I'm just stumped by American prudery. It's not that I think everyone should be talking about sex and sexual health every second of the day for the time we can talk, but I certainly don't understand why a small minority who seem to fear and loath sex and sexuality get to control the agenda of society, and dictate to parents, teachers and communities how sex and sexuality should be discussed (or, not).
In Wisconsin, the land of Governor Scott Fucking Walker, the state recently repealed sex education laws, thus removing the requirement for comprehensive sex education for students. Public schools are required to emphasize abstinence, and all schools are allowed to teach health without any discussion of contraception and puberty. Body-shaming appears to be the order of the day in Scott Fucking Walker's world.
So, you're a teacher, and one of your curious students starts asking questions, not about sex, but about masturbation. What do you do? Well, the Oak Creek School district (a public school district) created and distributed a booklet to explain its guidelines
on answering kids’ questions about “human growth and development” to parents so they will
understand how school staff will or should handle questions related to
sexuality. This stuff is not taught to the kids, it's just an in-case guide for random questions students may ask.
Well, now the sexually-repressed, socially-insane Right Wingnauts are on the move, and they are mobilizing against this guide because as Faux News and other insane Right Wingnaut media outlets are reporting it, the guide is not a guidebook, but rather a "curriculum" that authorizes some Wisconsin school districts to teach detailed sex
education at elementary schools that includes such topics as
masturbation. Trust Faux News to go all National Enquirer in their reporting.
The thing is, this guide takes into account that there are varying levels of family beliefs, values and opinions, and that kids will be encouraged to refer to their parents to discuss masturbation. Teachers will not be discussing the benefits and drawbacks of the Rabbit or Fleshlights with their students. They will be saying, "Look, this is what it means in technical terms, and some people do it or don't do it. Now go ask your parents." That seems neutral enough to me. If you have a problem with a teacher giving a technical explanation of masturbation, then you'd better hide every dictionary in the world from the kids, because it sounds like the discussion will be as dry and technical as what the kid would read in those precious reference books.
The problem that really gets me is that this is a very sensitive topic in a very sensitive time and place, so I would absolutely rather the teachers had the protection of a guide like this as they try to deal with this aspect of their occupation. Kids are growing and have healthy feelings and urges that they understand only in very primal terms ("it feels good"), and some may seek to know more about this. You would think that parents can have some peace of mind because they know teachers aren't going to overstep the basic information available in any searchable reference source.
But no, the Right Wingnauts want to hide behind a veil of ignorance, thus setting the stage for these kids to make a lot of potentially poor decisions later in life. Yeah, that's just what the world needs more of...ignorance, stupid decisions, and bad consequences.
Common sense for all...
...Wish you were here.
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