Sex Education in the Schools: Pros and Cons

By Bruce Nappi

Sex Education in the Schools explores the emotional issues that drive the sex education debate in the U.S. It summarizes the pros and cons; then digs into the hidden meanings and human emotions that produce the misinformation and divisiveness. Unfortunately, those issues have not changed much since the book was first written in 1986, making this second edition just as relevant in 2010.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bruce Nappi
• Release date: Sep 14, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452380193

Bruce Nappi

In 1964, two Eagle Scouts were selected by national competition to accompany U.S. Navy explorers on an expedition to the North Pole. Bruce was one of them. He graduated from MIT in 1969 after 4 years with both BS and MS degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics – yes, a true MIT rocket scientist. His 40 year career included: 7 years in government labs - 4 years weapon systems, 3 years fusion power systems; 14 years as a small business engineering executive developing robots, computer systems, and medical instruments; 8 years in the hospital environment developing advanced medical systems; 6 years consulting for small businesses; and 5 years as director of the medical education simulation center at U. Florida, College of Medicine in Jacksonville. While there he co-founded the first all medical middle-high school in the U.S.Like the Journey of Discovery that Darwin made on the Beagle and Einstein made into the cosmos, his 40 year very diverse career at the “bleeding edge” of technology led to many major discoveries. But, unlike the joys of exploring flora, fauna and the mysteries of the cosmos, his journey took him through a quagmire of lies, corruption and incompetence. He looked for wisdom; but found mostly superstition. He kept asking himself, “how could society even function with so much misinformation?” He came to realize that the real frontier for society’s passage into a just and beautiful world wasn’t in some far off frozen place. It was here, surrounding us - like a fog - holding our society hostage. Searching to understand this fog took him to the fundamentals of knowledge. And like Darwin and Einstein, he uncovered some very profound insights which could allow society to finally answer some of the greatest unanswered questions of the ages.Bruce lives in Massachusetts and continues to focus on his life long pursuit to understand the meaning of life. Others can join that effort by participating in the work of the A3 Society (A3society.org) and the A3 Research Institute (A3RI.org). You can contact him directly through those organizations.

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Sex Education in the Schools: Pros and Cons

By Bruce Nappi

Second Edition

Published by Bruce Nappi at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 by Bruce Nappi

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

First Edition Copyright 1988 by Bruce Nappi

MILLENIUM BOOKS, Reading, Ma. 01867 (no longer in print)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword to the second edition

Foreword to the first edition

Introduction to the first edition

PART 1 - THE OBJECTIONS

Chapter 1 - The Stated Objections

Chapter 2 - The Unstated Objections

Chapter 3 - The Human Factor

Chapter 4 - Lack of Self Direction

Chapter 5 - Pride - Ignorance of Sexuality

Chapter 6 - Fear - An Unreasoning Fear of Sex

Chapter 7 - Security - Parents Don't Want Their Kids to Grow Up

Chapter 8 - Power - Competitiveness and a Violence Orientation

Chapter 9 - Revenge - Resentment for Having to Repress Sex

Chapter 10 - The Institutional Factor

Chapter 11 - Religious Oppression

Chapter 12 - Government Repression

PART 2 - THE SUPPORT

Chapter 13 - The Stated Support (Rebuttals to the Objections)

Chapter 14 - Knowledge Stimulates Behavior

Chapter 15 - Sex Ed Destroys Morality

Chapter 16 - Morality and Values Should be Taught in the Church

Chapter 17 - Morality and Values Should be Taught at Home

Chapter 18 - Sex is Sinful, Delicate, and Not to be Discussed at All

PART 3 - THE FUTURE

Chapter 19 - Emerging Views

Chapter 20 - AIDS

Chapter 21 - The Forest vs. the Trees

22 - References

23 - About the Author

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Foreword to the second edition

The first edition was originally published in 1988. Do to my inability to find publishing support, it was self-published. The whole concept of sexuality at that time was still a taboo. I searched extensively for a publisher, but was repeatedly told NO. So, I printed it myself. I didn’t have much luck selling it either. The story about how the book came to be written in the foreword to the first edition explains this. As a result, most of the copies that were distributed were sent out free to people making strides to address the problems of sex education in our culture. The reason I have re-released the book at this time, 2010, is that, regarding our cultural attitudes to sex and sex education, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED! Sure, the media parades sex everywhere: magazines, TV, movies; but the portrayals are very misleading. Behind closed doors, in our homes and institutions, as I said, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED! So the message presented in this book still applies. That message is a summary of the attitudes that pervade our culture and the misinformation behind them.

Bruce Nappi 2010

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Foreword to the first edition

This book started out as a study of the status of sex education in the schools in Massachusetts. Much to my surprise, I immediately ran into numerous obstacles just tracking this information down and ultimately found strong resistance from almost everyone I contacted helping compile the information. We are led by politics and our training in school to believe that our social institutions are run with a reasonable level of competence. Despite repeated scandals and exposes, and somehow, despite the negative picture presented to us by a never ending saga of bureaucratic incompetence, each of us continues to be blind to it. I guess it’s more fair to say we are in a state of denial due to our frustration at not being able to fix it. And through this denial, we actually expect that our social institutions will exhibit reasonable levels of responsibility. People in leadership positions in the state department of education, for example, should know what is going on in the individual city schools. People in leadership positions in the state department of health, for example, should know what is going on in the local departments of health. At least I expected to find these elements.

In seeking to understand the resistance which appeared everywhere, a totally new view of reality emerged. In the area of education, our social institutions, and also private commercial and educational efforts, do not present a coordinated effort to deliver education. Quite the opposite is true.

What I found:

1. Federal, state, county and local government have no integrated programs in either sexuality instruction, related health instruction or social development instruction. In most cases, the different levels of government are only casually aware of what the others are doing. UNLESS!! of course, there is money to be had. But then, even with money available, the local efforts are relatively uninformed about programs of the state and federal agencies, and the higher level agencies do not effectively promote their programs.

2. University and private programs do not admit to or support or contribute to coordinated efforts among themselves. Publish or perish is the rule. In the blink of an eye, a bibliography of 10,000 books (this is not an exaggerated number), reports and articles on sex education could be produced, undoubtedly each referencing the others in an endless circle.

3. Experts cordially agree to disagree, retreating into numerous cliques and institutional bulwarks. This, however, is not interpreted as enlightened academic debate by the average person. It is viewed as social experimentation, imposed by an elite and distant college of liberal academics on the rest of us - particularly the poor and those controlled by their dependence on government welfare. The average person’s response to this is not empathy but hostility and it appears as a call to arms to defend themselves by hiding behind the righteousness of any particular dogma they currently find themselves aligned with.

4. People do not have available social mechanisms by which to collectively search for common solutions to social problems. The current practice, in education generally, and of law and business specifically, is predatory competition and adversary confrontation. Two-party politics is an adversary confrontation.

5. The practices of society in general, such as establishing laws regulating sex, cultural repression of sex, and suppression of sex related ideas and behaviors, has been going on since society began. Recently, a wave of new knowledge has arisen concerning sex physiology, technique, psychology and sociology. But we have yet to observe even the most meager philosophical (as distinct from theological) additions to our knowledge of mechanisms for resolution of social differences.

6. Almost every facet of the movement promoting responsible sexuality is unaware of their true social obstacles.

7. Almost every institution or social group with programs in sexuality is proceeding INDEPENDENTLY on its own course, and is reluctant to resolve