A “sexual harassment and assault prevention” consultant is advocating for the Boy Scouts of America to offer a merit badge in “sexual ethics” to “teach a boy competencies in managing his sex drives.”
“Whether a person is gay, straight, old, young, male, female or trans, ethical sexual conduct is hard to achieve,” Carolyn Chalmers, a former director of the Office for Conflict Resolution at the University of Minnesota, wrote in a piece for the Star Tribune on Tuesday.
“Sex drives are tough to tame for most people – and few abusers are evil,” she continued.
(See — and here I thought abusers were evil. I mean, abusing someone seems like a pretty evil thing to do, right? Wow, I’m learning so much already!)
#related#Chalmers definitely has high hopes that such a badge would teach Boy Scouts to be just the kind of sexperts our society needs to keep everyone safe.
“Opening their ranks to gay leaders is an overdue and welcome step,” she wrote. “They can extend their leadership by helping change the social norms that allow sexual abuse to flourish.”
In addition to her job at the University of Minnesota, Chalmers also “has been a consultant on sexual harassment and assault prevention to Carleton College,” according to her bioline in the article. It is not clear whether or not she is still performing that role.