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11. Sex education in schools busted

Sexual education is being implemented in schools across Canada, the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia. At one point it will become a global reality: children as young as 5 years old will all be introduced to "the pleasures of sex." If that sounds strange, it's because that is strange.

What those new sex curricula do is encourage children and teens to have sex without telling the whole story. They raise kids' curiosity and awareness to sexual possibilities but leave out important facts concerning physical and psychological health.

That's really disturbing. Even more disturbing are certain people behind the curricula. I'll get to that in a moment.

Many communities of outraged parents are protesting the sex ed curricula. Brushed off, they're accused of ignorance. To sort out once and for all this matter, a group of concerned parents in Canada asked Dr. Miriam Grossman to revise the Toronto sex ed curriculum. Grossman is a renowned child and adolescence psychiatrist with many years of work at the UCLA campus, and what she finds in the curriculum doesn't sound good: health here is not the priority.

"The priority," Grossman tells the parents, "is to mold your child's thinking and attitudes so that they respect, affirm and are comfortable with all sexual choices and lifestyles." The Toronto curriculum, like so many produced by the sex ed industry, is based on a specific agenda. By centering on political correctness, it completely ignores truths of current science, as well as biological, cultural and individual differences between people. "There is a significant flaw with this approach: it's not based on reality," says Grossman.

Basically, children are left to decide what's best for them in terms of how, when, dos and dont's of sex. Really? Are children that well-informed and mature to know what's best for them? Grade 6 students, for example, are instructed to consider their comfort level, personal and family values, and the limits and comfort of others when making any decision regarding a relationship. Grossman questions how a 6-grader could possibly know any of that when even adults struggle with those things.

For Grade 7 students, this is what the curriculum delivers: "Be clear in your own mind about what you are comfortable or uncomfortable with. Being able to talk about this with a partner is an important part of sexual health. Having sex can be an enjoyable experience and can be an important part of a close relationship when you are older." Grossman questions how a Grade-7 student can possibly know what when you are older means.

They may think that at Grade 8 they will be older. The curriculum is vague and leaves the immature child to decide when they are ready, after discussing it with their equally immature partner. That doesn't make any sense. Then, at Grade 8, students are taught that there are many options available for sex. Again, it's up to the child to decide about their choices instead of giving the teacher authority to clarify important things.

The teen brain is different

Teens act on impulse and emotions because their brains are not fully developed: the portion that plays a critical role in decision-making, problem-solving and understanding the consequences of actions won't be fully mature until the person is into their 20s. This neuroscience needs to be brought into sex education so teachers and parents, and also teenagers and children, understand it and know not to even get close to a situation that they will later regret.

This information doesn't get into sex education, though, because it doesn't jive with the ideology that people are all the same, sexual beings from cradle to grave that should act on their sexual urges at any time. The curriculum then ignores current knowledge about child and adolescent development, sexually transmitted diseases, neuropsychology and many other areas, since current science undermines that ideology.