(no subject)
I could have spent this evening doing something useful like reading up on medieval Scandinavian manuscripts but instead I took the anti-choice bait and got all self-righteous and feminist. Or more precisely, common sense-ist.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (well, at least they don't aim for subtlety) is up in arms about sex education in schools encouraging children to have sex.
Shock horror, a distressing birth scene was shown. Although they aren't overly descriptive, I get the impression this just means their Christian doctrines requires birth to be beds of (thornless) roses and a real live woman experiencing the pain of contractions, potentially some perineum tearing and the final emergence of a gooey purplish baby didn't suit their dream vision. Personally, I've seen the photos of me being born and some of my friends too (and probably an educational video in biology although I have no recollection of it and was probably reading The Elfstones of Shannerra instead) and it hasn't put me off wanting to have children, but nor has it changed my opinion that I want them to be born into a stable and loving family.
As for the fuss about information on contraceptives, they seem to forget both children's ability to gossip and to disregard anything in school unless it is repeated ten times over.
I first heard the word condom in form five when I was nine. It wasn't from a sex-ed lesson but from another girl telling her friend a supposedly funny story about people at the Venice carnival who tied them to sticks and waved them around. I was disgusted, aware that it was a rude concept and promptly forgot the word until a year later when the song
'Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do,
I'm half crazy all for the love of you
I can't afford a condom
but a plastic bag will do'
was passed in whispers around the class having originated from somebody's older sister. I suppose from about then I was aware of what a condom was but I had never seen one until I was thirteen and we were given the 'putting a condom on a deodorant can' demonstration. I was sitting on the other side of the class doodling and was only vaguely aware of the lesson. Being as innocent as I was I missed the hilarity that consumed the rest of the class when they noticed that the teacher had put it on inside-out.
The point is, despite comprehensive and age-suitable sex-ed in the final year of primary school and throughout secondary school, I still gained my main knowledge of the matter from
a) a free leaflet on puberty that came with a tampon sample
b) the dictionary for some new and confusing words
c) a wide range of fiction including A Little Love Song by Michael Morpurgo, James Joyce's Ulysses - bit too oblique on the metaphors this one, I might have realised the existence of female orgasm if only I had noticed that the lack of punctuation in the final chapter represented it, Albion which I bought at the school fete because it had a King Arthur-style cover and was utterly horrified by the content of
d) finally, a very long way behind all that came school sex-ed.
Before they get to uptight about telling teenagers about contraceptives, they should censor the libraries.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (well, at least they don't aim for subtlety) is up in arms about sex education in schools encouraging children to have sex.
Shock horror, a distressing birth scene was shown. Although they aren't overly descriptive, I get the impression this just means their Christian doctrines requires birth to be beds of (thornless) roses and a real live woman experiencing the pain of contractions, potentially some perineum tearing and the final emergence of a gooey purplish baby didn't suit their dream vision. Personally, I've seen the photos of me being born and some of my friends too (and probably an educational video in biology although I have no recollection of it and was probably reading The Elfstones of Shannerra instead) and it hasn't put me off wanting to have children, but nor has it changed my opinion that I want them to be born into a stable and loving family.
As for the fuss about information on contraceptives, they seem to forget both children's ability to gossip and to disregard anything in school unless it is repeated ten times over.
I first heard the word condom in form five when I was nine. It wasn't from a sex-ed lesson but from another girl telling her friend a supposedly funny story about people at the Venice carnival who tied them to sticks and waved them around. I was disgusted, aware that it was a rude concept and promptly forgot the word until a year later when the song
'Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do,
I'm half crazy all for the love of you
I can't afford a condom
but a plastic bag will do'
was passed in whispers around the class having originated from somebody's older sister. I suppose from about then I was aware of what a condom was but I had never seen one until I was thirteen and we were given the 'putting a condom on a deodorant can' demonstration. I was sitting on the other side of the class doodling and was only vaguely aware of the lesson. Being as innocent as I was I missed the hilarity that consumed the rest of the class when they noticed that the teacher had put it on inside-out.
The point is, despite comprehensive and age-suitable sex-ed in the final year of primary school and throughout secondary school, I still gained my main knowledge of the matter from
a) a free leaflet on puberty that came with a tampon sample
b) the dictionary for some new and confusing words
c) a wide range of fiction including A Little Love Song by Michael Morpurgo, James Joyce's Ulysses - bit too oblique on the metaphors this one, I might have realised the existence of female orgasm if only I had noticed that the lack of punctuation in the final chapter represented it, Albion which I bought at the school fete because it had a King Arthur-style cover and was utterly horrified by the content of
d) finally, a very long way behind all that came school sex-ed.
Before they get to uptight about telling teenagers about contraceptives, they should censor the libraries.