Illinois Bans Abstinence-Only Sex Ed: ‘In Fantasy Land, We Teach Our Kids Abstinence’

[BrotherIvan]

17. You have a very good point

How on earth did all those nutters--some of whom claim to be doctors--get those insane ideas? Because they were never taught the real truth and so accepted those ignorant lies. When you're a kid, where do you learn sex from first? Your friends. There are a lot of rumors and half-truths in there. I remember two kids in junior high trying to have sex, but since we hadn't gotten to that in school, they couldn't figure out how to do it. I met a graduate student in college who thought that women urinated from their vaginas.

That is why, as embarrassing and eyeroll worthy the sex ed programs are, at least they provide a bedrock of some truth. I remember a series of books by an author called Judy Bloom that dealt with sexual maturity written for teens that our parents were up in arms about and we secretly exchanged. It was a good place to find things out.

We think that like so many things, if we shield our children and make some magical fantasy world for them, they will never have to deal with reality. I've met plenty sheltered children and adults and they are the most immature, ill-prepared, lost people in the world. Yet all my friends are parenting their children this way, though they would never admit that to themselves.