At a Planned Parenthood event 2008 presidential candidate Obama gave a talk that has created a minor controversy. Obama told Planned Parenthood that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do."
read story here or watch it here.
Some people were horrified by the thought of teaching a five-year-old about sex. Honestly, I don't know what one would tell a five-year-old about sex.
I think the problem with Obama's statement was that it was incomplete. By simply saying that he approves of "age-appropriate" sex education he fails by not telling us what "age-appropriate" sex education is.
As a US Senator Obama is privileged to have access to a lot of information: expert advice, personal researchers, government researchers, senate hearings, interest advice, etc. Thus, his statement is probably backed by much scientific research. He should have told us exactly what "age-appropriate" education is. By failing to do that he leaves it up to the individual listener to conjure up all types of ideas.
I assume a vast majority of people--including myself--are not going to do a research project on "sex education in schools" in order to understand the issue. Instead they will think about it, listen to radio and television pundits about it, maybe read an article, and speak to their family and friends about it.
As a result, Obama never gets to make his case.
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1 comment:
I agree with you on Obama, that was a big blunder. Its tough with all the media scrutiny, you have to watch your every word.
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