Obama-Sponsored State Sex Education Legislation Designed to Protect Kids

HuffPo reports the McCain campaign has deployed an attack ad accusing the Democratic nominee Barack Obama of not accomplishing a single education-related goal other than to promote “comprehensive sex education” to kindergartners. The Obama campaign responsed pointing to a series of education accomplishments made by Obama and calling McCain “perverse” for the latest attack via Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton:

It is shameful and downright perverse for the McCain campaign to use a bill that was written to protect young children from sexual predators as a recycled and discredited political attack against a father of two young girls – a position that his friend Mitt Romney also holds. Last week, John McCain told Time magazine he couldn’t define what honor was. Now we know why.

It is SustySHAG’s view that it is up to each human society, which we see as beyond a Hobbesian “state of nature” while remaining interdependent with the natural world, to determine the age-appropriateness of sexual conduct.  Put simply, we human beings use our judgment to assess the developmental abilities our of young, and subsequently write laws to provide a framework and touchstone for remembering and implementing our good judgment.  Perhaps good judgment is something Mitt Romney lacks as witnessed by the his limited approach to the topic back in July 2008:

The Christian Broadcasting Network column The Brody File took on the Obama sex education brouhaha just after this election cycle’s round began in July while Obama addressed Planned Parenthood. The Brody File sums up the frame for a decent (pun intended) discussion:

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.

Obama-Sponsored State Sex Education Legislation SB 99 Speaks For Itself

Upon reading Illinois State Assembly SB0009, one sees that its very first clause leaves the matter entirely up to families while also guarding against any individual family’s objection being cause for all children being denied the opportunity for sex education:

(a) No pupil shall be required to take or participate  in

9    any  class  or  course  in comprehensive sex education if the

10    pupil's his parent  or  guardian  submits  written  objection

11    thereto, and refusal to take or participate in such course or

12    program  shall  not  be reason for suspension or expulsion of

13    such  pupil.  Each  class  or  course  in  comprehensive  sex

14    education offered in any of  grades  K  6  through  12  shall

15    include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted

16    infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread

17    of HIV AIDS.

The Brody File also digs up a good Chicago Daily Herald article from October of 2004 wherein the first use of the sex education topic in a campaign, while Obama was debating Alan Keyes during their U.S. Senate race, is brought to the fore; Obama’s response is crystalline:

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 kindergartners 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.

Obama Sex Education Policy and the Meaning of “Comprehensive”

Perhaps parents who lack the backbone of the Obama family might even prefer to outsource such a conversation to the school their child is attending.  One might also note that the term “comprehensive” used in the bill suggests one meaning of the adjective over another: “comprehending mentally; having an extensive mental range or grasp” as opposed to “of large scope; covering or involving much“  Even if one were to construe “comprehensive” by the latter definition, the language stipulating “age appropriate” overrides:

21        (105 ILCS 110/3) (from Ch. 122, par. 863)

22        Sec. 3.  Comprehensive Health Education Program.

23        (a)  The   program   established  under  this  Act  shall

24    include,  but  not  be  limited  to,  the   following   major

25    educational  areas as a basis for curricula in all elementary

26    and secondary  schools  in  this  State:  human  ecology  and

27    health,   human   growth   and  development,  the  emotional,

28    psychological,    physiological,    hygienic    and    social

29    responsibilities of family life, including sexual  abstinence

30    and   prevention  of  unintended  pregnancy  until  marriage,

31    prevention and control of disease, including age  appropriate

32    instruction  in  grades  K  6 through 12 on the prevention of

33    sexually transmitted infections,  including  the  prevention,

Additionally back in July, ABCNews.com reported a response from the Obama campaign that the sex education legislation Obama sponsored in the Illinois Senate supported “local schools informing kindergarteners that babies do not come from the stork” and “envisioned teaching kindergartners about ‘inappropriate touching.’ “

Obama Education Legislation’s Commitment to Mental Health and Building Strong Interpersonal Relationships

Upon further examination of this education legislation, one sees that abstinence is taught as an option. Obama’s address to Planned Parenthood was sensitive to the delicate nature of sexual relationships between people:

I honor and respect young people who choose to delay sexual activity. I’ve got two daughters and I want them to understand that sex is not something casual.

We Susty Shaggers too understand that the feelings and emotions which come along with an active sex life (not to mention any physical consequences) are not for the faint of heart! And in that roller coaster journey are to be found not just pleasures, but the living of life itself. From that standpoint, we’re thrilled to see that the Illinois State legislation also covers health education and specifically advocates for teaching a deeper understanding of relationships in and of themselves:

23             (9)  Course material and instruction  shall  discuss

24        and provide for the development of positive communication

25        skills   to  maintain  healthy  relationships  and  avoid

26        unwanted sexual activity.

27             (10)  Course   material   and   instruction    shall

28        emphasize  that  the  pupil  has  the  power  to  control

29        personal  behavior.  Pupils  shall  be encouraged to base

30        their actions on  reasoning,  self-discipline,  sense  of

31        responsibility, self-control, and ethical considerations,

32        such as respect for oneself and others.

33             (11)  (8)  Course  material  and  instruction  shall

34        teach  pupils  to  not  make unwanted physical and verbal

1        sexual advances and how to  say  no  to  unwanted  sexual

2        advances  and  shall  include  information  about verbal,

3        physical, and visual sexual harassment, including without

4        limitation nonconsensual sexual  advances,  nonconsensual

5        physical sexual contact, and rape by an acquaintance. The

6        course  material and instruction shall contain methods of

7        preventing sexual assault by an  acquaintance,  including

8        exercising  good  judgment  and  avoiding  behavior  that

9        impairs   one's   judgment.   The   course  material  and

10        instruction shall emphasize personal  accountability  and

11        respect  for others and Pupils shall be taught that it is

12        wrong to take advantage of or to exploit another  person.

And at bottom (no offense meant to any Tops reading this!) the lesson is that we must not exploit others for a one-sided gain. Great relationships as well as the greatest sex originate from a place of mutuality where all parties interests are met so that the precious moments of life are lived richly and fully. This appears to be Barack Obama’s consistent message, which is diametrically opposed to the dirty little secret of the parasitical greed of the Republication administration for the past eight years. But Mr. Obama doesn’t need us to speak on his behalf:

09.10.08 Daiy Kos » Obama twists the knife (as predicted)
09.09.08 McCain Campaign YouTube Channel » Obama Sex-Educatoin Commercial
09.09.08 Huffington Post » McCain Sex-Ed Ad Launched; Obama Camp: “Perverse”
09.09.08 Daiy Kos » Dishonorable McCain Ad – Kindergarten Sex Ed
07.20.09 Media Matters »MSNBC’s Carlson claimed Obama’s sex-ed policy provides “powerful fodder to deride him”
07.18.09 ABC News ARTICLE » Sex Ed for Kindergarteners ‘Right Thing to Do’ Says Obama
07.18.09 ABC News VIDEO » Obama On Sex Education
07.19.08 Romney Campaign YouTube Channel » Gov. Romney On Obama And Sex Ed
07.17.08 Christian Broadcasting Network » Obama Campaign Responds to Sex Education in Kindergarten Comments

03.06.03 Illinois General Assembly » Full Text of SB0099