Barack Obama Is Wrong About Sex Ed In Kindergarten

Barack Obama has come out and reiterated his belief that sex education should begin in kindergarten, albeit in an "age appropriate" manner.  What constitutes age appropriate?  The example provided in the article is based on an article published back when Obama was a candidate for his current term in the United States Senate.  Obama felt the need to "clarify" what he meant regarding the need to teach sex ed in kindergarten after his campaign came under withering attack by Republican Senate nominee Alan Keyes.  Basically, Obama says he wants to make sure that kids aren't taught, among other things, that babies come from storks.  Sounds benign enough, but I'm guessing that the curriculum would probably go beyond this one piece of mythology and that the Obama campaign simply used the stork example to try and deflect criticism and make Keyes out to be rather silly by implicitly accusing him of preferring "stork-like" stories. 

Obama's line of defense, then and now, is essentially the straw-man argument.  In this case, it's stay away from any details, provide an example frivolous enough to where people wonder why anybody would take a contrary position to the example.  Even his example is poor in that a childhood myth can be dispelled without the need to offer any alternatives.  The appropriate thing for kindergarten teachers to do if asked by a precocious child about where babies come from is to explain to the child that such a question is a special "mommy and daddy" question.  Let the parents decide if they want to explain anything, and if so, how much.  Proponents of early intervention sex ed in the schools may argue that some kids are disadvantaged because their parents will never have frank discussions with them about sex.  That may be true, but it still doesn't make it right for the public schools to usurp a right and prerogative of parents so that the educators can address the exceptions.  Public policies that are predicated on the exceptions are usually, if not always, poor public policies.

Obama also reveals what he thinks about sex in society.  He is with the crowd that decouples sexual proliferation and moral values.  Obama believes that childhood pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are the result of ignorance when they are actually the result of loose morals.  It's almost cliche anymore to harp on the breakdown in the moral fabric and loosening of social standards of society, particularly among the young, but it's true nonetheless.  That said, public school sexual education of any kind, including abstinence, is not necessary or appropriate for kindergarten-age children.

Comments

[TexasFred]

Obama is just plain WRONG, on nearly everything...

[Rob Scot]

"Public policies that are predicated on the exceptions are usually, if not always, poor public policies."
Great point; this whole idea is pretty scary.