I just saw this commercial that was like, "You don't need to panic when you talk to your kids about sex." and there's this guy, and he's trying to get to his daughter but he's miming invisible walls and shit, and she's like nine years old.

"You do need to talk to us, though.
You don't have to be explicit.
You don't need to tell us about the parts.
Just tell us how you feel.
Tell us not to have sex.

PAID FOR BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES"

I mean I can't even fucking believe that our government is STILL encouraging ignorance about sex-- "don't tell us about the parts, just tell us not to"?! I mean what the fuck is that?! It doesn't even WORK! So many CONCLUSIVE STUDIES have shown that just telling your kids not to have sex isn't going to WORK. Kids who want to have sex WILL HAVE SEX. Not educating them about it DOES NOT STOP THEM. It just keeps them from using channels to protect themselves from STDs and being mentally prepared for the actual emotional impact! I'm sorry I'm being graphic but it's really frustrating because people are really perverting the spirit of their faith-- I keep hearing stories about girls who have pledged to save their virginities, so they're having anal sex instead because it's not "real sex," which is just confusing because yeah it is and YOU NEED TO BE SAFE ABOUT IT.

I'm all for abstinence, really, I am! I really encourage girls and boys to wait for sex, I think it's great for people to wait until they're ready, whether that means marriage or finding yourself in a relationship you feel like you're ready to take the next step in, WHATEVER. It's your body. But you also have a right to know how it works, and how to protect yourself when you make that decision BECAUSE IT IS YOUR BODY AND YOU DESERVE TO BE SAFE AND HEALTHY. It's absolutely baffling why the US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN FUCKING SERVICES would encourage the denial of that right. I am ABSOLUTELY fine with schools teaching abstinence alongside other birth control methods, I think that's really important because I will readily admit that at sixteen I was not ready to have sex and it's good to teach kids that [i]not being ready is OK, and normal.[/i] But there are kids who are ready, or who feel they're ready, or who will be ready and won't know everything they should know before getting into it with another human being, and there are kids who are just going to have sex anyway whether they're ready or not and that happens WITH OR WITHOUT ABSTINENCE ONLY EDUCATION.

It's not even just about sex, but what can happen after. STDs and pregnancy and sometimes emotional trauma because yeah, people push it too hard. But people push it too hard IN THE MEDIA, AND IN REAL LIFE, NOT IN SCHOOL. But these kids don't know about their rights to their health, they might not even realize there's a problem if they start showing symptoms of something they don't even know is a disease. Kids will have sex, no matter what they're taught. They will. It's not about nine year olds, they haven't even hit puberty (although there's an alarming trend where younger girls are having sex more frequently now-- guess where), but kids who HAVE hit puberty and are experiencing a fuckton of new feelings they have a right to know how to deal with.

No one needs to feel guilty for being human. I mean, jesus, it's the biological imperative, and they should have the right to understand their feelings and interpret them in a way that best suits them.

I'm sorry I just practically wrote an essay, have a related Onion article http://www.theonion.com/content/news/study_abstinence_only_lunch