Truth & Lies About the Birds and the Bees

Pardon the interruption to "Scandalpalooza 2013" and a highly contentious state legislative session, but this is an issue that every parent in America needs to understand.  In light of the push to revamp sexual education in the state, I began to conduct some research and was utterly horrified by what I learned.  I summed up some of my findings in a column for local news media last week (re-published below,) but 650 words is not nearly enough to explain this issue.  I hope to write more about this in the coming months. 

Original column:

Are you ready for the sexual rights of the child?   According to a recent United Nations “Right to Education” report, children must be taught about their right to “pleasurable sexual experiences,” from the outset of their schooling.  Under the guise of promoting health, UN activists at UNICEF and the World Health Organization are working to provide a “comprehensive sexual education” (CSE) to the children of the world.  The problem is that while this education is certainly expansive, it is dangerously far from comprehensive.

According to these “CSE” advocates, we must provide children with ample information so that they can engage in ‘safer sex.’  CSE programs include information on every imaginable way humans could engage in sexual activity, and students are referred to websites that provide images and detailed descriptions.  Through such efforts children learn about every possible thing they could do to themselves or others sexually.  This, according to CSE advocates, is a healthy human right for children.

Of course all of the exposure to sexual deviancy is presented to the public as an effort to provide safe sex.  Supporters claim that CSE programs are based on science, implying that abstinence lessons are non-scientific.  However, according to pediatrician and psychiatrist Dr. Miriam Grossman, CSE materials are based on outdated information from the 1970’s, and ignore the latest research on human sexuality.
 
Dr. Grossman points out that while CSE advocates are teaching children that they can have ‘safe sex’ by using condoms, sound science shows that condoms do not prevent transmission of a whole slew of diseases, some of which are deadly.  Shockingly, the previously mentioned UN Report decries the “erroneous association between sexuality and disease,” since the goal is to “abolish guilt feelings about eroticism.”  While teaching kids that ‘alternate’ sexual activity won’t result in pregnancy, CSE programs fail to emphasize that serious diseases are still transmitted through such behavior.  (And that some 'non-traditional' activities are far, far more dangerous.)
 
In addition to dismissing the seriousness of sexually transmitted diseases, CSE programs completely ignore decades of advance in our understanding of neurobiology.  Contrary to the 1970’s meme that men and women are essentially the same except for a few body parts, neuroscience has demonstrated that male and female brains differentiate eight weeks after conception.  The hormones released by seemingly benign actions like hugging trigger notable changes in the human brain and turn off certain decision-making faculties.  More intense activities cause girls in particular to bond to a sexual partner- even one who is abusive and exploitative.  Furthermore, both neuroscience and psychiatry have demonstrated that early sexual activity has long-term emotional and psychological impact.

But these aspects of human sexuality are not mentioned in so-called “comprehensive” sex education lessons.  Instead, much of the new-old approach to sex education is based on the discredited Kinsey Report of 1948.  Although entomologist Alfred Kinsey was a horrific sexual deviant whose published ‘research’ was largely based on studies of prison inmates, organizations like Planned Parenthood still celebrate his work and perpetuate his assertion that human life is primarily about sexual pleasure- from birth to death.  As Dr. Grossman asserts, in CSE, real science is ignored in favor of an agenda.

While Texas has largely embraced abstinence-based instruction, there is now a well-concerted effort underway to change sex education.  The Texas Freedom Network, founded by Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, is training volunteers in every school district in the state.  These volunteers seek appointment to School Health Advisory Councils and claim that local teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are due to ‘inadequate’ sexual education. The door is then opened for a new ‘comprehensive’ curriculum.
   
According to the UN “Right to Education” report, there is one significant obstacle to the sex education agenda: parents.  While leftists like MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry might believe children belong to the “Collective,” we still have strong parental rights in this country.  Parents need to be aware of the agenda and pseudo-science that is endangering children under the guise of sexual health.  Stay informed and know that, at least for now, you have the right to opt out.

Suggested reading:  You’re Teaching My Child What? and World Youth Alliance’s “New York City Sexuality Education Report,” both by Miriam Grossman, M.D. (www.miriamgrossmanmd.com).