Sex ed for kindergartners proposed in Arizona
Should sex education be taught to kindergartners? One Arizona lawmaker thinks so. Representative and Democrat Juan Mendez is proposing the legislation–for the fourth year in a row–to change the way the state educates students when it comes to sex.
Mendez believes that some teen pregnancy and an increase in sexually transmitted infections in teenagers are directly related to lack of education.
But the lawmaker’s bill has conditions within it to ensure that the material presented is age appropriate and medically accurate, Mendez said.
It doesn’t seem that Mendez’s bill is likely to pass as he only has support from those within the Democratic Party. But there is a case to be made that children of a young age need some sort of sex education.
In the Netherlands, children as young as four-years old are taught about sex education. From gender to sexual orientation, children are taught about stereotypes and body imaging.
It is a class steeped in education about the body, nothing inappropriate for young minds still developing.
Still–this hill is likely to be a tough one to climb in Arizona, a state led by a Republican governor. It’s also worth nothing that Americans aren’t the best measurement when it comes to judging progressive mindsets towards sex.
Some parents are against the bill due to religious beliefs and others aren’t sure because of concerns about what may be taught.
But I think it is truly all in the name of education. Students aren’t in a position to learn, or make decisions of their own for that matter, if information isn’t presented to them properly.
Rep. Mendez has a good point regarding the attitude that teens have about sex. Some make bad decisions because they aren’t properly educated on how decisions about sex will impact them in the future.
If we fail to teach students early about sex; its pitfalls and everything attached to it, then we have set them up to fail later in life.