Friday, July 20, 2007

Obama's Sex Ed Ideas Are Foolish...But is Romney the Right One to Criticize?

When Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama reaffirmed to Planned Parenthood this week that he believes elements of sex education should begin in kindergarten, Republican Mitt Romney saw an opening -- and he pounced.

"I was governor four years,' said Romney. "I never had one person coming to me and say, 'You know what, governor, I'm concerned about something.' What's that? 'I'm concerned about sex education. I'm concerned my kids aren't learning enough about sex.' I never heard that."

Romney may have never heard that because Massachusetts -- the state where he served as governor from 2003 to 2007 -- has a decidedly progressive sex education curriculum. Under the state's non-binding framework, school districts can begin working towards the state's sex education goals as early as pre-kindergarten.

By the end of the fifth grade, it not only encourages schools to teach children the basics about puberty and the reproductive system, it also encourages them to know how to define "sexual orientation using the correct terminology (such as heterosexual, and gay and lesbian)." Before the end of fifth grade, the Massachusetts framework also aims to teach children about inappropriate touching.


While Romney had absolutely nothing to do with the development of the state's sex education curriculum, which was put into place more than three years before he became governor, Romney senior advisor Eric Fehrnstrom confirmed to ABC News that Romney did not take any efforts to undo it either...


Here's more from ABC News.