A Texas Freedom Network Education Fund report last year revealed the dismal state of sex education in Texas. Now TFN’s Youth Leadership Council has collected thousands of petition signatures from young people around the state who support responsible sex education in our public schools. Check out this video of a Youth Leadership Council event on the University of Texas campus in Austin. Click here if you want to sign the petition.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV13BHx7FW0]
Teenage mothers, abortion, a life of poverty, children without in-home dads, etc. infinitum. Charles Dickens said it well about the boy named “Ignorance.” Below is the exact quote from the original text of “A Christmas Carol” and the Texas SBOE should learn at least something from this great Christian man called “Boz” and inform Texas children through comprehensive sex education:
“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6MFN8yiVc0
Great video! Congratulations to everybody involved in it.
One aspect of comprehensive sex education that is commonly overlooked is the fact that proper sex education can help children protect themselves from sexual predators. One time, when I lived in a fair-sized town back east, there were two newspaper reports, on the same day, of two girls that had been raped. One was 10 and the other was 12. One was forcibly raped by an older boy and the other was raped by a family member where the use of force was undetermined. Neither girl knew they could say no or should scream bloody murder. Their families had not given them enough information about sex that could possibly have helped them protect themselves from these crimes. The community had also failed these children. Thankfully, the local school board had hearings about improved comprehensive sex education soon after these incidents. I don’t know what inspired them to consider the changes at that time, but it gave me a chance to put in my two cents worth by giving them concrete examples of how two children had been failed by parents and community. However, there were still redfaced fanatics screaming at the school board that they didn’t want the schools telling their kids about all that nasty stuff. Schools can’t make up for all the failing parents, but they should be giving the children basic facts that they can use to protect themselves and to make better decisions about their own lives.
In these situations, it is only the predators that benefit from keeping the children ignorant of the facts of life. The “good hugs/bad hugs” information should start very early, and sex education should continue on through the grades with age appropriate information.
Yep.
Why are we teaching sex ed in the schools at all. Why not teach it at home. I had it in school in 4th grade, didn’t understand what it was all about. The kids felt embarrassed, the teachers felt (acted) embarrassed, and nothing was accomplished. It had no bearing on what I did or didn’t do when I was in my teens. Sex ed is a waste of time and a waste of money. How about parents take responsibility for their own kids for a change.
That’s easy Mary. The parents are steeped in ignorance themselves, they are even more embarassed than the teachers, they do a worse job than the teachers when they try, and a large number of parents do nothing at all. Any more questions?