Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A Texas Sized Sex Ed Talk

The old adage is that everything is bigger in Texas. Apparently that holds true when it comes to the sex education in the schools there as well. Yesterday while scanning for odd news stories I came across several stories about a motivational speech gone awry.
It seems that a member of the school board in Hitchcock (yes ironically I said Hitchcock) Texas was invited to give a motivational speech to 6th - 8th grade girls at the middle school there. The speaker, Dr. Shirley Price had heard that the girls were being pressured to have sex and decided to ask the school's principal to leave the room so she could discuss the topic with the girl's in private. The discussion seems to have started with a public discussion about the use of the word "bitch" and escalated from there.
Some of what was said and discussed is in debate and has been denied by the speaker but various news reports say that graphic discussions describing how to perform oral and anal sex and role playing situations where boys may try to pressure the girls into performing these acts. Dr. Shirley helped to explain and even role play these situations with the girls and included the phrasing “what is said in here stays in here.”
Understandably parents are upset. Not only were parents not notified ahead of time to allow their children to be excused if they felt that the sex ed talk was inappropriate but now they are having to do damage control about some of the things that were said.
Don't get me wrong, I feel that sex ed is a valuable educational tool and that parents should talk to their kids about sex. However I think that parents should be able to determine how and where this discussion takes place. Sex Ed can take place in a more clinical manner than a speaker discussing oral and anal sex and role playing the same. The speaker is now apologizing publicly but wants to speak to the girls again to apologize again in person. Ummm I don't think so.
What do you think? What is your opinion on how sex ed should take place in the schools? What is and what isn't appropriate? Comment and let me know your take.

-Doc