the birds and the bees.

(Joshua Masayoshi Huff)

The latest flap in Hawaii--a relatively liberal state socially--is about "outlandish" sex education.

The first happened at Kahuku High School--some students and teachers walked out of a sex education play. It is worth noting that Kahuku is home to a majority of Hawaii's Mormon community.

Then, on Monday, at Kalani High School, a parent was very disgusted.

From the article:

"But he said he thought the first part about HIV promoted sexual promiscuity and he and his son didn't stay for the second part about transgender lifestyle.

"We sat there for five minutes listening to a young man tell us how he used his finger to have sex with his girlfriend," Iervolino said."

It becomes fairly obvious that the parent is clearly anti-transgendered people--he does not want his son taught by transgendered counselors.

Heaven forbid he uses his finger--because we all know that's how most of America's children are conceived.

Here's my problem: we complain about teen pregnancy, and when we teach kids how to prevent pregnancy, parents freak out. If we don't educate the young, kids will learn from other mediums--mediums that may not be the best sources (like their friends).

Abstinence-only sex education simply does not work. Clearly, many parents have religious qualms with pre-marital sex, and this is completely understandable. However, I do not think that they should be naive and think that abstinence only sex education solves any problem. Telling children "no" does not make them want to avoid something--it only makes it more interesting because it is seen as a taboo. By having things like honest, frank discussions about sex on the table, we can avoid many problems--unwanted pregnancy, stds...the list is endless.

I clearly remember my parents having to sign off on sex education in the fifth grade. I also remember some kids not being allowed to attend sex education. If parents don't want their children to be taught about sex in school, they should politely decline and have their children go to a different classroom for the duration. I see no harm in this whatsoever. But, saying it's "inappropriate" is childish and selfish.

I just don't understand how people can be so shy about it all. Clearly, we're all created from this very process--in a sense, by not talking about it, we make children feel as if they're too dirty to even talk about since their creation seems so offensive and despicable.