(Untitled)

[fpb]

Where sex is concerned, people's powers of logic and argument fly right out of the window, especially if they are addicted to BBC/Guardian/Independent. I just read the following two sentences - in the blog, mind you, of an academic from one of Europe's most prestigious universities: "it's simply not true that sex ed lowers the age people start to

Comments

Wondering

[carakaye]

So, just to put this all in perspective; you believe that sex ed causes underage sex, that sex is uncontrollable but that rather it is irrational, terrible, and controlling.

Okay then. I'll state that I believe you're wrong about sex ed and sex activity. Because there is no significant set of statistics suggesting a rise in underage sex with a rise in sex ed that I have seen to date.

Secondly, I don't think that sex is entirely controllable. Most people know what it's like to have emotions and hormones run amok. However, I don't think that sex is entirely controlling either, if one is rational and intelligent about it.(Which I fully believe one can be.)So tell me. Outside of rationality sometimes diminishing with hormones raging, what is so controlling about sex? And forgive me, but if sex is controlling (of course, I'm speaking in a hormonal sense because hormones are powerful entities indeed) wouldn't that make it all the more difficult to try and fight the inevitable? Not everyone can be a saint, and certainly no one wants to try. Celibacy is admirable, but impractical for most people. I would rather equip people with knowledge and preventative measures than have them hurt themselves and others with ignorance.

Just so I make myself clear, I will state that I don't approve of underage sex. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to try to keep kids from doing it. I've worked with them for too long to be as naive as all that. I would rather hand them the keys to the gas mask, protective gear and first aid stores first before I hand them the key to a dynamite store.

What I also realize is that some subjects are inarguable. Such as this particular one. However, I believe opinions should be shared without the pressure of trying to convert someone else's thoughts. So take my comments as they are- purely my own personal beliefs, not intended to prove a point or change your mind, but a window to a new outlook.

Re: Wondering

[fpb]

This is such a display of everything I regard as completely WRONG about the current consensus that I find myself frustrated. Including the final invitation to disagree after she has horrendously misrepresented what I said. I NEVER SAID SEX WAS UNCONTROLLABLE. I do say that sex treated as you do it, as a matter of hydraulics with all the spiritual significance of a transistor, will certainly become uncontrollable. If you realize that you carry something dangerous within yourself, then you can control it. If you treat it as a matter of condoms (which break) and pills (which fail), you, one, fail to understand what it is, two, inevitably fail to control it - that is a corollary of failing to understand what it is - and, three, expose yourself to Murphy's Law. As for studies about sex education, there are plenty that contradict your views, but then you will of course criticize their methodology. The fact that you actually work with children, with this kind of presuppositions, simply terrifies me.