America's Fears For Preteen - Pregnant

Question of the day: in which country has the dictionary just been banned for the danger it poses to the morals of the young?

“We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.” – John F. Kennedy

A parent complaint that Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition (published in 1994) in her son’s classroom at Oak Meadows Elementary contained the term and definition for “oral sex” prompted school officials in the Menifee Union School District (California) to pull all copies of the book from its fourth and fifth grade classrooms last week. This was reported in January 2010 article, Menifee USD pulls dictionaries due to explicit word . A father was said to remark, “It is not such a bad thing for a kid to have the resources to look up a word he may have even heard on the playground, and get the ‘correct’ definition. Where do we draw the line? What are they going to do next, pull encyclopedias because they list parts of the human anatomy like the penis and vagina?"

In the last 11 years or more, New Jersey lost 113 Catholic schools that accommodated 44,300 students, according to the National Catholic Educational Association in Washington, D.C. The New Jersey Public School system is leasing the empty classrooms. All crucifies and religious symbols were removed. Have to keep God and state separate. BUT it was reported the public schools cannot teach sex education on Catholic property. Many students are bused to a public building for the sex education class.

Just one example, preteen and teen pregnancy has been a concern in Perth Amboy, NJ, a city of 50,000 that is one of New Jersey's economically poorer school districts. In 2005, the last year for which data is available, 55 girls ages 10 to 17 gave birth, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services.

In the news June 2, 2010, more than 40% of unmarried U.S. teenagers or approximately 4.3 million teen males and females, have had sex at least once. For the full report, visit the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report was issued yesterday by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. More amazingly, one in five teen girls and one in four teen boys who had sex believed they would be delighted if they or their significant other got pregnant. Girls who started having sex when they were younger were more likely to amass more partners, according to National Survey of Family Growth.

The sample of Sexually Transmitted Disease - CDC:

Morbidity

• Number of new syphilis cases: 40,920 (2007)
• Number of new Chlamydia cases: 1,108,374 (2007)
• Number of new gonorrhea cases: 355,991 (2007)

Source: Health, United States, 2009, table 47

Morbidity

• Number of new AIDS cases: 35,962 (2007)

Source: Health, United States, 2009, table 48

Since none of these stats have dropped to zero, sex education is still in demand.

What information is provided on self-examinations – not just breast self-exam.  Testicular Self-Examination for males over the age of 14 is a monthly self-exam of the testicles and an effective way of becoming familiar with this area of the body.  It enables the detection of testicular cancer at an early -- and very curable – stage, BUT only if the exam is done.

According to The National Cancer Institute, testicular cancer forms in tissues of the testis (one of two egg-shaped glands inside the scrotum that make sperm and male hormones). Testicular cancer usually occurs in young to middle-aged men. Two main types of testicular cancer are seminomas (cancers that grow slowly and are sensitive to radiation therapy) and non-seminomas (different cell types that grow more quickly).

Approximate new cases and deaths from testicular cancer in the United States in 2009:
Morbidity

·         New cases: 8, 400

·         Deaths: 380

Educated guess of the number of incest victims in the United States vary. These inconsistencies can be attributed to the reality that incest remains an extremely under-reported crime.  Time and again, force from family members -- in addition to intimidation or pressure from the abuser -- results in tremendous reluctance to reveal abuse and to subsequently obtain help (Matsakis, Aphrodite. (1991). When the Bough Breaks . Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.)

Incest has been cited as the most common form of child abuse. Researches conclude that 43% of the children who are abused are injured by family members, 33% are abused by someone they know, and the remaining 24% are sexually abused by strangers (Hayes, Robert. (1990, Summer). "Child Sexual Abuse." Crime Prevention Journal .). Other research indicates that over 10 million Americans have been victims of incest.

 

 “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime…” – Justice Potter Stewart, dissenting Ginzberg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463 (1966)

There’s advertising censorship for articles on medical condition and sexual behaviors written with medically correct language. The articles are not graphic novels or explicit sexual stories. The topics reflect what’s happening in America today. They include reference and resources to nationally known medical authorities, professional organizations and higher education facilities. Using correct terminology especially in the title seems to make advertisers uncomfortable. There are sweets notes left – “Your article may not be in compliance with advertising policy.”

In the meantime, somewhere there is a teen sexting. In a 2008 survey of approximately  1,300 teenagers and young adults of both males and females on Cosmogirl.com sponsored by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy , 20% of teens (13-19) and 33% of young adults (20-26) sent nude or semi-nude photographs of themselves electronically. Furthermore, 39% of teens and 59% of young adults sent sexually explicit text messages.  

On the other side of town there’s an end of the school year party, and the fainting game is played.  The fainting game (choking game and a wide variety of local slang names as Blackout, jeu du foulard, Würgespiel, Doctor death, Rocket Ride), refers to deliberately restricting oxygen to the brain with the purpose of inducing euphoria.

"Ideas are only lethal if you suppress and don't discuss them. Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. Banning books shows you don't trust your kids to think and you don't trust yourself to be able to talk to them." - Anna Quindlen