I just spent the weekend doing three things. First reading the entire UNESCO (U.N.'s Economic, Social and Cultural Organization) report on recommendations for universal sex education to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Secondly I read all the leftist blogs and news reports condemning, exaggerating and vilifying a minute section of this coma inducing literature, and lastly I managed to dedicate a colossal chunk of my two day reprieve, watching my partner vomit into a stainless steel metal pot.
I'm sure its the swine flu, but H1N1 is not the most sickening pest to find its way into my household since Friday evening.
There has been this out pouring of, in a lot of cases, out right lies or total embellishment of what the report says. It was hard, having read the critics interpretation of the piece, not to feel total aversion to it. The shocking headlines warning us that the United Nations wants to teach all the worlds children how to masturbate by age 5 seemed ludicrous and unnecessary. Having then spent a while reading a few less damning pieces it really became clear that the issue was worth a bit more investigating.
After muscling through the entire document, I found a few points that seemed a bit odd, but on the whole, it seems like a smart, informative plan working toward progressive sex education with hopes to really effect the way the next generation will look at sex.
The typical and most controversial points discussed seem to be the age that children are taught about masturbation, age 5-8, and the age that they'll learn about the pros and cons of aphrodisiacs and the rights to a safe abortion, age 9-12, and from 12-15, they'll learn the possible reasons for abortion.
Seriously though, fox news shat a chicken over the last one.
Its bizarre, I'll admit that. Thinking about discussing plain old vanilla missionary, birds and bees style intercourse with children is enough, it seems, to make most parents shudder. We have to admit to ourselves that we have a narrow view of the sexual reality, not just in this country, but in the world.
According to the Iowa State University the average age that kids are becoming sexuality active, in lower income families is 12.77. If your lucky enough to be born in what is considered a middle class to high income family its age 14.9.
So if we take the American average from above and apply it on a worldwide scale to the 1.4 billion people living below the poverty line, (any person that lives on less then $1.25 a day according to the world bank) then the idea that sex education doesn't start from a younger age is almost negligent. In countries and nations with extremely high rates of HIV/AIDS infections, like Africa, there was a growing need for unabashed, comprehensive, and mature sex education, 10 fucking years ago, now the fact that a decisive internationally endorsed program isn't being implemented, its practically criminal.
The report in no way recommends teaching children age 5-8 how to masturbate, they recommend that children in that age group learn what masturbation is, that touching yourself can (I think we'll all agree) feel good, and that there are times when its not appropriate participate in said activities.
As for 9-12 years learning about peoples rights to abortion, well part of that demographic is already having sex, so unless your catholic, or were born with some other learning disability that make you think women don't possess the deed to their own bodies, then in principle it all makes some kind of logical sense. Not surprising when you consider that the 2 researchers that wrote the thing were Dr. Doug Kirby, an expert in the field of adolescent sexuality, and is studying the decline of AIDS in Uganda and Nanette Ecker, the former director of international education and training at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.
Its not easy to agree with every single point made and no one is really expecting a total consensus on what is, without a doubt, a difficult issue, but the total dismissal of something simply because the world public might have to have a real debate about teaching what we think is appropriate and what we know is necessary, to combat a growing global pandemic.
I hope no one minds that the week starts off with a rant. It'll all be butt sex and foot fetishes from here.
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