Ruth Institute Blog

Dr. Michael L. Brown

Caution: Contains descriptions that some may find offensive.

As outrageous as it is to hear about the new sex-ed curriculum for New York City schools, beginning with middle schools, there are some school districts for which the program does not start early enough. And so, in June 2010, the Provincetown, Massachusetts, school board voted unanimously to begin distributing condoms to elementary school children upon the student’s request, beginning in first grade and without parental knowledge or consent. (What possible use could a 6-year-old have for a condom?) Read more…

by Charlie Butts

Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America (CWA) says the truth is that teen birth rates have been dropping for several years now, and the stats from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are good news.

“[Teen birth rates] dropped nine percent. This is about the third year in a row when these have declined,” she reports. “It’s also a record low for younger and older teenagers and for every single race, and that is particularly significant because the black rate has been very high in comparison to other races, and also with Hispanic groups.” Read more…

Dr. Miriam Grossman, campus psychiatrist at UCLA, author of Unprotected and You’re Teaching My Child What?, and keynote speaker for Ruth Institute’s 2010 “It Takes a Family” Conference, appears on FoxNews’s The O’Reilly Factor to discuss New York state’s requirement of sexual education classes for very young children.

Found here.

By Chuck Rogér

Wowsers. Some people have totally lost their minds, particularly regarding the tidbit in the very last paragraph.

by Carolyn Moynihan

British secondary schools are required by law to teach the biological facts of human reproduction in science lessons, but students themselves often say the instruction given is too biological. The facts also speak for themselves: Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe. Read more…

by Bill Bumpas

Supporters for abstinence-based education are applauding a new report that sexual activity among teens is decreasing.

Nearly 70 percent of boys (68%) and girls (67%), ages 15-17, have never had sexual intercourse, according to a survey (2006-2008) released last week by the National Center for Health Statistics.  In addition, 53 percent of boys and 58 percent of girls in the same age bracket have never had any type of sexual contact — up from 46 percent of boys and 49 percent of girls in 2002. The new study also shows that more young adults are choosing abstinence. Read more…

The presentation at the UN Committee on the Status of Women that talked about “orgasm, oral sex and masturbation” in the schools generated a lot of controversy, around the internet and right here at the Ruth blog. One of our permanent commenters suggested that I go listen to the whole speech, and that I would find the original article had misrepresented her.

I think our commenter was correct that Ms. Diane Schneider was not explicitly advocating that “orgasm, oral sex and masturbation” be taught as activities in the school.  However, I don’t think the discrepancy salvages her speech in the slightest. Read more…

I wonder if the geniuses who thought up the idea of giving all children sex ed really thought through all of the possible consequences.

Witness the experience of one Wendy Shalit:

It is very strange to be on the receiving end of all this enlightenment, before the onset of sexual awakening. I remember when the sex educator arrived in my fourth-grade Wisconsin public elementary school classroom, carrying a Question Box, with black question marks all over it. It was our learning tool, she explained. Opening the lid, she pulled out a long white slip of paper and cheerily read: “And the first question is . . . ‘What is 69?’ ” Read more…