Sex and Blood

So Lee Goldberg has a post on his site today about sex education in schools. Oh man, does he ever hit the nail on the head! It's a very strange aspect of the American psyche that we are so terrified of this very simple act. (leftovers from our Puritan founders perhaps?) People will go miles out of their way to avoid so much as a mention of this subject with their eight year old, while they haven't the slightest qualm about letting him watch "Blade II" on television.

Hello!!!!!!

Did I miss something here? When did we decide as a nation that it's alright for kids to watch a few hundred people sliced, diced, burned, mutilated, and pureed but NOT (God forbid!) to see a naked breast? (Oh my Lord, Martha, get the kids out of the room!! This dang fool's talkin' about S... E... X!) Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those nuts who thinks we need to take all the violence out of our children's lives and let them watch nothing but "Barney" re-runs until they're eighteen, but the double standard confuses the hell out of me. This is a running argument I have with the wife. I let the boy sit with me and watch every documentary on reproduction and all the National Geographic shows on South American tribal mating rituals on cable. (No, I do not watch them just for the naked women! Well, maybe a little bit...) She completely freaks when she sees the naked folks on the TV. At the same time, she will sit with him and watch "Jaws", "Blade", and the "Terminator" films without batting an eye. What is it folks think is going to happen when a child knows about sex? Is it going to make him a sex fiend at the tender age of seven years old? (Sorry folks, they just ain't got that much interest in it yet!) Somehow, the human race survived millenia with children who undertood sexual activity from a very young age and thought little about it. It was nothing more than another aspect of adult life they never quite understood (like eating vegetables!)

Kids are curious by nature. They want to understand things. They really want to know about the things you keep from them because that's gotta be the really good stuff! My son is eleven. We had "The Talk" when he was only seven, because he brought the subject up, and I gave him honest answers. Ever since, it's been a matter of indifference to him. He knows how it works and why folks do it, but he is much more interested in the latest LOTR video game coming out on the market than he is in sex. This should be a non-issue in this day and age. Teach the kids what they need to know (check your own neurosis at the door, please!) and move on with your life. It's how you got here, your kids got here, and how their kids will get here some day. Knowledge leads to understanding: repression leads to perversion. It's as simple as that.

On to other things . . . As expected, I got no writing done last night, the Boy Scouts kept me too busy. I did get home in time to watch "The Shield" though. That is one intense show! The Blood Mobile is at my office today and -as always- I volunteered to give blood. Had some trouble though; the ladies could not find a vein in my arm to take blood from! (Damn, I know folks think I'm heartless, but this is ridiculous!) They dug around in my arm for a good two minutes with that large-bore cannon they call a needle but no luck. Strange, I'm usually one of their better clients. I always do the double platlet donation (where they take two pints of blood, remove the red cells and then pump one pint of the liquid back into you. it's a pretty neat process actually.) and they've never had any issues before.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Give blood. It saves lives. Maybe your own.
(We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog . . .)

Tonight I have to do the In-Law's taxes. Luckily, they're mostly retired and it should go quickly so I should (hopefully) get some work in on GS.

Later!