What to Tell the Children

‘MAINSTREAM” sex educators tend to view their task as a comprehensive one: They lump almost all subjects in with sex ed, and start the curriculum as early as kindergarten; the younger the kids, after all, the easier they are to influence. Technical skills are imparted early: The average age at which a child is taught to use a condom is 11.8 years.

But those who stock cucumbers, bananas, and wooden penises in elementary schools aren’t the only ones hoping to teach children about sex. Abstinence (before marriage) has become the guiding principle of sex education in a growing number of school districts, and many of its advocates, too, have embraced the younger-is-better philosophy. They also agree with their looser colleagues that sexuality does not concern sex acts alone: It involves—and therefore must be taught with an eye toward—” the whole child.” The result is a district-by-district, state by-state battle between two camps for the chance to indoctrinate this whole child.

‘MAINSTREAM” sex educators tend to view their task as a comprehensive one: They lump almost all subjects in with sex ed, and start the curriculum as early as kindergarten; the younger the kids, after all, the easier they are to influence. Technical skills are imparted early: The average age at which a child is taught to use a condom is 11.8 years.

But those who stock cucumbers, bananas, and wooden penises in elementary schools aren’t the only ones hoping to teach children about sex. Abstinence (before marriage) has become the guiding principle of sex education in a growing number of school districts, and many of its advocates, too, have embraced the younger-is-better philosophy. They also agree with their looser colleagues that sexuality does not concern sex acts alone: It involves—and therefore must be taught with an eye toward—” the whole child.” The result is a district-by-district, state by-state battle between two camps for the chance to indoctrinate this whole child.