More societal rants...

Not that I haven't wanted to write...
I haven't had the chance...we (the awesome hubby and I) went to NYC last weekend and have been playing catch-up ever since...
So the rant of the evening:

This
is what I'm ranting about.

A book introducing sexuality, sexual health, and information about STI's (Sexually Transmitted Infections) in cartoon-type illustrations of young people about sex.
Something that is "perfectly normal" and part of a "complete diet" of wellness. This, removed from the library of small town, rural America (where some people choose not to have TV's for the well being of their children)is my point of frustration.

When kids ask their parents about sex and where they came from(which they will do when the hormones start raging, and they begin to have feelings about the opposite (or same) sex), it's an appropriate book for parents to use as a reference point. It's on kid-level, so it's not using big medical terms, or pornography (which, by the way, is defined by Merriam-Webster as "material (as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement". This book is NOT intended to cause sexual excitement, rather, to educate our kids about it when it happens.

The thing about our country is we have freedom of speech and to practice our own religion, as well as to protest what we think is wrong. This woman is entitled to expressing her opinion, where she feels this book may have a negative effect on the children of today's society, and may be religiously amoral. If she feels it is a bad book, she has the right to choose not to purchase it, or show it to children she knows and feels are to young to read it.

However, she does not have the right to prevent other people from buying, reading, or signing this book out of the library, which, by theft, she has done (although many kind-hearted, intelligent, generous people have donated the same book in it's place)

It's not the book that is the problem.
It's not the shows on television.
It's not the 'other' kids in school.

The problem is parents not being ready to be parents because they were too busy screwing in the back of the bus and made said kids that they didn't want in the first place.
So who's responsible? Teachers? 4-H leaders/girl scout/boy scout leaders? Other kids parents? no
It is the responsibility of parents to teach their OWN children what is right and what is wrong.
If kids don't get the answers(the whole answers) to the questions they are asking, they will find the answers elsewhere, even if it is from Billy, the "cool" kid who has 5 girls hanging from his arms, and more than that in STI's hanging below his belt.
And if teaching them about sex will prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Herpes, or whatever other creepy crawlies are scurrying through underpants, then so be it.
If teaching them about sex will prevent more unwanted kids in the world, then print all the books possible and give 'em out on street corners, because we don't need more unwanted kids.