That said, I love you all, and here goes!
Over the past few years, I've become increasingly annoyed, frustrated, and just plain angry with the idea that shielding human beings from knowledge is better than teaching them. Ok, if I'm honest, it started all the way back in one of my Theatre History courses in university where my professor was talking about how much of the knowledge and wisdom of the ancient worlds were lost in the fire at the Great Library in Alexandria because those who held power decided that all that book learnin' just wasn't in the best interest of the masses. So we lost information such as, oh, I don't know, how the pyramids in Egypt were built, for example, simply because it was better for us to stay stupid.
This irritation of mine has grown throughout the years, and I hate to be treated as if I'm stupid. I don't claim to be the most intelligent person on the face of the planet, but at least give me the opportunity to learn things and extend my knowledge of any given subject at any time I feel like it. For example, I tend to much prefer how the BBC presents news than the majority of the stations do in the US. Not that the BBC is flawless, but overall, they don't shy away from difficult topics AND they tend to present most of their stories as if their intended audience had at least one spare brain cell to use. I hate watching news with flashy graphics, cutesy titles, gimmicky effects, and all the other crap that's generally used to dumb-down the issues so that us un-edumacated plain folk can understand it.
Wow, that was more of a tangent than I intended. All I meant to say was, I don't like people being spoken down to. I'd rather they be asked/expected step up a fraction of an inch and use their brains to grasp what's being told rather than sit on their arses and being spoon-fed useless, watered-down babbling just because it's easier.
But where this really has come to annoy me is in the topic of sex education for children/teenagers. (this is where I'll start to p*ss some of you off) Our darling LC doesn't have great things going for him in this area, if we look from a genetic perspective. The US and the UK have the worst and 2nd worst rates of teenage pregnancy in the entire world (respectively). It has reached pandemic proportions in these countries, and the knock-on effects on these societies as a whole are terrifying.
The main reason for these rates? The lack of education. Keeping the masses 'safe' from information. Just like back in Alexandria, the powers-that-be have decided that form of knowledge is too dangerous for our inferior little minds to be able to handle. As they see it, we will surely shrivel up and die if we learn.
What LC does have in his favor, at least for the moment, is living here in Holland. Yes, believe it or not, this liberal, open, both pot-and-prostitution-are-legal country has the lowest teen pregnancy rate in all of Europe, and almost the lowest in the entire industrialized world. The reason for that? You guessed it .... education.
Surprise, surprise! Teaching people about something gives them the power to make informed, educated decisions for themselves! This country has not shriveled up and died from knowledge! What a shock.
I am not trying to preach that people should sit their 5-year-olds in front of 'Debbie Does Dallas', nor am I saying parents should host pot-induced orgies for their teenagers on Friday nights. This is a very personal decision, and each family needs to do what's right for them. But I just get so angry when I hear people say things like 'My fourteen-year-old deserves to have her childhood be a time of innocence. Teaching her about things like that would throw her into an adult world far too early.'
Mm-hmm. And exactly how much innocence do you think she'll lose in a 30-minute conversation with someone she feels safe with, compared to how much she'll lose by getting pregnant and having a baby?! Besides, ask yourself these questions: Do you have a TV in your house? Do you let her out of the front door? Does she speak with other teenagers? If you answered 'yes' to any one of them......she's already IN an adult world! You're kidding yourself if you think not.
Anyway, it all boils down to a simple phrase I heard on Oprah. When you know better, you do better. And no, I'm not claiming to have all the answers here. I don't know what we'll say when/if LC asks how the baby got in my belly. I don't know how or when is the right time to have 'the talk', or what to say. I'll admit, we're wingin' it here.
But I fundamentally believe that all human beings should be given every opportunity to learn about every aspect of life so that they are able to make informed decisions for themselves. I don't like people telling me what I'm allowed to know or not know (ok, matters of national security aside), and I for damn sure don't our kids growing up that way. No, I'm not an expert on this. No, I don't have all the answers. If you shoot back at me 'Ok then, Miss Know-It-All, how will you handle it when LC comes home and asks you _______?' I probably won't have a clue what to say.
All I know is that I believe we should all be nurtured through our lives to educate ourselves on anything and everything we want to know. And this education should be offered at the highest level of authority.....not through anecdotal forums on Facebook or passed by blushing whispers in high school hallways. Give us the real stuff, and trust that the brains God gave us are capable of handling it.
(here are some links to articles re:sex education and teen pregnancy rates in various countries)
Advocates for Youth
The Telegraph
BBC
The Independent
3 comments:
if there were an applause button on here I'd press it! So, just imagine the sound of applause and that's from me (x however many of me it would take to make that applause sound).
Great post...I love anything that includes a bar graph!
Ultimately parents really have to be involved in their kids' education enough to be able to fill in all of the gaps. But a quick walk through Wal-Mart is all the proof you need to see that parental involvement and education simply doesn't happen anymore.
It amazes me how sometimes very simple answers actually satisfy my overly inquisitive kids.
Q: "How did the baby get in your tummy?"
A: "God put him there."
Q: "How is he going to get out?"
A: "The doctor is going to take him out."
For now, that's all these young minds need to know! I need to hurry up and get pregnant again before they reach the "age of reason" and repeat their questions...
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