The Obama campaign is upset by a McCain ad that takes the senator to task for favoring sex education for kindergartners. Jim Geraghty at NRO claims that the language a bill Obama voted for as an Illinois state senator certainly makes it look like the controversial ad is basically correct. Geraghty quotes from the bill these words:
Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV.
It's one thing to teach children the difference between good touch and bad touch, it's something else to teach them how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. To be sure the bill required that the instruction be "age appropriate" but any discussion of avoiding STDs must perforce address matters of sexual intimacy and prophylaxis if it's to be at all meaningful, so the question is what need has a kindergartner for such information? Are five year olds at an appropriate age to talk about these matters at all?
RLC
