass a simple driver's licensing test unless the questions are read to them.
the federal government can't do it all, folks. and since we can no longer assume a nuclear family, that can't do it either. and further, since we can't hold children back who have not mastered a subject (it would be terrible for their self esteem and besides it would cost too much), schools can't do it either.
and you KNOW peer pressure isn't going to work. so where do we go from here? i'm not saying sex education needs to be explicit, but certainly young people should be better informed than i was.
posted by monkutaru at 18:56
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