"Mom, do you think I have AIDS?"

[1monster]

This question was from my twelve-year-old, barely pubescent son.

"What!?" I asked him, goggling.

"The AIDS lady (government-payed abstenence-based lecturer in the middle schools) said that people with AIDS could bleed on the toilet seat."

I was late for work and on my way out the door, but this was just too outrageous not to address immediately.

"Yes, they could bleed on the toilet seat, but you would have to be doing something really weird with that toilet seat to get AIDS. Or you would have to have some serious cut on you thighs to get AIDS from that."

Having sat through two different presentations from two different organizations lecturing students on their Abstenence based agenda, I was aware that the kids are being lied to BIG time, but I was not prepared for that question from my son.

I'd already let him know that these people might not be telling him the truth and to be wary. This morning I told him to not even listen to these people from now on; that I will sit down with him and tell him everything he needs to know.

I am really ticked off over this. My kid was genuinely worried that he may have contracted AIDS from some unknown person who might have bled on a toilet seat.

:grr:

[Turbineguy]

1. 12 years old.

They've got six years to brainwash him so he knows how to use his democratic right and vote.

[1monster]

6. Well, I've been accused of being a bleeding heart liberal since the days

of Ronnie Reagan and even my much more conservative husband is considered to the far left by his Bush-loving coworkers.

I don't think my kid is going to end up being brainwashed by the PTB (Powers That Be).

[Maestro]

2. Abstinence education

breeds ignorance. Let's talk to children like they are humans capable of some critical thought. If the abstinence ladies want to say that about AIDS, they can also say that about STD's that could, even if remote, also be transmitted by the toliet seat. But really the chances are so low, why even bring it up unless it is to scare. Of course that is exactly what abstinence education is about. How disgusting. Let's arm the children with the truth for once.

[1monster]

3. What I would love to do is to throw these damned lying fear mongers

out of the school altogether.

[beam me up scottie]

7. That is exactly the point of absinence education.

They scare the kids to death and then make them feel "dirty" if they decide to become sexually active. There is not one word about what they should if and when they become active and want to prevent pregnancy and std's.
It should be considered a crime because kids are going to get hurt (or dead) by their misinformation.

[BattyDem]

13. "It should be considered a crime because kids are going to get hurt ..."

You're right ... it SHOULD be considered a crime! It's psychological abuse. They're lying to children in order to frighten them into behaving a certain way. How is that any different than threatening children in order to frighten them into behaving a certain way?

When these kids grow up, I bet we'll see some lawsuits blaming these programs for sex and intimacy problems ... or worse. :-(

[beam me up scottie]

16. And how much worse will it get?

How long will we spend trying to rid our schools of this shit after * has toddled off into the sunset, dragging his knuckles behind him?
Will we ever be able to fix this? How about fixing the kids?
I can't stand even thinking about it.

[Not_Giving_Up]

4. Another question you could have asked him...

Would you sit on a toilet seat that had blood on it? Of course not!


This reminds me of my grandmother. My mother liked to keep her parents thinking that she was a sweet innocent little creature. some time during her marriage to my dad, she ame up with crabs. She told my grandmother she caught them by sitting on the toilet at the gas station where my dad worked, reading the newspaper. My grandmother bought it, hook, line, and sinker. She was always paranoid about germs, my mother didn't help matters.

[CornField]

10. That was my first thought as well

Who would sit on a bloody toilet seat?

I remember in 7th grade "sex ed" class we were told not to reuse tampons. WHAT?!? Do people actually take em out, wash em up and try to put em back in?

[Not_Giving_Up]

12. EWWWWW

Did they really have to say that? Of course, my tampon education was my grandmother telling me that they couldn't be used by virgins. When I told her that my best friend was on the swim team, and used them, and was a virgin, she insisted that there were things I didn't know about my friend.

[cally]

27. No, not with tampons but many cultures use natural sponges

and there was a movement to use sponges instead of tampons. They do work well and are both more comfortable and more environmentally friendly. You rinse them out and reuse them. Saves money and the environment.

I was pretty radical in my 20's. :-) My goal is to live my life as radically as I did when I was 20.

[latteromden]

5. Happened in my middle school, too. The teacher strayed from the curriculum

one day, to talk about the TRUTH about homosexuality and about AIDS, and got in trouble. It's absolutely ridiculous.

[dsc]

8. a couple of things

That has to be about the worst misinformation I have ever heard being given out. They should be ashamed of themselves to say the least. But you can keep your kid out of that class altogether. It is usually an opt out system but you can keep him out of the class. Given that quality of instruction I would do exactly that.

[1monster]

19. The parents, as far as I know, haven't even been informed by the school

that this kind of presentation was being given to the students. There were no permission forms (as there were for another forum I sat in on) and no notice given to the parents before or after the event.

[dsc]

31. that is astonishing

I have worked in four different districts in the last decade or two and in all four there was some form of permission slips for any class or forum that was about sex, drugs, etc. I have never heard of a school doing that without permission slips. They are risking a big ass lawsuit.

[1monster]

34. All I know is what my son has told me. I never saw or signed a permission

slip for him to take part in this lesson plan...

[dsc]

35. You should consider suing

after being sure your kid didn't forget to give it to you. Schools have no business taking over sex ed from parents without telling you.

[crispini]

9. Why don't you

run for school board? then you'd have some real pull when they do shit like this.....

[BattyDem]

11. I'd get my child out of that class completely!

He's going to school to learn, not to be fed lies and propaganda about a subject as serious (and as deadly) as AIDS. Just because you told him not to listen to them doesn't mean that some of their negative attitudes about human sexuality won't get into his brain.

These idiots are doing nothing but teaching children to be ashamed of their bodies and their sexuality, as well as scaring them to death about a normal, natural part of human life! They are going to grow up to be sexually repressed adults and that's going to be a disaster for their relationships and/or marriage. :mad:


On edit: Have you talked to other parents about this? Are they aware that their children are getting a daily dose of misinformation and fear? I can't believe any responsible parent would be happy about that. How is it a good thing to lie to children about sex? At some point, they're going to grow up and become sexually active - it's inevitable - so why would anyone want their child to have all the wrong information?

[1monster]

20. This incident took place this morning. I haven't even seen other parents

yet. I will be asking a couple tomorrow after school.

[Maddy McCall]

14. And again I say: people ask me why I am homeschooling?

It's just this kind of indoctrination that caused me to bring my son home.

[LeftyMom]

22. That's exactly what I was thinking!

I'm lucky enough to live in a state with good sex ed (because we don't use federal money for it) but I still can't imagine letting someone else teach my child about sex and STDs. TEaching a kid about sex is hard enough without some idiot teaching him that toilets are dangerous and condoms don't work.

[donheld]

15. An "abstenence-based lecturer" needs smacked

:spank:

[ultraist]

17. AIDS/HIV has increased in teenage children since Bush took office!

These "abstinence programs" (ie faith based misinformation programs) are killing our children. This is not just a homosexual issue anymore. Teens are one of the biggest groups for contracting AIDS/HIV.

There is a new strain of HIV now that develops into full blown AIDS within 6 months and is resistant to any existing drugs.

[beam me up scottie]

21. I know, I read about it yesterday.

I killed my tv and don't read msm, have they even mentioned this?
If the experts are this alarmed, the news of this new strain should scare the hell out of people.
And it makes education (actual aids education, not the bush version) even more vital.

[ISUGRADIA]

18. HIV in blood does not live long at all, it's a very fragile virus

and transmission from a toliet seat would be a 1-1,000,000,000 thing (and the odds are probably more like 1-10,000,000). It doesn't leach into the skin, jeez. It's sad how ignorant some AIDS "educators" are.

[Maestro]

23. Have you seen this?

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/sex/

[Beetwasher]

24. This is FUCKED UP PROPOGANDA

This is the "You can catch VD off a toilet seat" propoganda rehashed....

This is beyond fucked up...

[mtnester]

25. Lucky you were able to stay standing...

I am normally a strong and opinionated Mom, but had my son, when he was 12, asked me that out of the blue, my first 15 second reaction would have been to freak out....then once I was able to BREATHE again, I would have done just what you did.

Take it the next step, let these "educators" and their supervisors know they need to do a better job or get fired.

[cags]

26. My daughter would have laughed through that whole lesson.

This is why parents need to teach thier children about sex, STD's, diseases and pregnancy themselves before the teachers can get to them.
That way they are informed in the first place and can't be misled by an idiot. My 13 yr old would have openly questioned her with facts. Yes she is very outspoken and willing to debate with any teacher, but even a shy kid would have known better if they knew the facts before someone else got first crack at them.

I can only imagine what else they told him. Poor thing

[CatBoreal]

28. If that were my child...

...I would have asked when the next lesson was, sat in on it and hit those idiot abstinence women over the head with every fact I could find. I would laugh in the face of their lies and made sure the kids knew why it was so humourous. And I would be there and do it for every lesson.

I'm so sorry that your son had hear that. I hope you get time to sit down with him and explain a few things. I hope he's not afraid to tell his friends about them either.

Good luck. I hope you're writing the school administration and tearing a strip off of them.

[1monster]

30. Just moments before I read your post, I asked my son when this lady

was going to be in his class again. He said tomorrow. And I happen to have that day off due to a dental appointment. I plan on going.

[CatBoreal]

37. Go girl!

Give 'em Hell...

And I want an update. Good luck!

[cally]

29. Your son is old enough for you to explain that

teachers lie to promote a political agenda. Tell him about abstinence education along with facts about sex.

For a variety of reasons, I chose to not challenge the 9th grade sexual educator. He told lies. It became a joke for my daughter to come home and we would find the truth. Worked for us.

[tralfaz]

32. My first grader came home from school crying

because she had a cut on her finger and she touched her own blood so therefore she thought that she was going to die. We asked why she thought this and she explained to us that the word for the day in her school was AIDS. The teachers tried to teach my 6 year old about how this disease attacks your white blood cells and that you would die from it and they also tried to explain how you could contract the disease.
What 6 year old would have any clue as to what they were trying teach them? Most adults don't have a clue as to what a white blood cell does. We called the principle of the school and he very bluntly told us to take the issue up with the school board. The leader of the school board told us that he knew of the problem and that he was trying to fix the problem. He resigned his position a few weeks later.
This all happened in a small town in Ohio, with a population of about 500 people. We now home school both of our children and have never been happier. I do agree that children need to know about this, but why in elementary school, let alone 1st grade.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[lonestarnot]

36. Kid brought home a sex ed permission slip... I hestitated in signing but

did it. Class isn't until next month, so guess we'll have the birds and bees talk before so he doesn't get deceived. Wish I could attend the class without being noticed. Kid would be embarrassed if I just showed up....