Some may think it's unfair to make this charge against Senator McCain.
But it's really no more unfair the recent McCain campaign criticism of Senator Obama's support of age-appropriate sexuality education during his time in the Illinois State Legislature ("McCain criticizes Obama vote on sex ed legislation")
Senator Obama's support of age-appropriate sexuality education is endorsed by public health and sexuality education experts like Rev. Debra Haffner:
Educating Children for PreventionSo ... Senator McCain's criticism of Senator Obama's support of " ... one of the best methods for sexual abuse prevention" tells me that Senator McCain is either intentionally or accidentally speaking out against effective child abuse prevention.
A high quality sexuality education program, such as Our Whole Lives (OWL), is one of the best methods for sexual abuse prevention. Children who learn that their bodies are good, that their sexuality is a gift, how to make good decisions, and the language to communicate accurately and effectively about sexuality are also being prepared to respond appropriately when faced with abusive behaviors, to assert their right to control their own bodies, and to tell an adult if such behaviors occur.
Many Unitarian Universalist and United Church of Christ congregations offer this type of age-appropriate sexuality education in our congregations for children in kindergarten and first grade. And the excellent resources used in these congregations can also be used in other religious and secular settings as well.
Now -- I don't seriously believe that Senator McCain is really in favor of child abuse.
But I do believe he is in favor of putting his honor and integrity into a blind trust so he can be elected President.
6 comments:
That said, there is a difference between OWL, which is taught in churches to kids whose parents have specifically brought them there to take it, and in the public schools, where the kids have to be opted out and the kids who are opted out feel left out and weird*.
I would love it if everybody got comprehensive sex ed, but to treat OWL and Sex ed interchangably isn't quite fair.
CC
*I was opted out when I was a kid and I'm not eve sure why. My parents weren't particularly conservative about anything else.
CC wrote:
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"I would love it if everybody got comprehensive sex ed, but to treat OWL and Sex ed interchangably isn't quite fair."
CC,
You'll need to explain this. I really don't understand what you're trying to say here.
The Our Whole Lives series is a lifespan series of comprehensive sexuality education curricula that provides age-appropriate information for grades K-1, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, young adults, and adults. It's sexuality education. It's an example of one of the best available sexuality education resources available for use in a wide range of settings -- schools, community centers, colleges, churches, etc.
First, Our Whole Lives (OWL) isn't a religious education curriculum when taught by itself. OWL becomes a religious education curriculum when combined with the Unitarian Universalist or United Church of Christ supplemental materials. If one doesn't use the religious materials, it's simply a secular sexuality education program.
Second, OWL is taught in other settings besides Unitarian Unversalist or United Church of Christ settings. When OWL is used in a secular school or community education setting, it's simply an excellent example of what good comprehensive age-appropriate sexuality education should look like.
Third -- as long as schools allow parents to opt-in or opt-out their kids, we're always going to have the problem you mentioned. If 90% of the kids are in sexuality education classes, it must feel strange to be the kid who isn't taking the class. However, that also happens in UU congregations. Some parents do opt-out of the OWL classes in our congregations. We don't make them mandatory and the same problem you experience can also happen in our congregations. But we don't forgo the benefits of OWL because of this potential negative outcome.
Finally, it's always possible to take a sexuality education class as an adult. The OWL program has two very good program for adults -- one for young adults (ages 18-35) and one for the general adult population. This will give you an opportunity to take a good sexuality education program that reflects our shared UU values. Just because you didn't do this as a youth doesn't mean you never get to take a good sex ed class.
The ad criticizes Obama voting for a program in the schools.
What Obama voted for was not OWL.
You seem to be assuming that it was and that any statement that can be applied to OWL can be applied to what Obama was voting for.
CC
CC,
I never said that Senator Obama had voted for any bill that supported the "Our Whole Lives" program by name.
He did vote for age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education for kindergarten children.
That is where the resemblance to the Our Whole Lives program exists.
Senator Obama supported this because this type of sexuality education helps protect children from abuse and gives them the resources to communicate with a trusted adult if they are abused.
What Senator Obama supported does sound very much like the Our Whole Lives for Grades K-1 where children can learn age-appropriate lessons about families, the names of their body parts, where babies come from, and what to do if another person is abusing them.
Senator Obama voting for that in his state was a good vote from my point of view as a sexuality educator and a parent of two children.
I'm still puzzled why you don't consider Our Whole Lives to be an example of sexuality education program -- in fact, one of the best available.
It's one of the best available sexuality education programs available today (based on the responses I've heard from secular sexuality educators that I've met and worked with over the years).
The schools in your community could use Our Whole Lives without any modification right now.
The basic curriculum when taught without the UU or UCC supplemental materials could be used in any public school in the US. It only becomes a religious program when combined with these faith-based supplements.
When taught without the faith-based materials, it's not explicitly religious. There is no First Amendment church-state conflict for any school that uses Our Whole Lives.
And the gift of the Our Whole Lives program that the UCC and UUA have provided to the wider world is something that we should take pride in as Unitarian Universalists.
The body is the garden of the soul (to borrow a quote from Tony Kuschner) and what we offer with the Our Whole Lives program does save people -- body, mind, heart, and soul.
(((I'm still puzzled why you don't consider Our Whole Lives to be an example of sexuality education program -- in fact, one of the best available.)))
I do consider a sexuality education program, I just don't consider it the only sexuality education program. My impression from your post was that you were taking statements Rev. Haffner made about OWL and applying them to the program Obama supported, which wasn't so much a program in itself as a developmental framework that left a lot to the individual school systems.
e.g. When you wrote "So ... Senator McCain's criticism of Senator Obama's support of " ... one of the best methods for sexual abuse prevention" it sounds like you are automatically assuming any program would be close enough to OWL that what Rev. Haffner said about OWL would still apply.
That's the assumption that I'm questioning.
CC
CC wrote:
-snip-
"My impression from your post was that you were taking statements Rev. Haffner made about OWL and applying them to the program Obama supported ... "
CC,
Rev. Haffner's statement wasn't limited to just the Our Whole Lives program.
I don't think she said this nor do I think I said it either.
Here's what she said:
"A high quality sexuality education program, such as Our Whole Lives (OWL), is one of the best methods for sexual abuse prevention.
Rev. Haffner used the Our Whole Lives program as an example but not an exclusive example.
There are other effective sexuality education programs out there besides Our Whole Lives -- some of them can be found listed on this online resource provided by SIECUS:
http://www.sexedlibrary.org/bibliography.html
I do take great pride in knowing that our denomination and the UCC have produced such a great sexuality education resource.
And I'm sorry that your parents' decision to opt-out of the school sexuality education made you felt left out and uncomfortable when you were a child.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund has an ad that addresses this topic even more strongly that I have:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0kiLoMY1hg
[Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan for mentioning this on his blog.]
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