From: eyc@acpub.duke.edu (EMIL CHUCK)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Sex education at home Re: Abortion story
Date: 20 Aug 92 19:26:49 GMT
Organization: Duke University; Durham, N.C.

mpolen@gelato.mips.com (Michael Polen) writes:
=eyc@acpub.duke.edu (EMIL CHUCK) writes:
=|> mpolen@gelato.mips.com (Michael Polen) writes:
=|> +EMIL CHUCK) writes:
=|> +|> the consequences. It's not right to wash our hands of the problem of
=|> +|> teenage sexual activity and promiscuity (since kids are going to do it
=|> +|> anyway) and then all of a sudden be shocked when "they're not ready! Get
=|> +|> thee to a clinic!"
=|> +|> 
=|> +This all assumes that people are educated about sex and its consequences,
=|> +that they know how to take precautions, etc.  The pro-live religios right
=|> +not only opposes abortion, they oppose such eductation.  You cannot 
=|> +have it both ways.  Children *do not* get sex education at home, and they
=|> +are not allowed to get it at school.  So they get it from each other and
=|> +from television.
=|> 	My interpretation of the Religious Right's view is that they
=|> oppose the state educating children about sex education without the
=|> consent of the parents. I don't wholeheartedly agree with them, but I do
=|> understand about how teaching teenagers how to put on a condom in a
=|> class sometimes has a trivializing effect, not to mention the fact that
=|> this doesn't address birth control failure.
=|> 	Children should become educated by their parents with regards to
=|> sex because they have the perspective of looking at sex as a sign of
=|> love and committment rather than pure anatomy or birth control. I
=|> understand it is not easy to discuss, partially because parents fear
=|> that the knowledge they accord to their children will be applied too
=|> prematurely. This is becomes a family matter of trust.
=
=The assumption that their children will wait until the parents or the
=church decide it is time to KNOW the truth is humorous at best.  What
=you have is a bunch of uneducated children out drinking and screwing and
=getting pregnant.  Check into you local high school's pregnancy support
=program.  At my daughters high school (she worked with the program one
=semester), many were white, middle class, baptist girls.  One went
=to the junior high school next door.
	I agree that some parents will wait until it's too late. That is
humorous in a tragic way. I've said it's a matter of trust in the
family: the parents must trust themselves that they are doing the right
thing in telling their children about sex and they must trust their
children that they will do the right thing and not get hurt. That's the
problem with not only sex education but also alcohol.
	A good friend of mine told me that her parents let her have wine
when she was 10, probably to destigmatize alcohol as being some evil
force. They did teach her about drinking responsibly. Now I don't think
we should apply analogous principles with regards to sex education, but
if you want to try it ... :)

:|> +How many times has someone in a movie or TV worried about protection?  How
:|> +realistic are TV/Movie love scenes (~ zero)?  How accurate is the info
:|> +from the "sophisticated kid" down the street?
:|> 	Oh my God! Have you stumbled on the truth about the "Cultural
:|> Elite"? Hmm....
:
:If the "Cultural Elite" in hollywood were all you said they were, the
:scenes would be much more realistic.  As it is, they have to pander
:to the "Religious Elite's" desire to see enough to tittilate, but
:not enough to educate.
	I don't know if Hollywood or Broadway have to pander to the
Religious Elite as much as they want to tittilate and make profits.

-- 
Emil Thomas Chuck		DUKE BLUE DEVILS: 1992 ACC CHAMPIONS!
Biomedical Engineer 1993	1992 EAST REGIONAL CHAMPIONS!!
Duke University, Durham, NC	AND 1992 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!
August 31, 1992 - May 16, 1993	Duke football? What's that?
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc