I grew up in the 60’s when “free love” abounded, aided by the pill and abortion on demand. I’m no prude, but have we gone a step too far in throwing sex in our face at every turn? How did we turn sex into a political statement?
This week Connecticut inaugurated its “Kid Governor”, 5th grader, Ella Briggs. Ella, a ten year old, ran on a community issue of LGBTQ youth safety and was selected by fellow 5th graders in a statewide election. Her platform has three planks; adoption of homeless LGBTQ youths, train teachers how to work with LGBTQ youths and create programs for LGBTQ youths and their allies. (http://ct.kidgovernor.org/ctkgella)
In looking back on my childhood and that of my children, I don’t recall having conversations about sexuality at that age. That we now have a ten year old presenting herself as a spokesperson on the topic leads me to believe that we may have turned sex and its accompanying issues of gender identification, definition of family and a host of other related topics into common fodder for our classrooms and media. For me, trying to explain to a fifth grader the difference between a man and a woman using the current radical views of the left, leaves me cold. When is a man a man if he doesn’t have male genitalia? Is a ten year old ready to make decisions about their own sexuality? Shouldn’t we be guiding them through these formative years without the stress of worrying about what they are?
Am I the only one who doesn’t care to hear about erectile dysfunction and Peyrones disease while I’m watching television with my daughter? In one sequence the other night, there were commercials for a testosterone drug, a Viagra substitute and “see your doctor” for a penis condition. Now, back to our regular programming! I remember cringing when feminine hygiene products were on TV.
I know you can’t put the Genie back in the bottle, but if I had a child in school today, I would make darn sure that I am the one directing their sex education. Gender bending and labeling is best left to someone who can start with facts and explain the role of sex, which includes the issues of love, commitment and procreation. Ella’s parents might teach her how her two dogs and cat are identified as male and female, and how they came to be, before jumping into the left’s expanding variations of sexuality.
Current Day Publius 