High school newspaper's "sex" edition causes uproar.

[LiberalHeart]

Folks in New Hampshire are getting their panties in a twist over a student-written school paper that looks at sex (gasp). The edition in question was written without adults looking over the kids' shoulders, except for the advisor guiding them along -- but now the freedom of the press is getting trampled by some people who are aghast that women kiss other women, and so on, and so forth.

http://newsgrinder.blogspot.com/2007/03/sex-issue-of-hi...

[Deep13]

1. I'm sure we all agree that the best thing for students to do...

...is to bury their heads in the sand, repress their feelings and pretend sex does not exist. Any doubts should be resolved by repeating the name of our Lord and saviour 100 times.

Hey, it works for me. Now where's that apple pie?

[LiberalHeart]

2. As I recall, at their age I never, ever thought about sex.

That's what I told my parents.

[Hobarticus]

3. Matter of fact, I only learned about sex from the internets. eom

[Deep13]

5. I hope you don't believe everything Tom Servo told you. nt

[Deep13]

4. Nope, me neither.

I never thought about it. Instead, I enjoyed cutting myself. (No, not really.)

[karlrschneider]

6. So much for "Live Free or Die"

I seem to recall that's NH's motto...

[Bicoastal]

7. I actually would not want a regular sex column or feature...

...in a high school paper.

I thought this all through before actually reading the article, and I'd say this is not the case here--it was a "special edition" of a school newspaper, and the articles themselves seem fairly benign.

But sexual politics are way different in high school than they are in college--in many ways, they're a hundred times more vindicative and judgemental. With a sex advice column, people are more likely to know who you are, and once your anonymous cover is blown, other students can and will make your life a living hell after reading something they judge to be provocative. Then, of course, since these are minors, the whole legal aspect comes into play... In contrast, in college, by and large no one really cares who you're sleeping with and/or how often you've "done the deed"--or whether you've done it at all.

Merely talking about sex is perfectly appropriate for just about anybody, but talking about actual high schoolers at a particular school doing the deed? As I remember back then (and it wasn't too long ago), we had enough social faux pas and studying to worry about without the addition of a "Savage Love" for teenagers to muddy up the waters.

[Blackhatjack]

8. You know what a Bush Approved 'sex edition' of a High School Paper Looks Like?

Paper Name

Headline: "Todays Special Edition is about <censored>"

Feature Articles Inside:
<censored>

Main Story:

"Today we will take this opportunity to discuss <censored>. While controversial issues like <censored> have arisen, we wanted to get the accurate information out that <censored>. We will then conclude by discussing alternatives to <censored> which include <censored> and abstinence.

<snip>

We hope today's issue has been informative. For more information contact <censored>.

[AnneD]

9. As a School Nurse....

I am here to tell you that they know as much as you do or even more as far as the how to's. I think a factual column is in order. I also think it should be strongly peppered with relationship advice. We are so worried about giving out the how to info that we ignore the relationship info. We don't empower kids to say no for the right reasons, we don't tell them what is accepted in relationship, we don't teach them that there is nothing wrong with 'going solo', that not everyone likes the opposite sex, taboos ( like child porn or sex) are there for a reason, and health issues related to sex. We don't explain that in addition to being physically ready, you have to be mentally ready too and most teens are not mentally ready.

Folks hair would curl if they knew what I deal with on a daily basis.