My Trip To The Library

[Play The Man]

Originally Posted by flo

rnc, the big problem with these books is...they are not age-appropriate. Why on earth does a 5 year-old need to know about different sexual preferences? Maybe I'm wildy out of touch but when we were 5 we had no clue about anything sexual.

But the left just wants to shove this stuff down everyone's throat, regardless of personal feelings or beliefs. Just more nanny-state BS.

Did you see the story a few months ago from Switzerland about the Kindergarten "sex box"?

http://www.thelocal.ch/847/20110815/

Officials in Basel have agreed to rename the "sex box" after receiving some 3,000 letters of protest from parents angered by the controversial trove of wooden penises and fabric vaginas set to be used in a new sex education programme for playschool and primary school kids.

Christoph Eymann, Basel education minister and member of the liberal democrat party (LDP), responded to parent's protests in an interview with SonntagsBlick.

“It was no doubt stupid to call it a ’sex box’ – we will change that. But we will stick to our goal: to get across to children that sexuality is something natural. Without forcing anything upon them or taking anything away from their parents,“ he said.

Many parents say they do not understand why sex education needs to be taught to children as young as four.

“There are usually two reasons why sexuality becomes a topic in kindergarten: either the teacher is pregnant or one of the children will soon get a new sister or brother. In such cases, it is correct that the teacher can respond“, Eymann told SonntagsBlick.

Eymann said he understood that one line in the programme, “touching can be enjoyed heartily“, could be misconstrued, but insisted: “It is not about 'touch me, feel me'. We want to tell the children that there is contact that they may find pleasurable, but some that they should say ’no’ to. Kids can unfortunately can become victims of sexual violence already at playschool age.“

Eymann said he would prefer if sex education was taught to children at home but argued that education officials needed to respond to the realities of today.

"We currently live in an oversexualised society. There is uncontrolled distribution of pornographic material that can reach young children. Some primary school children know the TV schedule until 2am. We would like to offer these children firm support, which is often not available in the family. The box is only an aid. I trust the teachers to approach the material with care."

Despite this, Eymann said he takes critics' arguments seriously, and has ordered the contents of the box to be examined after finding the cover of previous teaching material tasteless.

Some parents have called for their children to be exempted from sex education. Eymann says he is strictly against exemptions, although he is aware this will not make him many friends:

"Primary school may be the only big audience that our society has. The shared values that it teaches are very important. I would definitely like to keep this. The explanatory lesson can be portrayed in a way that doesn’t offend“, he said.

I'm sure the "sex box" will be in our library in a few years.

On a side note, is it just me or do those "sex box" toys look like something from a bakery?

[flo]

No, I hadn't seen that. For kids "as young as 4". What next? Live demonstrations in class?

Sexualizing our children when they're barely past the toddler stage has not worked real well, has it?

Originally Posted by flo

rnc, the big problem with these books is...they are not age-appropriate. Why on earth does a 5 year-old need to know about different sexual preferences? Maybe I'm wildy out of touch but when we were 5 we had no clue about anything sexual.

But the left just wants to shove this stuff down everyone's throat, regardless of personal feelings or beliefs. Just more nanny-state BS.

the problem is that the country .. yours and mine .. has decided to make it so you cannot discriminate against kids with same sex parents, gay kids ... they have books for kids on divorced parents, having two sets of parents .. those are not age appropriate either imo... but they have them for kids .. if i am a kid who has same sex parents and see a kid that can get a book on divorced parents, why shouldn't i be able to find a book that mirrors my life? someone mentioned it goes discriminates against christians or something along those lines .. i disagree .. i can still go the library and get kids books on the bible, church etc ... like i said, i don't see an issue with it ... i see your point, but if my kid has any questions about other peoples lifestyles, i would hope they would ask .. and i would do my best to give an answer in a non-hateful manner .. LOL

[NateR]

Originally Posted by rearnakedchoke

gay kids ...

There is no such thing as a gay 5-year-old. There is still zero scientific evidence that anyone is born homosexual. It's something that people are corrupted and conditioned into, nothing more.

Trying to assign sexual identities to kids below the age of 18 is a reprehensible form of mental abuse and shows the cruel and destructive motives behind the Gay Rights agenda.

[Play The Man]

Originally Posted by rearnakedchoke

the problem is that the country .. yours and mine .. has decided to make it so you cannot discriminate against kids with same sex parents, gay kids ... they have books for kids on divorced parents, having two sets of parents .. those are not age appropriate either imo... but they have them for kids .. if i am a kid who has same sex parents and see a kid that can get a book on divorced parents, why shouldn't i be able to find a book that mirrors my life? someone mentioned it goes discriminates against christians or something along those lines .. i disagree .. i can still go the library and get kids books on the bible, church etc ... like i said, i don't see an issue with it ... i see your point, but if my kid has any questions about other peoples lifestyles, i would hope they would ask .. and i would do my best to give an answer in a non-hateful manner .. LOL

I think one of the issues for me is that the book was not on the shelf, it was put on display, at the eyesight level of a 4-5-year-old. It was not kept for a resource for a particular child to check out if that child should be in that particular situation. It was put on display for all children and targeted at a very young age. Subsequently, another book was put on display with subject matter that I don't find appropriate for youngsters. I get what you are saying about divorced children, etc. However, unfortunately, divorce is a problem that is widespread and might be pertinent to one-quarter to one-third (or even one-half ) of the children. Gender identity disorder is quite rare. Lesbianism is quite rare (~1%), married lesbians rarer, and married lesbians with multiracial adopted children rarer still. I also didn't mention that this library is across the street from a large, private Christian school. The school is probably one of the largest suppliers of child patrons (and volunteers) for this particular library branch. The neighborhood is mostly old people and children - it is not Berkeley or the Castro. I would doubt there is a married lesbian couple with children in the surrounding area.
Many of these books are justified because they supposedly address bullying. I am all for protecting kids from bullying, including effeminate kids or kids with lesbian parents; however, bullying is very widespread and is not reserved for sexual orientation. Kids are bullied for: being fat, being thin, being hairy, having glasses, being black, being white, being brown, being yellow, having an accent, being smart, being dumb . . . you get the picture. I can remember reading a book about bullying as a preschooler (I can't recall the book title but it was about a rabbit being bullied for having a fat father. I can recall the chorus: "You're smaller than a daisy! Your father is fat and lazy!" [PTM editorial note: Blade, I do know the difference between "You're" and "Your" - I actually learned it in pre-school from the rabbit book.]. Why not resurrect the rabbit book about bullying and avoid involving children in grown-up culture wars?

[Bonnie]

Originally Posted by Play The Man

Did you see the story a few months ago from Switzerland about the Kindergarten "sex box"?

http://www.thelocal.ch/847/20110815/



I'm sure the "sex box" will be in our library in a few years.

On a side note, is it just me or do those "sex box" toys look like something from a bakery?

When I read that, I had to go look. You're right, one reminds me of a honey bun, the other, a kolache aka a pig-in-a-blanket.

This whole thing is insane!

[Play The Man]

Originally Posted by Bonnie

When I read that, I had to go look. You're right, one reminds me of a honey bun, the other, a kolache aka a pig-in-a-blanket.

This whole thing is insane!

At least I am not the only one. I guess I'm not crazy.

The bakery quip reminds of a funny incident. A number of years ago I was sitting in on a lecture by a distinguished researcher in the treatment of vascular wounds. Due to the subject matter, the lecture was a bit dry. There seemed to be an endless carousel of slides full of disgusting pictures of venous stasis ulcers. Here is a representative sampling:









When it seemed like he was losing the audience to boredom, he got to a very close-up picture of an ulcer. All of the sudden, he yelled out "Hey! There it is, I thought I lost it!" He hit the remote on the slide carousel and the next slide showed a wider shot of the previous slide picture - it was a picture of a breakfast Danish pastry! He said, "I've been looking for that pastry ever since breakfast this morning!" My retelling can't do his timing and dry wit justice. It was so out of left field that it caught me totally off-guard. I laughed so hard I spit coffee on my shirt . . . and I haven't forgotten the lecture all these years later.

[Bonnie]

Originally Posted by Play The Man

At least I am not the only one. I guess I'm not crazy.

The bakery quip reminds of a funny incident. A number of years ago I was sitting in on a lecture by a distinguished researcher in the treatment of vascular wounds. Due to the subject matter, the lecture was a bit dry. There seemed to be an endless carousel of slides full of disgusting pictures of venous stasis ulcers. Here is a representative sampling:


When it seemed like he was losing the audience to boredom, he got to a very close-up picture of an ulcer. All of the sudden, he yelled out "Hey! There it is, I thought I lost it!" He hit the remote on the slide carousel and the next slide showed a wider shot of the previous slide picture - it was a picture of a breakfast Danish pastry! He said, "I've been looking for that pastry ever since breakfast this morning!" My retelling can't do his timing and dry wit justice. It was so out of left field that it caught me totally off-guard. I laughed so hard I spit coffee on my shirt . . . and I haven't forgotten the lecture all these years later.

Those pictures are awful! It's 7 in the morning here, I guess I can forget about breakfast now! You know you're totally ruining my love of danish, don't you!

Sex boxes with pastry parts and venous ulcers...I can't wait to see what's next!

[Neezar]

Disgusting! What's at the library that is.

The ulcers, well those aren't too bad. When we get them at the ER some people will find a reason to go in the room to take a peek.



However, I have never seen them next to a danish. The resemblance is astonishing. lol. I will probaly never eat one again!

[Neezar]

Thanks for posting this thread, PTM. Very enlighting. Parents have to be careful these days. Evil/bad things seem to be promoted in everything now. And they are glamourized and made almost irresistable to kids. The library (in the kid's section, at least) is one place where you would think you wouldn't have to worry about such things.