This narrowly defined view of sex is what half the problem is. People hear the word sex and think, man and woman having intercourse. Would calling it sexuality education help? We all know that sexuality is much more than sex, right? How about "age appropriate". Do we all know what that means?
We are all born as sexual beings, by the very fact that our sexual body parts are there from the time we are born. As parents, if we use every day opportunities as teachable moments then we are teaching "sex ed" when kids are two and three years old: "yes, touching your penis/vagina feels good but that is done in private and you need to tell me if anyone touches or tries to touch your penis/vagina even if he/she says not to."
If parents aren't teaching this, or worse, they make children feel dirty about their private parts, or worse yet, one of them is molesting his/her own child (or family friend, uncle, etc), then it will damage the child, possibly irreparably (in the latter case) and both could ripple throughout society in detrimental ways.
All one has to do is look at the thriving porn industry in the US or how many men are caught on Dateline's To Catch a Predator.
Off Base on Sex Ed
A McCain campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" was a bill to teach sex ed to kindergarten kids. Don't believe it.
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Summary
A McCain-Palin campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" in the area of education was "legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergarteners." But the claim is simply false, and it dates back to Alan Keyes' failed race against Obama for an open Senate seat in 2004.
Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners. And the bill, which would have allowed only "age appropriate" material and a no-questions-asked opt-out policy for parents, was not his accomplishment to claim in any case, since he was not even a cosponsor – and the bill never left the state Senate.
In addition, the ad quotes unflattering assessments of the Illinois senator's record on education but leaves out sometimes equally harsh criticism directed at McCain in the same forums.
Analysis
The ad is called "Education" and has received a good bit of free airtime, having been run repeatedly on cable news networks. It pairs pictures of kindergarten children with Obama looking confused.
McCain-Palin 2008 Ad: "Education"
Announcer: Education Week says Obama "hasn't made a significant mark on education." That he's "elusive" on accountability. "A staunch defender of the existing public school monopoly." Obama's one accomplishment? Legislation to teach "comprehensive sex education" to kindergarteners. Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family.
John McCain: I'm John McCain and I approved this message.
The ad claims "Obama's one accomplishment" in the realm of education was "legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergarteners."
It's true that the phrase "comprehensive sex education" appeared in the bill, but little else in McCain's claim is accurate. The ad refers to a bill Obama supported in the Illinois state Senate to update the sex education curriculum and make it "medically accurate." It would have lowered the age at which students would begin what the bill termed "comprehensive sex education" to include kindergarten. But it mandated the instruction be "age-appropriate" for kindergarteners when addressing topics such as sexually transmitted diseases. The bill also would have granted parents the opportunity to remove their children from the class without question:
SB 99: However, no pupil shall be required to take or participate in any family life class or course on HIV AIDS or family life instruction if his parent or guardian submits written objection thereto, and refusal to take or participate in such course or program shall not be reason for suspension or expulsion of such pupil.
The bill also called for all sex education course materials to include information that would help students recognize, among other activities, inappropriate touching, sexual assault and rape:
SB99: Course material and instruction shall discuss and provide for the development of positive communication skills to maintain healthy relationships and avoid unwanted sexual activity. ... Course material and instruction shall teach pupils ... how to say no to unwanted sexual advances ... and shall include information about verbal, physical, and visual sexual harassment, including without limitation nonconsensual sexual advances, nonconsensual physical sexual contact, and rape by an acquaintance. The course material and instruction shall contain methods of preventing sexual assault by an acquaintance, including exercising good judgment and avoiding behavior that impairs one's judgment.
The bill passed in the Health and Human Services Committee with Democrats, including Obama, voting along party lines in support of it. But the measure promptly stalled and died in the full Senate, and no action has been taken on it since late 2005.
Obama is often quoted as saying that when it comes to sex education in public schools, "it's the right thing to do ... to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools," placing an emphasis on the word "appropriate." But Obama has also said he does not support, "explicit sex education to children in kindergarten."
In a debate with Republican Alan Keyes, against whom Obama was running for an open seat in the U.S. Senate in 2004, Obama made it clear that at least one reason he supported the bill was that it would help teach young kids to recognize inappropriate behavior and pedophiles:
Keyes, Oct. 21, 2004: Well, I had noticed that, in your voting, you had voted, at one point, that sex education should begin in kindergarten, and you justified it by saying that it would be "age-appropriate" sex education. [It] made me wonder just exactly what you think is "age-appropriate."
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