Sex-Ed

I was invited by my friend Marci Stromgren to have her interview me again on her PAC (Public Access Cable) television show which is recorded in City Hall. While she was at it she invited me to talk to the conservative CRC group that will meet at noon today. I, of course, agreed. She proceeded to tell me about a proposed state law to teach sexual intercourse to children in forth grade. I have a grandson that age. I just dropped him off at his public school this morning. The law states categorically that children will be taught, among other things, “anal sex.” That’s what Marci told me and I told her I’d do a little research on the law before I arrived to talk to her or to the CRC.

Well, here’s an article that spells out the law and how the opposition feels about it.

The chief bad guys in this article are Planned Parenthood, various unnamed LGBT groups, (sorry that acronym is missing a letter) and Democrats.

I have mixed feelings about this law. If I read the article correctly the teaching of this unit is to be carried out by approved experts who will no doubt be comfortable talking about this topic but not our children’s teachers. To be frank, I’d prefer timid forth grade teachers to teach this just as reluctant teachers taught me sex-ed in my all-boys health class. My friend Jim asked Mr. Roloff, “Is it true women’s nipples get hard during intercourse.” Poor Mr. Roloff!

I was in tenth grade during this class not forth grade. Vaginas and penises were in the text book, albeit, as line drawings. Much was left to my imagination. My imagination, limited as it was, was much more pleasant than any pornography I’ve ever seen on the Internet.

I was in 7th or 8th grade when Sex-ed classes were first being introduced in Minnesota. They were very controversial. The opponants argued that it was up to parents to teach their children about sex. Perhaps that was because most parents would have rather died than teach their kids anything sexual other than suggesting to their daughters the old cross-your-legs gambit. My Mother, however, did want me to know a thing or two about sex. My Dad was less enthusiastic. I was even less so. Up to that point My Dad’s advice had been limited to telling me he preferred cowboy movie stars, like Hopalong Cassidy, who didn’t kiss in their movies. A few years later he got worried I wasn’t interested enough in girls.

Long before I could even imagine anal sex I had a serious talk with my Mother about why an older boy would cry when he was called a “queer.”

It was my Dad, however, who broached the notion of anal sex with me when I was about 17. He told me about a well regarded book he was reading about the poor of Pueto Rico. The story involved a young woman who had to prostitute herself to survive. My Dad told me how she engaged in sex with an American sailor but in such a way as to avoid getting pregnant. It was anal intercourse. The warning from my Dad had to do with the consequences of this safe sex. When the sailor pulled out he pulled her rectum out of her anus as well.

We have a very articulate gay Presidential candidate running for the Presidency today. That follows a GOP appointed majority of the Supreme Court who ruled that men can marry each other and women can marry each other. The American acceptance of homosexuality has suddenly bloomed. But even I have some qualms about sending in teams of professional sex educators to tell my Grandson in fourth grade about anal sex. And my Grandson was just in a play about homosexuality called Funhome where two young women tussled under the covers discovering the joys of sex – presumably non-anal sex.

Am I up in arms about Democrats? NO!

Am I up in arms about Planned Parenthood? NO!

Am I thrilled with this law? No. Sometimes I prefer being mealy-mouthed in front of fourth graders about graphic sex. Although, I rather think such education is so off-putting that its about the most successful deterrent to pregnancy since the AIDS epidemic.

So what will I tell Marci when I go and talk to her and her conservative organization today? I know! I’ll tell them to look at this blog post.

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