Let's Talk About Sex: Education in America
Published September 19, 2007
There are moments in the day when you just have to scratch your head and wonder what people are thinking. A perfect example is a woman in Lewiston, Maine, who walked into two public libraries and checked out an acclaimed sex education book.
No big deal, right? People check books out from the library every day. Well, not everyone checks out the same book from multiple libraries and then sends money to each library to cover the costs of each book, saying they are not going to return it. The woman, JoAn Karkos, said she was "horrified" by the graphic nature of acclaimed sex education book It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health.
I can't attest to what's in the book since I haven't read it, but sex education is always going to be a touchy (no pun intended) subject. There are going to be those who say that as far as sex education goes, it’s abstinence only or nothing at all. There are going to be those (like me) who think the more information provided about sex will make our younger people smarter, which could lead to better decisions regarding sexual partners and when to start having sex. There are going to those who say handing out condoms will start an orgy, and those (like me) who say condoms will reduce the number of sexually transmitted diseases in our younger population.
In my time in public schools in Michigan, the most my high school went into sex education was a week's worth of videos about birth, sexually transmitted infections, and how I shouldn't have sex until I'm married. In the district I was a part of, it seemed that whenever the community cried foul about sex education getting too "graphic," the school district folded like a cheap card table and gave in to the more conservative voices instead of opening the forum to public discussion about the benefits of an open and honest education when it comes to sex.
In college, I had a couple of very good sex education courses that were graphic to the nth degree and it made the students squirm to listen to an old man talk about erections and orgasms. Sure, it was a "liberal" course at a "liberal" college, where we had group discussions after the classroom session let out, but it was the one class in college I remember more than the rest.
- Let's Talk About Sex: Education in America
- Published: September 19, 2007
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Culture
- Filed Under: Culture: Society, Culture: Family and Relationships, Culture: Education, Books: Reference, Books: Nonfiction, Books: Health
- Writer: Shaun Manley
- Shaun Manley's BC Writer page
- Shaun Manley's personal site
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Good post. I guess that I am going to have to order the book, as well as send a letter to the library in Lewiston, Maine.
I am appalled that Ms Karkos believes that she has any right, obligation, or duty to establish herself as the town censor. I don't give a rat's ass about what horrifies her. It ain't her business. On the other hand, I revere libraries (or as Ray Bradbury once called them, "the people's university"), that if I ever won the lottery, I would donate a healthy chunk of the winnings to my local library.
Along with this, I want libraries to stock controversial, subversive, even transgressive materials. This is what they exist for.
And having books about sex available at the library may even be superior in some ways, than public school sex education courses, which sometimes limit themselves to discussions of bodies, sexual plumbing, and diseases, but rarely intelligently talk about values and the real issues that people face (and not just teens) as they deal with their sex lives.
By the way, a few years back, the local PBS affiliate did a program about high school kids who took a bunch of cameras and produced their own program about sex and sexuality. One of the most devastating clips was of a girl who filmed her mother as she asked fairly basic questions about sex and the human body. The mother hesitated, stammered and was generally too ashamed to answer even basic questions. Then the teen turned the camera on herself and noted, "It was especially frustrating to see that my mother could not easily respond to my questions because she is a nurse."
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It's not just a question of whether a discussion is had or a concensus reached, but whether needs are being met. And those needs will change.
Young people are rarely consulted about what they would like to know, and said discussions often frame adults as all-knowing sages who must decide how much truth their young can know and at what age.
If instead of setting curriculum we open up forums for feedback and consultation. Then society will be better able to serve the needs of todays young people.