Sex Ed & Parental Respect

Dear Sunny Hostin, lawyer, journalist, columnist, social commentator,

Your child is a banana, and it's ripening fast!  Before you know it, it's ripe.  Puberty is here.  The window to educate your child on the REAL words for his or her body parts is closed and sealed shut. The time for you to lay the groundwork and basic knowledge about sex in your own way, is over. You missed it.  But it's ok, they learned from someone else.

I just watched you on the View argue the detriment of sex ed in schools because you feel it lacks "respect".  Can we talk about that?  Can we look at it from a different angle?

I'm assuming that you feel schools should respect a parent's right to educate their child themselves.  I feel the direction you're going with this, and under different circumstances I'd make a sign and march for your right to raise your child as you wish.  You taught your child where his nose is, so you want to teach him where his sexual organs are too.  I get that.  Thing is, are you going to also teach him about the many other sexual organs out there that differ from his?

Your stance shocks me to be honest.  You're a lawyer.  You're a journalist.  Your entire career surrounds defending, trying, and reporting on individuals based on personal mistakes they've made. The world is full of humans who use poor judgement, think incorrectly, and are ignorant about the facts of life.  I mean, there are still people out there who believe they won't get pregnant if they have sex standing up.  Do you think that we should allow said people to be the ones explaining why those two guys are holding hands in the mall?  Why that man is dressed like a woman?  Where babies come from?  What this tingling is between my legs?

I mean, several courts of law and society has ruled that all sexual orientations are legal and must be tolerated. Therefore teaching our youth about the many transgender orientations out there and teaching them what their reproductive organs are for is crucial. There must be a standard of knowledge that is taught across the board like any other subject in school.  Sex Ed in schools is how we create tolerant societies.  Sex Ed is how we protect kids from abuse.

Fact is, by the time you and other parents like you are ready to have this talk, your child has already learned a lot about sex.  That's right.  If mom and dad don't teach it, and the school doesn't teach it, then kids get together and learn about it from one another and their older peers.  And yes, you may be one of the few parents who do inform their kids, but what about the other parents?  Or more importantly, what about the other kids?