How many of you would be satisfied if your kids graduated only with the ability to speak, the ability to do math and the ability to have a conversation and interaction with another person?
Would you be happy?
A lot of parents would be ecstatic in this day and age.
However the Massachusetts Legislature in an effort to make things better is making things worse for parents across the state.
Senators passed very quietly a measure that would allow an expansion of sex education in public schools of epic proportions. It passed pretty much along party lines and was passed as if lawmakers had a bus to catch.
It was the very same bill that lawmakers passed in 2015.
The problem is this. I have no problem with the idea of wanting to better protect kids but where does the protection of kids supercede what the parents are teaching.
In our day parents -- often times with the threat of the wrath of God, explained to their kids the rules and if you adhered to the rules you were fine and if you didn’t you were either spanked or stood in the corner, or later on grounded or lost the car for a week or two. That is often times the only thing you needed in order to toe the line.
But now lawmakers on Beacon Hill are aiming their energy at a short term solution rather than a long term societal change. Instead of the teaching kids the whats and wherefores of a particular act (if you want to know what specifically they are dealing with ---call your local state rep or senator and tell me what answer you get), we should be striving to teach the next generation of parents what it is to be a parent.
Devoting more money to that one act may in and of itself is likely to reduce the number of kids having kids and the societal problems that we are facing now.
Until then, lawmakers can pass any bill they want about our kids. However, they should understand that any parent who doesn’t want their kid to learn a specific sex act in school should be allowed to take a pass on the course.
Isn’t that what parents do in a free country?
(PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)