A Washington state mother has filed a complaint against her daughter's school district after she brought home a sexual education book.
Jennifer Swedeoson says she was caught off guard when her 10-year-old daughter, Kaleigh, brought the book home from school.
"I start flipping through -- this is all right -- but then it starts talking more about sex, and I get into it and it's completely too graphic for her," she told Q13Fox.com.
The book, "What's the Big Secret," which is allowed at the Oak Harbor School District, shows how boys and girls differ and talks about "different types of touching."
"This is one of the first that definitely caught my eye, talking about masturbation when you are 10 years old. What do you need to read that for? I'm not so upset about the book itself. I think they should be sending home permission slips, making sure parents are aware that the book is there," she told the website.
The school district says it has never had a problem with offering the book to students until now.
"This book been on the shelves for 10 years, at five different elementary schools. That's 2,500 students a year, that's a lot of kids that had opportunity, and a lot of parents to give their input on it. This is the first time there's been any question about it." assistant superintendent Lance Gibbon told the website.
Gibbon also added that sex-ed classes begin in the fifth grade for Washington state students.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/30/washington-state-mom-files-complaint-school-sex-ed-book/?test=latestnews
I learned sex education during my 5th grade year (Ms. Blakely’s class again) from our gym teacher. The boys were at one end of the gym and the girls who were being taught from an identical film strip (remember those) were at the other end of the gym. Mr. Campbell taught us boys the birds and the bees in dim light under the basketball hoop while Ms. Stewart; the music teacher taught the girls next to the lunch line window. I remember that I wondered then as I do now, why they call sex education the birds and the bees, instead of you know say; the frogs and the chickens, or the dogs and the cats, but that is a question which I believe has no answer.
Mr. Campbell had chosen me to operate the film strip projector, which of course was a high honor for a fifth grader, and the instructions were simple. I was to advance the strip, one frame at a time by turning the dial on the side of the projector. I simply had to wait for his cue and then turn the wheel a notch each time he commanded in order to move the strip forward.
It’s unfortunate to say that I didn’t really learn too much about the frogs and the chickens that particular day in April. I was so completely engrossed in the operation of the film strip projector and turning that little dial that I hardly paid any attention at all to anything Mr. Campbell was saying.
I recall that he would speak for a while and then I would turn the dial and advance the strip. This was followed by him speaking for a while and then I would advance the strip. It was cool! I was cool; and the information rolling across the screen at the simple twirl of that dial was . . . . . well . . . . boring when one compared it to the operation of a film strip projector.
Years later; when my wife was in labor with our first child and we were racing to the hospital, I recall that while I didn’t have a clue as to what I might have done to cause her pregnancy, I was able to turn the dial on the car radio and tune in her favorite station with strategic accuracy and without any hesitation!
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