Don’t say “period”: How Florida Republicans are taking aim at basic sex education

It would appear that Florida wants parents to parent. Which would be great if that's what all parents did. But, sadly, we know that isn't the case.

 

DiSantis can't even cast a vote for any law.

 

I prefer to call them exclamation points anyway.

 

Government schools will always teach what government wants them to teach.

 

Parents should. But many don't. And now the teacher can't either. The victim for fascist posturing is the child.

 

According to the sponsor of the bill (see OP) it does.

 

Not according to the sponsor of the bill.

 

Why can't the parents discuss sex with their own children at the age they seem appropriate? If a girl begins menstruating and her mother had never mentioned it, that is a parent fail. These things fall into the category of "never was the school's job in the first place."

 

They can.. But they don't. That's just reality. You can't just... wish away reality. And now teachers can be punished if they fill in the gap. The child is the victim. They will grow up to NOT talk to their children about the period either. It's just one of the ways in which fascists are trying to increase our uneducated population knowing that that's the demographics that keeps them in power.

 

And I'm sorry a few don't. And it's still not a teacher's job to fill what they consider parenting gaps.

Your last sentence is just silly

 

Still no quote in full context? No text?

 

Ironic to see support for a nanny state while calling others fascists'.

 

It's in the OP.

 

They want the same people who want everyone to call a women a "birthing person" and "chest feeders" to also teach your child the correct way for sex education. To this day, they still lie about the bill as "Don't say gay" which has nothing to do with being gay, but divergence from standard academic curriculum! Heck... schools can teach anything as long as it's approved and parents are given an option to opt in.

 

Also I think we all know that this conversation isn't about periods and the person framing it this way is just trying to score political points. Big difference between telling a girl about menstruation and teaching the joy of anal sex to children. Unfortunately it seems a lot of teachers (IMO especially those who graduated teacher college in say the last five years) will take a mile if given an inch. So, sadly the pendulum may have to go far the other direction.

 

Parents do tell their kids about menstruating, hormone changes in their body, sex etc and many use books written just for that.
Yet as I found out and I know other moms have too kids lose patience with their parents on what can be embarrassing topics coming from parents and would much rather learn about them in a classroom with their peers.
For teens birth control, STDs ,sex and pregnancy is crucial for them to learn about especially due to some of them having parents and for whatever reason, refuse to admit to themselves that their kid ever would have sex and that can lead to teens facing serious consequences.
Look at Missy "The Christian" Boeboe, she's all for abstinence and her 17 yr old son got his younger than 16 yr old girlfriend pregnant.
She praises all the teen girls who chose to not have an abortion.
Most teen mothers and their children do not have a pretty picture in front of them, health wise, educational, economic.

I have to look up why and when sex education in public schools began

 

That right-wing claim was bullshit.

 

Sex ed was taught since before I was in school. Back then it was delicately referred to as "health". Back in the dark ages...I mean in the '70s. I think what you're saying is right. But it's gone way too far with some teachers. I'm wondering if this didn't open the door to some teachers thinking that NO SUBJECT is off limits. Also the classes on this back then started in middle school, which seems just about right.

 

Parents can opt out their kids from sex education, so do that instead of trying to dumb down other people's children along with the latest dumbing down laws right-wingers are passing as part of children's education.
Just more of let's pretend what hasn't and doesn't exist in the world.


'THE HISTORY OF SEX ED IN THE US'

'Sex education has been a controversial topic for decades, possibly forever. While some parents, educators, and political leaders lean toward more in-depth sex ed in schools, others push for limits on what teachers are able to share with students in a classroom setting. These controversies over what’s taught in sex ed programs mean that students often miss out on the information they need to prevent pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Read on to learn the story of sex ed in the U.S., from the masturbation-curbing crackers of the 1800s to the vast disparities between how different US schools teach educate about sex today.

1800s: Worries About Corruption
At the beginning of the 19th century, sex education wasn’t yet formalized in any way, and school itself varied a lot depending on where you lived. Many families lived on farms in quiet, rural communities and received information about sex was via pamphlets that addressed sex from a religious perspective and were distributed by people with a moral agenda.

Some such pamphlets warned about the potential corruption of masturbation. Many people believed that a stricter lifestyle and bland diet could help deter boys and men from masturbating. Some of the leaders in this movement actually created foods with this intent in mind, including Sylvester Graham, inventor of the graham cracker, and Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the inventor of corn flakes.

1900s: Sex Ed Goes to School
By the late 1800s, many people began moving to cities as industrialization changed America. With this transition came increased fears about the temptations of urban life. The subject was discussed by the National Education Association, and in 1892, the group passed a resolution calling for “moral education” in schools.'

cont
https://www.nurx.com/blog/history-of-sex-ed/





'The History of Sex Education'

'Traditionally, sex education was thought to be exclusively the responsibility of family and religion. While this view is no longer universally held in the US, there continues to be two divergent views on sex education: 1) medically-accurate and comprehensive information about sexual health decreases risk-taking behaviors; and 2) medically-accurate, comprehensive information increases risk-taking behaviors.[1] While research has shown the former to be correct, scare tactics, stigma, and shame continue to be a hallmark of much sexuality education, both formal and informal.

To better understand why this is so, it helps to take a look at the origins of today’s sex education.

Sex Education Timeline[2],[3] 1918: The Chamberlain-Kahn Act mandates soldier education on syphilis and gonorrhea .

1919 – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Children’s Bureau releases a report suggesting sex education during school could have better protected soldiers from STIs.

1920s- Sex education is introduced in high schools.

1930s- The US Office of Education first publishes sex education materials and trains teachers.

1930s-1940s: Human sexuality courses appear in colleges.

1964: Sexuality Information and Education Council of the US (SIECUS) is founded.

1968: The US Department of Education gives NYU a grant to develop graduate programs for training sex education teachers.

1960s-1970s: Sex education becomes a political issues; parents start protesting it in schools.

1980s: The AIDS crisis strengthens sex ed advocates’ case.

1981- 1981: Adolescent Family Life Act passed; funds “chastity” and abstinence-only education

mid-1990s: Every state has a mandate for AIDS education

1990 – SIECUS convenes National Guidelines Task Force.

1991- The first Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education – Kindergarten-12th Grade is published.

1993- SCOTUS rules that federally-funded sex education programs must delete direct references to religion

1994: US Surgeon General Joceyln Elders endorses teaching about masturbation and subsequently is forced to resign

cont:
https://sexedconference.com/the-history-of-sex-education/

 

snip:

Late 1900s: AIDS Influences Sex Ed

'Squabbles over sex ed continued for years, but in the 1980s, AIDS changed everything. The rapid spread of HIV and AIDS alarmed Americans, especially at the time when there weren’t yet effective medical treatments, and led to a renewed interest in robust sexual education programs. In 1986, Harvey Fineberg of Harvard’s School of Public Health told Time magazine that sex ed had become “a matter of life and death.”

By 1993, 47 states had mandated sex ed for students — a monumental shift from just three states in 1980. As sex ed programs expanded all over the country, teens had less sex and teen birth rates decreased significantly.

2000s: Sex Ed Falls Short

Today, there are concerns that some sex ed programs are lacking in the information that children and teens really need. While the curriculum usually covers the basic mechanics of sex and the reproductive system, many educators and parents say modern sex ed provides very limited details about or fails to cover topics like birth control, pregnancy risks, STIs, abortion, consent, porn, and LGBTQ issues.

There has also been a decline in the push for sex ed in schools. Only 22 states require sex ed to be taught in public schools, and many schools are teaching an abstinence-only curriculum that most public health experts criticize as unrealistic and ineffective. The current administration hasn’t shown support for comprehensive sex ed in schools: In 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services cut more than $200 million in federal funds for teen pregnancy prevention programs, while proposing an increased budget for abstinence-only education.

Meanwhile, some states have pushed for more comprehensive sex ed that goes beyond the physical basics to include information about relationships, STI prevention, contraception, consent, sexual orientation, and gender identity. These programs aim to give students an idea of how their sexual behaviors can impact them emotionally, psychologically, and even economically, helping them to make more informed choices in their adolescent years and beyond. While comprehensive sex ed presents a major step forward, it also highlights the disparity between schools using a progressive curriculum and those that are still teaching abstinence-only sex ed.'


https://www.nurx.com/blog/history-of-sex-ed/

 

imo: The most important topic that is always missing from these new laws and younger children is teaching them about what is sexual abuse, how to try and prevent it and WHO to go to in the school if they have been sexually abused or think they may have been.
Hate to tell these latest ignorant self-righteous law makers that sexual abuse just so happens to involve talking to children about what parts of their body and other people's bodies are NOT okay to touch.
Why would any parent object to this, one has to ask them self.

 

When I was in 4th grade the school showed a film about the dangers of going with strangers and it showed the actual corpses of two little girls who were abducted. They presented it to the parents beforehand and showed it at the end of the school day, giving parents the option of picking their child up early if they didn't want their child to see it. My mom, as well as most, insisted I see it. My point is total transparency I think would solve much of the school related problems. And, as poster above suggested, allowing parents to opt out. Now it seems like the last thing some schools want is transparency.

 

That is all wel and good. Sounds like there could be a real honest effort being put afloat for parents that want government to help raise their kids. Responsible parents don't need that.

 

Another thing....this movie "Sound of Freedom" might be a good thing for parents to watch with their children. There is a lot of evil out there involving sex. Sometimes there are evil strangers that see it only as "grooming".

 

That is exactly the teacher's job. You asked why some parents don't talk to their children about menstrual cycles. Now you know: because they had bad parents and, on top of that, bad teachers. Now Government is making sure that good teachers can't fill in for bad parenting in this aspect. The obvious result is that many more children will grow up not talking to their children about menstrual cycles. Which is bad for children, but great for fascist politicians. Because they know that ignorant people are more easy to manipulate than educated people.