The concept of "sex education" has been a stomping ground for controversy for at least 50 years, probably as long as the apostles of "openness" have argued that parents in general do a terrible job of talking birds and bees with their offspring, and the public schools needed to expose children to a "frank" and "comprehensive" curriculum on How to Have Sex, complete with the pessimistic (or in their case, neutral) assumption that children will be irreversibly aggressive sexual beings.
All of which pales in comparison to what is not being taught on the Internet, where some outrageous amateurs have figured out how to outdo the bureaucratic "sex education" lobby. One new Web site calls itself "The Midwest Teen Sex Show." Its logo is a silhouette of two cows copulating. It is a series of infomercials for "comprehensive" adolescent indulgence.
The first episode is a celebration of female masturbation. The host of the series, 28-year-old Wisconsin mom Nikol Hasler, touts it as the original safe sex. They attempt to charm the viewer with jokey skits. When one girl offers another girl crack cocaine or methamphetamines, she replies, "No thanks! Im going home to masturbate." Hasler then adds: "Masturbation is the anti-drug." She then tells teenage girls to find a vibrator, but suggests its not a good idea to ask Dad.
The second episode turns into an attack ad on abstinence, which Hasler sees (correctly) as an impediment to her pro-sex message. She scowls at the idea: "First of all, its really boring. All the cool kids are having sex. Theyre going to laugh at you if youre not."
They cut to video of a girl wearing an eye-patch and drooling like an idiot with a caption that says, "Im saving myself for the right person." Hasler then adds, "Its also highly unrealistic that youre going to be able to save yourself for marriage. If you decide youre going to do that, then great. If you actually succeed, I feel bad for your future spouse." She asserts that sex takes practice, and that if you dont learn from a partner, youll have to learn from pornography, or farm animals.
Its another example of reverse child pornography: adult sexual activity being promoted to children. And rather than do that which would protect children from this ghastly program, there are those Internet giants that are actually promoting it. More than 50,000 people subscribe to the podcast through Apples iTunes. The "Midwest Teen Sex Show" is listed under iTunes' "Health" category, where it regularly lands in the top 10. It doesnt hurt that they encourage teens to subscribe "to enjoy the full quality of teen sex." Under each podcast on their website is the slogan "Sex is more fun when you share."
This is not a "health" show. Its a sex show, with even Americas leading corporate promoters of teenage sexual activity and contraceptive distribution, such as Planned Parenthood, expressing reservations about the shows utter lack of medical expertise. In their own defense, the "Teen Sex Show" makers suggest theyre only channeling their own jokey opinions, not scientific facts."
Sadly, when the media experts assess the show, they fall into the typical trap of celebrating the show as a "dialogue starter." CBS News suggested teens found it to be a "turbo-charged health class" and celebrated teens "getting answers in a whole new way." A high-school student told CBS, "I was impressed with how honest it was. They were explaining, they werent preaching."
Wrong. Theres lots of preaching in this show. These people are evangelists for sex, as early as possible. Humorous skits cant deflect from their own dont-be-an-uncool-virginal-geek sermonettes. In an episode pushing birth control, Hasler suggests, "Personally, I believe any girl over 8 should be on the pill. If youre old enough to bleed, youre old enough to be a statistic. It may have side effects. But so does pregnancy."
These Sex Show sermonizers and their media supporters are far more morally arrogant than the promoters of teen abstinence they denounce. Their side favors "honesty." The true-love-waits promoters apparently favor lies. Their side favors "education" and "dialogue." Their opponents apparently favor ignorance and silence. Their side is cool, and can "get real." Their opponents, defined as uptight, live in a delusional dream world.
All of which may lead you to pine for the good old days when the public schools controlled your childs sex education.