Of all people, CBN’s Brody File
At first the headline was shocking. ABC News ran a story with the headline “Sex Ed for Kindergarteners ‘Right Thing to Do,’ Says Obama.” You can read the story here and watch his comments here. The key excerpt is below:
“Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is ‘age-appropriate,’ is ‘the right thing to do.’ ‘But it’s the right thing to do,’ Obama continued, ‘to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools.'”
Here’s what Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki is telling The Brody File this morning:
“Barack Obama supports sensible, community-driven education for children because, among other things, he believes it could help protect them from pedophiles. A child’s knowledge of the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching is crucial to keeping them safe from predators.”
So, at this point at least, what Obama is referring to is teaching five year olds about inappropriate touching. The Obama campaign also tells The Brody File that parents would be able to opt out. As for further details, the touching aspect seems to be the main idea here. Obama doesn’t want to hand out condoms to five year olds. He doesn’t want cucumber demonstrations as part of show and tell. The legitimate reasonable discussion here is whether the federal government and/or local school boards should get involved in providing these five year olds information about inappropriate touching or should it be left up to families only.
Still, The Romney campaign is already ripping Barack Obama. The campaign is sending out this You Tube video where Mitt Romney spoke about this last night in a Colorado Springs speech. Watch it here.
I must say that Romney’s comments suggesting that Obama wants to teach sex education to kindergarteners is a little misleading. Because he didn’t put in the proper context, many in the audience probably left thinking that Obama is ok with the condoms and cucumber approach.
The Brody File found a Chicago Daily Herald article from October of 2004 that shads some light on this latest episode. Read below:
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Barack Obama, addressing college students Tuesday in Lisle, moved to clarify that he does not support teaching explicit sex education to children in kindergarten.
The sex-education question, from a student who identified herself as being part of an anti-abortion group at Benedictine University, mirrors a charge Republican candidate Alan Keyes has leveled at Obama.
The legislation in question was a state Senate measure last year that aimed to update Illinois’ sex education standards with “medically accurate” information. At one point, the legislation included a provision to allow students from kindergarten through fifth grade to be added to the middle and high school students receiving sex education.
Obama was chairman of the Senate committee that voted along party lines to move along the measure, which ultimately went nowhere.
“Nobody’s suggesting that kindergartners are going to be getting information about sex in the way that we think about it,” Obama said. “If they ask a teacher ‘where do babies come from,’ that providing information that the fact is that it’s not a stork is probably not an unhealthy thing. Although again, that’s going to be determined on a case by case basis by local communities and local school boards.”
Also, in October of 2004 during a debate with Alan Keyes, below is the exchange they had with regards to this topic:
KEYES: Well, I had noticed that, in your voting, you had voted, at one point, that sex education should begin in kindergarten, and you justified it by saying that it would be “age-appropriate” sex education.
But then on another vote, when they wanted to put internet filters on computers for the schools and in the libraries, you voted to oppose that, which made me wonder just exactly what you think is “age-appropriate.”
For instance, do you think that, in the first and second grade, we ought to be teaching from books like Heather Has Two Mommies, where we will be presenting, whether or not parents agree with it, a lifestyle that many folks in the state of Illinois believe is not advisable? Is that the kind of sex education you mean?
OBAMA: Actually, that wasn’t what I had in mind.
We have a existing law that mandates sex education in the schools. We want to make sure that it’s medically accurate and age-appropriate.
Now, I’ll give you an example, because I have a six-year-old daughter and a three-year-old daughter, and one of the things my wife and I talked to our daughter about is the possibility of somebody touching them inappropriately, and what that might mean.
And that was included specifically in the law, so that kindergarteners are able to exercise some possible protection against abuse, because I have family members as well as friends who suffered abuse at that age. So, that’s the kind of stuff that I was talking about in that piece of legislation.
I’m curious where Brody File readers come down on this.
I talked about the original Keyes claim back in 2004
Maybe I’m assuming too much here, but I think that most people understand “sex education” as something well beyond simply the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching. Now, I’ll grant you that Keyes went WELL over the top by claiming that Obama wanted to make “Heather Has Two Mommies” standard Kindergarden reading. But it is worth nothing that in both his response to Keyes, Obama didn’t limit his definition of “sex education” to ONLY the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching. That was merely “an example” of why he supports “medically accurate” sex education. Futhermore, I’d note Psaki’s use of the term “among other things” in explaining that Obama’s support of “age-appropriate sex education” would help protect students from pedophiles.
So, what I don’t think Romney’s response is unreasonable, since Obama still has not explained, specifically and comprehensively, what he really means “age appropriate sex education.” Until he does, I think Romney is perfectly entitled to make presumptions based on what most people understand “sex education,” generally, to mean.
*sorry for the repost, but I made a number of grammatical mistakes in the original that I didn’t want to lead to confusion in my meaning….
Maybe I’m assuming too much here, but I think that most people understand “sex education” as something well beyond simply the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching. Now, I’ll grant you that Keyes went WELL over the top by claiming that Obama wanted to make “Heather Has Two Mommies” standard Kindergarden reading. But it is worth noting that in his response to Keyes, Obama didn’t limit his definition of “sex education” to ONLY the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching. That was merely “an example” of why he supports “medically accurate” sex education for kindergardeners. Furthermore, I’d note Psaki’s use of the term “among other things” in explaining how Obama’s support of “age-appropriate sex education” would help protect students from pedophiles.
So, I don’t think Romney’s response is unreasonable, since Obama still has not explained, specifically and comprehensively, what he really means “age appropriate sex education.” Until he does, I think Romney is perfectly entitled to make presumptions based on what most people understand “sex education,” generally, to mean.
Romney’s response is one of a moron. There are documents out there that are quite clear in what is meant by age appropriate sex education and they aren’t some secret.
http://www.siecus.com/pubs/guidelines/guidelines.pdf
Each body part has a correct name and a specific function.
• A person’s genitals, reproductive organs, and genes determine whether the person is male or female.
• A boy/man has nipples, a penis, a scrotum, and testicles.
• A girl/woman has breasts, nipples, a vulva, a clitoris, a vagina, a uterus, and ovaries.
• Some sexual or reproductive organs, such as penises and vulvas, are external or on the outside of
the body while others, such as ovaries and testicles, are internal or inside the body.
• Both boys and girls have body parts that feel good when touched.
Now, those aren’t even all for kindergarten even,those are generally for 5-8.
• Bodies change as children grow older.
• Puberty is a time of physical and emotional change that happens as children become teenagers.
• People are able to have children only after they have reached puberty.
• Men and women have reproductive organs that enable them to have a child.
• Men and women have specific cells in their bodies (sperm cells and egg cells) that enable them to
reproduce.
• Reproduction requires that a sperm and egg join.
• Vaginal intercourse – when a penis is placed inside a vagina – is the most common way for a sperm
and egg to join.
• When a woman is pregnant, the fetus grows inside her body in her u
• A woman can be pregnant with more than one fetus at a time.
• Babies usually come out of a woman’s body through an opening calle
• Some babies are born by an operation called a Caesarian Section.
• A woman’s breasts can provide milk for a baby.
• Not all men and women have children.
• People who cannot have children may choose to adopt.
\• Individual bodies are different sizes, shapes, and colors.
• All bodies are equally special, including those that are disabled.
• Differences make us unique.
• Good health habits, such as eating well and exercising, can improve the way a person feels about
his or her body.
• Each person can be proud of his/her body.
Human beings can love people of the same gender and people of another gender.
• Some people are heterosexual, which means they can be attracted to and fall in love with someone
of another gender.
• Some people are homosexual, which means they can be attracted to and fall in love with someone
of the same gender.
• Homosexual men and women are also known as gay men and lesbians.
• People deserve respect regardless of who they are attracted to.
• Making fun of people by calling them gay (e.g. “homo,” “fag,” “queer”) is disrespectful and hurtful.
• Biological sex refers to whether a person has male or female genitals and/or chromosomes.
• Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female, or a combination of these.
• Gender identity is just one part of who a person is.
• Gender roles refer to the way society expects people to behave based on their biological sex.
• Making fun of people for not acting the way society expects them to based on their biological sex
is disrespectful and hurtful.
And on and on and on.
Romney is trying the same game Keyes did in using a buzzword to panic people instead of talking about a difficult issue that is complex in the appropriate manner.
Thanks for doing the research, Larry.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the text you linked to is exactly what Obama has in mind. Trouble with that is, not only does it seem to go well beyond just teaching about the difference between “good touch” and “bad touch,” it looks to me like that particular lesson is about the only think NOT covered. So why, then, does Obama keep hiding behind that canard instead of fully explaining (and defending) what he supports?
Second question: What specifically did Romney said that was moronic, or a distrortion of the truth? You don’t have to be as extreme as Alan Keyes to be of the opinion that schools should not be teaching 5-8 year olds about the clitoris or testicles. And you don’t have to parse semantics to recognize that there is a difference between teaching “good touch/bad touch” and teaching about “sex.” Romney doesn’t want to teach kindergarteners about “sex.” Obama does, but tries to make it sounds like he doesn’t. Which leads me to my third question: who’s really playing games here? The one who tells you what he thinks, or the one who tries to obscure what he really supports?
Errr…that was one of five categories in the document. It’s quite long. I just clipped the first one.
Here’s more
One’s body belongs to oneself.
• There are parts of one’s body that are considered to be private, including one’s mouth, nipples,
breasts, chest, penis, scrotum, vagina, vulva, and buttocks.
• No one should touch the private parts of a child’s body except for health reasons or to clean them.
• Children should not touch the private parts of other people’s bodies.
• Child sexual abuse is when someone touches the private parts of a child’s body without a health or
hygiene reason.
• Sexual abuse can also occur when someone asks a child to touch the private parts of his/her body.
• Both boys/men and girls/women can be sexually abused.
• Everyone, including children, has the right to tell others not to touch their body when they do not
want to be touched.
• If a child experiences unwanted or uncomfortable touching, he/she should tell a trusted adult, even
if he/she was told to keep it a secret.
• Children can be sexually abused by a stranger or by someone they know.
• A child is never at fault if a person – even a family member – touches him/her in a way that is
wrong or uncomfortable.
• If a stranger tries to get a child to go with him/her, the child should run and tell a parent, teacher,
neighbor, or other adult.
• Most people would never abuse children.
Sex is a biological concept–unless you are arguing that children should not learn what the appropriate names for the parts of their bodies, I don’t see the objection. My girls learned the word vagina at age 3. That’s sex education. They should know the appropriate terminology for their bodies. They should know that humans give birth. The should know that puberty occurs.
And Obama does explain this in the different links and that and he points out that local communities should decide the specific content as long as it is medically accurate.
Teaching good touch/bad touch is teaching about sex and it has to include the actual names of body parts. It has to explore what is normal touching and in what context it takes place. That’s about relationships and what is a healthy relationship and how you interact with others.
We wouldn’t be doing parents any good to tell their kids that anyone touching their private parts is bad and needs to be reported. I’d be answering lots of questions about giving my daughters baths if that was the case.
At least Obama doesn’t support animal torture, unlike Mr. Rommney.
Keep Romney away from Queenie the Elephant.
In all seriousness, it’s likely Romney is trying to distract from the growing rumblings (from the right) about his porn profits. He must have polls showing Obama coming on stronger than the national polls are showing.
Next, he’ll be complaining to everyone that Hillary has loose morals.
(sorry for the b/w)
Either Romney’s outrage is false, or he’s had a conversion on age-appropriate sex education to rival his conversion on abortion, as he claimed to support age-appropriate sex education when running for governor of Massachusetts in 2002.
Fair enough: good tough/bad touch IS covered in the text you cited. But my basic point still stands: Obama is unclear, to the point of being almost misleading, about what he really supports.
He says he supports “age appropriate,” “community driven” sex education, starting in kindergarten, that is “medically accurate” and “science based.” But what does he really mean by that??? Is the community deciding the definition of “medically accurate?” If not, then who his? Mr. Obama is the one raising the issue, so why is his language so strained and obfuscated? You slam on Romney for using “buzz words” to panic people, but Obama’s statements seem to be nothing more than a collection of focus-group tested formulations.
===If not, then who his?
Clinicians. And this is well understood. These aren’t focus group tested formulations. They are terms with specific meaning by clinicians whether it be MDs or psychologists. That was the point of the legislation in the first place. Community driven means you might leave something out if the community found it objectionable. So if you think something is too much for a child of a certain age, you could leave it out. And this is where the restrictions in the law were in context–it doesn’t mean if you think you can teach the stork delivers babies, it means, some communities might leave out some of the bits about pregnancy for a while. Generally, guidelines from psychologists give you a pretty good understanding of age appropriateness, but communities are diverse so deviating from those sorts of guidelines or choosing between different guidelines is reasonable. And see above–flipper used to agree.
Sean Paige, who has worked for Alan Keyes, is the OpEd editor at the Colorado Springs Gazette. Did Paige feed this to Mittwhile he was in the Springs?
The PDF file that was posted is disgusting. Look up masturbation for level 1 ages 5-8. It says that kids should masturbate in private. In my day you were taught not to touch yourself there except to go pee or to wash, and if you get caught doing anything else you got smacked.
This program is also laced with the promotion of homosexuality as an equal and normal lifestyle. It even states that sexual orientation is not a choice! This is indoctrination and brainwashing. Read it for yourself if you don’t believe it!
Obama is an empty suit. He uses the safety issue as subterfuge to distract from the fact that this is still detailed and explict sex ed for five-year-olds.
====The PDF file that was posted is disgusting. Look up masturbation for level 1 ages 5-8. It says that kids should masturbate in private.
So they should masturbate in public? Perhaps you are having problems reading:
Touching and rubbing one’s own genitals to feel good is called masturbation
• Some boys and girls masturbate and others do not.
• Masturbation should be done in a private place.
90% of males masturbate. About 80% of females do. Obviously, one doesn’t teach much about masturbation to a younger child, but if people are really that clueless and that much in denial about their body they need to get a fucking life. Beyond that 90% do it, it’s also important for long term sexual health. It keeps the pipes clean.
Later on, masturbation as a normal part of sexuality often is a key to keeping young people celibate. So unless you are going to argue every sperm is sacred, there’s not much of an argument there. Even then there isn’t given nocturnal emissions.
===This program is also laced with the promotion of homosexuality as an equal and normal lifestyle. It even states that sexual orientation is not a choice! This is indoctrination and brainwashing. Read it for yourself if you don’t believe it!
Actually, it points out that because someone is different they should not be mistreated. Do you disagree? Do you think that because you have one view on homosexuality we ought to ridicule those who are gay or lesbian? Tolerance doesn’t mean you have to accept it, it means you act like an adult and allow people to be different than you.
There is no detailed or explicit sex ed in the document.
Sorry, I meant to ask: “who decides what is ‘age appropriate’?”
Even if you don’t “understand the objection,” many parents don’t think that their kindergarteners need to know the exact terms “vagina,” and “clitoris.” Are you going to tell those parents that they are wrong to feel that way. is Senator Obama?
PS – Romney hasn’t “flipped” on this issue at all. Speeking out against sex ed in kindergarten, specifically, is hardly a flip from to his earlier support of it in “public school” generally (which is what the yes/no Planned Parenthood questionaire asked about).
=Even if you don’t “understand the objection,” many parents don’t think that their kindergarteners need to know the exact terms “vagina,” and “clitoris.” Are you going to tell those parents that they are wrong to feel that way. is Senator Obama?
And the community can set the standards. Do you watch the original video where he talks about that? The community, and the bill that was the basis for this, left the guidelines to the community to decide. In addition, Illinois, and all states I’m aware of, allow parents to opt out of sex education.
But if you don’t call it a vagina, what the hell do you call it? Seriously, how does a kid refer to her genitals otherwise? My pee-pee is better than penis or vagina? The general rule is that 3 year olds should understand the clinical terms. What is it that is offensive about using correct language to discuss parts of the body? I’m baffled by this.
Romney has two choices. He’s an idiot who didn’t understand a questionnaire he was filling out or flipped. A politician or his staff should know exactly what is being asked and this particular issue has been discussed since around 1970. The particular curriculum I pointed to was the result of different churches finding a way to talk about the issue and still keep values connected to the discussion. Beyond just that he should know something about the topic before answering it, this is the whole attack on sex education by the right wing.
Okay, let’s start over again….
Mr. Obama says that he supports sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is ‘age-appropriate.’ But he also says that such education should be “community driven.” So, the question is: does Mr. Obama support a community’s right to decide that what is “age-appropriate” for
kindergarten is no sex ed at all – as Mr. Romney suggests?” Neither of us can conclusively answer that question, based on the statements he has made on the subject…and I think that is by design.
The necessity of teaching kindergarteners the explicit terminology and your “bafflement” at the puritanical streak of red state America is rather beside the point. Once again, this is about whether local communities have the absolute right to decide this on their own, or whether there will be some minimum standard created by clinicians and imposed by politicians. More to the point, it’s about Mr. Obama’s rather obfuscated statements on the subject.
—
And, I really don’t know how much clearer an explanation I can give you of this…
Mr. Romney feels that the age-appropriate amount of sex ed for kindergarten is none. That is in no way a contradiction of his earlier statement that he supports age-appropriate sex ed in public schools, generally (as the broadly stated yes/no question posed by Planned Parenthood’s questionnaire asked).
Now, some bonus questions:
What “buzz words,” exactly, did Mr. Romney use to “panic people?” And what exactly did he say that was a misrepresentation of what Mr. Obama said?
Finally, I’ll make a deal with you – schools can teach sex ed, and allow parents to opt their kids out of it, as long as they can say a community-driven prayer that parents can similarly opt their kids out of. Fair enough?
Govenor Romney promoted abstinence education in the liberal sex eduation that was already in place. I found these blogs all very humorous until the actual curriculum was shown Come on Mr. “I cant express myself without using slang sexual euphonisms.” Do you honestly think a small child is not influence by a person of authority who states 90% of people masturbate, then explains how, thus infering that if they don’t they are different. What about a dominate person of position who teaches that people are born homosexual and thus infer that the child might be, and that they have no choice. And this to a child whois at an awkward age and may not be comfortable yet in talking to some one of the opposite gender. “grand old spartan” was insightful. Is it not fascinating that upon the altar of education. You can force your philosophy by degrees into the private life of small children, and then cry seperation of church and state when those same children want to put on a christmas play. Your religion seems far more dogmatic and manipulative to me. By the way I am an educator and happily married for 22 years. Keep your personal sexual views where they belong not in in the heads of my children.