Comment on a FOX news report

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Please note I have purposely misspelled some words in this post so as not to attract unwanted interest from certain sources.
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The FOX News report is here

The title of this post will lead you to a U.N. report on teaching sexuality to children from age 5-18. It looks very good and has some most excellent points. It talks about bullying and other things that are needful for age appropriate education. I posted the article in the CASA LinkedIn forum. I never expected to get lambasted for declaring that teaching 5 year olds what masterbation is child abuse. It is as defined by the State of Mississippi. Although I am told it is not in other states. I don't have the time to check all that out, though.

If you'll look at your state's child abuse code, you might be surprised at what you find as defined child abuse.

In the state of Mississippi we find:
"(2) For purposes of this section, any material is sexually oriented if the material contains representations or descriptions, actual or simulated, of masturbation, sodomy, excretory functions, lewd exhibition of the genitals or female breasts, sadomasochistic abuse (for the purpose of sexual stimulation or gratification), homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or the breast or breasts of a female for the purpose of sexual stimulation, gratification or perversion. "

What the report intimates, but does not come right out and say is that many of the concepts and values must be taught across the age groups (page 28). The article includes concerns of critics who have seen the curriculum. Those are who point the finger at teaching what masterbation is to 5 year old. And it is their concern that the concepts taught may not be age approriate as the U.N. proposes.

On page 48 in the same module for 5-8 year olds, the units to be taught are a progression... "It is natural to explore our bodies, bodies feel good when touched, touching oneself is called masterbation." These are objectives for 5-8 year olds which, in my opinion, is highly inappropriate for that age. By teaching this, educators are stepping over the line of appropriate subject matter in sex educaton.

The program actually does intend to teach sexuality values, again page 28: "The overarching topics under which learning objectives have been defi ned are organized around six key concepts:
1. Relationships
2. Values, attitudes and skills
3. Culture, society and law
4. Human development
5. Sexual behaviour
6. Sexual and reproductive health"

And on page 34 for ages 9-12: Key Ideas: • Values regarding gender, relationships, intimacy, love, sexuality and reproduction influence personal behaviour and decision-making • Cultural values affect male and female gender role expectations and equality

Admittedly, the values section for ages 15-18 provides for the key insight that parents teach their values to their children and can respect that their children may form different values.

It also teaches ages 5-8 that people have the right to make their own decisions. While this is true, it could be misconstrued from a child's viewpoint because children should obey parents and submit to their decisions in a healthy way, not from an abusive standpoint. But, that is a side point to the discussion.

I do not say that children should be "kept ignorant or taught to be ashamed of their bodies". Gracious! I do believe there is a time and place for sex education and it should be biologically and scientifically addressed along with all the information about STDs and other things that people face when they become sexually active. The stats listed in this report show that the education of teens did not change behavior for the majority of respondents. That is a tell which should not be overlooked.

Because it has so much good, we should just ignore the little bit of bad? "Oh, because this is good and that is good, let's forget about this bad part." I can't wrap my brain around this: that the U.N. thinks we need to teach 5 year olds what masterbation is?

It is insidious how the world encroaches upon the innocent today. Teaching masterbation to children is sexual abuse. No matter how much candy is wrapped around it, it is sexual abuse. No one is calling sexual abuse what it really is. Because it is wrapped up in scientific jargon, it is candy-coated, then it must be okay for teachers to teach it.

Why does masterbation have to be included in this program? It is wrong that these things are already being taught in schools without parents' permission. And if parents get upset about their children being taught sex education, then they are harangued and ridiculed. (This has been reported in more than one community.)

Age appropriate or not: 25% of the children will be past it, 50% will be about on target, and 25% will be behind so it isn't right for all children anyway. The focus of the article is that masterbation is included in this curriculum proposal. Teaching that to children is sexual abuse.

I do know that some parents probably are needing some help with sex education of their children... But learning where babies come from and what body parts are is a far cry from teaching about masterbation.

CASA in Jackson County

In class last night, I found out that all this training and all this material I've been teaching is not just words on paper or images on PowerPoint. We invited CASA from Jackson County to come visit and talk to us about real life as a CASA volunteer.

They told us about real world cases, real incidents, and real problems they have faced and how they've adapted and overcome. No time or space to go into that right now, but each one gave God all the glory. Now how can anyone or any program go wrong when that happens?

What a sweet, persistent, powerful, wonderful group of people. Frances is the director and she is on the ball when it comes to utilizing voluteers' skills where they'll do the most good. It is amazing how much they've done in such a short amount of time. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm only one person and I can only do what I can do... it's up to God to do the rest.

Maybe I should think about letting God go first, eh? Let Him do all the hard stuff and I follow with a tuck here and a nip there.

Well, I'm off to read another manual. It is astounding how much studying I must do, thank goodness I love to learn and God has given me a talent for reading/retention. Otherwise, I'd be drowning.

Life is speeding along

I have been so busy these past weeks, I've forgotten to breathe.

Yesterday, I met with our county supervisors and asked for some funding for CASA. We got the funding and they are going to provide office space for us. I find that so wonderful, I can hardly sit still.

One of our board members resigned recently citing the reason that we are not walking with God on this project. Every day I God provides huge amounts of evidence that He is so into this project to protect the children of our county.

God says that it is an abomination to shed innocent blood. Abortion comes to mind, and yet what about those defenseless children who are victims of abuse and neglect everyday? I am reminded of Isaiah 58 whenever I think about the work that we are doing in Pearl River County. To lift the burdens of the oppressed, and to unlock the fetters of those who are unjustly imprisoned. It is a huge responsibility and I am greatly humbled when ever God leans over and tips the scales in our favor providing yet another miracle in proof of His work here.

I am off now to talk to the dept of human services. I am told that they do not want CASA in PRC. We'll see. I have bathed this in prayer and expect God to have walked the path trampling down all the weeds and stumbling blocks between our organizations because they will certainly work so well together.