Recommended Reading #44: Youth, Pt. II
"'I Have Sex'—students speak out against ideological attack on Planned Parenthood" on YouTube (Recommended Watch, Youth, Reproductive Rights, Politics, Sexuality Education) 3/9/11
This video is actually in support of Planned Parenthood in the face of the threat by the United States Congress to eliminate the organization's federal funding for the health services they provide. Of course I am all for such support of Planned Parenthood, but the reason(s) I really love this video is because of its portrayal of and communication with young people. I certainly feel it would be helpful if we as a society stopped acting like people under the age of 18 are asexual and ignoring the reality of their sexual existence, but even further, I wish we would stop seeming to condescend them so much and acting as though they should be asexual and that if they are not, they are doing something wrong. (Of course I feel this is based on our own discomfort and insecurity around sex as adults, which I would be further thrilled if it seemed like we realized, acknowledged, and examined.) I appreciate the way (I perceive) this video addresses young people as human and autonomous beings.
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"Why Kids in Montana (and Everywhere Else) Need Decent Sex Ed" by Kate Whittle (Sexuality Education, Youth, Memoir) 7/22/10
I find the idea of speaking with children about sexuality without acting like their exposure to the topic is akin to the apocalypse refreshing. It seems obvious to me that "talking about sex to/with" doesn't automatically and intrinsically mean telling children things obviously beyond their level of maturity and understanding. It means treating them like human beings and answering their questions the way we would about other subjects and speaking about an aspect of life that is inherent in them, as it is in all of us, and treating it as such.
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"How to Have 'Sex Talks'—Plural—With Kids" by Monica Shores with Heather Corinna (Sexuality Education, Youth, Sex and Culture, Parenting) 11/30/10
This is an interview in two parts, and I definitely recommend both—the link above is to part 2 because it links back to part 1. The interview is with Heather Corinna, founder of Scarleteen, and the things she says in part 1 about the state of sexuality education for youth in the United States strike me as incisive and signficant. In part 2, she talks about parents talking with their children about sex, and I especially love the point of not confining such to some big "sex talk" but rather to simply answering questions about and discussing sex with children when the topic comes up, normalizing such conversation and indicating that sexuality is an integral and normative aspect of life.
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