I can honestly say I have NEVER read the New York Times: I dance not among the unclean:) In fact I cannot stand my own local rag, or even local news. If a good article sneaks past the editors, I can catch it online.

Crackin' me up.

I read a whole host of sources from NRO, to Town Hall (especially Bruce Bartlett and Thomas Sowell), as well as the WSJ. I will read the Seattle Times which is slanted left but balances out the other stuff I read. I listed to a little Rush on occasion but not a die hard fan...Hannity on occasion...read Ann Coulter just cause she's got nice long stems. Read the Economist (liberal) and Weekly Standard (conservative). Balance is the key I think.

I watch alot of Fox News, I also listen to Rush a few times a week. I scan the various online sources, and believe it or not I listen to Air America and visit several liberal websites everyday. If only "The Naked News" was more topical:)

...and The Onion was true...

I would say just the opposite. Teachers cannot be trusted to teach sex education. They cannot be trusted to determine when it is appropriate or the proper level for a particular child. They cannot be trusted to know the religious or moral backgrouind of each child. Some things must be taught one-on-one.
Teachers should spend their time teaching reading or math. Every year, thousands graduate and cannot read or do simple math....but sure can draw some realistic pictures on the bathroom walls.

...and they all pass oral sex, orgy, and homosexual experimentation with grades of A...

Okay, Fint or Lendaddy. Rather than explain the rationale behind the teaching of sex education in schools, how 'bout I place it in the form of a question. If, say 30% of teenagers don't get, and are not going to get, this information from their parents, then what do you suggest? Sure, you can hope they do the research, but they're not gonna. So, there are just two choices unless society is missing something you guys know. The two choices we see are:

1. Leave those kids alone and let them learn by making babies.

2. Teach sex education in schools.

What is your suggestion?

Playboy :D

First of all, no child can reach reproductive age in this country without knowing where babies come from..much less a teeenager, unless they are in special education. Certainly not 30%. Provide it in special ed if you like, but first get the parent's permission.

Secondly, what schools consider age appropriate is certainly not the same as what most parents consider to be.
If you are teaching teens that having sex causes babies..seems like a waste of time...they already know!...but you sure as heck should not be teaching them "how" to have sex, how to put on a condom, etc...Teaching 9 year olds about oral and anal sex...homosexuality, pedophillia, etc..or even showing the overly graphic anatomy drawings and scale models is just not appropriate. Especially since morality is never discussed.

Fint, you're dancing on a fine line. Given that the schools won't stop teaching sex, your post could almost be read "If you must teach sex, you should also teach morality." Ooh, that's a hotbed of political discussion waiting to happen ...

(Not that I disagree with you, mind you -- parents should teach about sex. Even kids who don't learn from their parents learn from their friends, all of which happens long before sex-ed. The number that survive all the way up to "health class" without knowing 90% of the sexual-related material are very very few...)


Dan

As much as I'd like to believe that, it just isn't the case. The amount of misinformation in the heads of teenagers is mindboggling. "You can't get pregnant the first time you do it." "You can't get pregnant if you do it during her period." "If I pull out you won't get pregnant." "Only gay people get AIDS."

The reality is that teens are doing sex, but most don't have the facts, and their parents either aren't giving them to them, or they themselves don't know.

Whoah, hang on, nostatic -- you mean that I can get a girl pregnant by doing it just <gasp> one time? Oh, bummer... (sarcasm) :)

Those are actually some common myths. I'll go ahead and pick some middle ground for this argument -- I don't think that a lot of parents would teach anything better than the myths, if they bothered to teach at all. On the other hand, schools probably go entirely too far with what they teach. Some compromise is called for, most likely. When I did sex-ed, it wasn't terribly excessive -- we didn't do a manual demonstration of condom usage, for example. (Though in retrospect, that might have been useful, though on the other hand, knowing how to use a condom does encourage sexual activity. <sigh> Two edged sword...)

Dan

Dan, I hear ya, I remember taking sex-ed in the 6th grade. It was a boy's dream! As I recall, alot of the guys went home with stinky pinky, or at least having tuned in Tokyo:) In all seriousness, I would at least want a copy of what would be taught before I sent junior in.

But it's damn funny, can we agree on that?

http://www.theonion.com/index.php?pre=1

I would not have nearly as much a problem if they were ony teaching reproduction to teenagers-not much different than biology..I object to them teaching sex to children...especially without the parent's permission. My 9 year old daughter did not need a class on how to have heterosexual and homosexual sex or detailed knowlege and pictures of the male anatomy. She also did not need encouragement to keep condoms in her purse or to take the pill so that she would be ready for possible sexual encounters. She certainly did not need to see the teacher put a condom on a cucumber.

Any teen that stupid would not learn anything of value in a sex ed class either...it would be just one more playperiod in the school day.

They seriously taught all of that to your 9 year old daughter?

If so, I would find that objectionable as well. No argument. Age appropriate sex ed never hurt anyone, though. When I was in Jr. High, (early '70s), we all postured like we were all grown up, but the reality was a lot of ignorance. Most parents don't teach their kids anything. And if you think that the vital, neccesary info is traded hanging out at the Quickymart or the park, no way Jose'. :cool:

They have come a long way in the classroom since the 70's. The problem is...what "is" age appropriate and who gets to decide? Ultimately it should be the parent.