If you really want to feel bad, read the comment section. People are defending a sexual pleasure class for kids as young as 9 because its.... "separated by age".... 9yo!!!!
Part 1
My first reaction looking at that tweet is one of disgust that they would be showing sex toys/talking about pleasure to 9 year olds but being that I don't trust anything that I see w/o doing research I had a feeling what that tweet is trying to convey is false with the intent to push a narrative.
The tweet makes it seem like sexual pleasure is being taught to 9 to 18 year olds and each age group is split into groups.
However, if you look at the actual post you'll see the quote:
"Workshops are divided by age and topics will vary for developmental appropriateness"
keyword is developmental appropriateness
meaning the images used by the tweet shared by HMT are misleading used to generate outrage
Part 2
Not wanting to be biased I searched for stories pertaining to this class and found several on conservative media sources, see below.
The owner of a Washington sex shop, who also serves as the director of the local school board, is hosting a pair of sex education workshops for children as young as 9 years old.Jenn Mason, the owner of the Wink Wink Boutique in Bellingham, Washington, and the director of the Bellingham School...
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Below is a quote from the article itself
"The class for 9- to 12-year-olds is an introduction to topics related to relationships, puberty, bodies, and sexuality. We focus on what makes healthy vs. unhealthy friendships and romantic relationships, the science of how puberty works, consent and personal boundaries, defining 'sex,' and discussing why people may or may not choose to engage in sexual activities," she told Rantz. "This course includes understanding the basics of sexual anatomy, including the names and function of body parts related to reproduction and pleasure. We also cover the basics of biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation."
Essentially what is covered for the 9-12 age group has nothing to do with "sexual pleasure" ** but that's what HMT's shared tweet was incorrectly trying to convey. Rather, the course focuses on teaching kids about puberty which is something that has been taught in schools for decades.
**to the extent the original tweet is trying to suggest. I can see posters here saying "the quote you use specifically mentions pleasure, therefore the course covers pleasure"
The reality of this is the class talks about the "names and function of body parts related to reproduction and pleasure" but that does not mean the course is talking about pleasure itself.
Part 3
Now after doing this research I still had the thought that teaching puberty to 9-12 years might be a tad too early but then I thought about my upbringing in the 80s/90s and realized we started to hit puberty in 5th grade through 8th so essentially a 9 to 13 age group depending on when you were born.
After realizing this I googled and found this
Read about the signs of early or delayed puberty, what can cause it and how it can be treated.
www.nhs.uk
"The average age for girls to start puberty is 11, while for boys the average age is 12.
But it's perfectly normal for puberty to begin at any point between the ages of 8 and 13 in girls and 9 and 14 in boys."
In other words, you have the NHS saying that people hit puberty as early as 8 but as late as 14 which aligns with the 9-12 age range.
Part 4
In summation, at first the tweet seemed alarming as there are crazies on both sides but after jumping into the details one realizes the tweet was intentionally misleading.
The course in question is just teaching about puberty to the 9-12 range and that's it.
Now I don't expect this to change anyone's beliefs because most here see what they want to see but the reality is this story isn't what it's made out to be and this is confirmed by the quote from the article in the conservative paper the Washington Examiner.
Added: I haven't looked into what's covered for the other age groups but since most of the focus (on this board) seems to be on the 9-12 group I only covered that.
It's likely the controversial topic/imagery is covered in the older 16-18 group and again that would be appropriate. The difference between who we are in high school compared to say ele/middle is vast.
We essentially go from feeling shame or confusion when we hit puberty, something a class would actually help with, to slowly learning who we are by the time we are in our later high school years.
Edit: I gave an unbiased breakdown of the material shared by HMT and added sources relevant to the topics at hand. I do not expect the majority of the people here to read what I typed with an open mind, rather I expect people to see stuff that's not there and vehemently attack what was typed above. When discussing something like this it's important to not let your biases show and I'd hope there's at least one conservative on here that sees this and goes "Oh, that makes sense"
It's important to be rational and not let yourself get clouded by your emotions and biases so if you read this and feel anger, keep reading the post until you realize there's really nothing to be angry about.
