DriveThru – Get What You Need

A great deal of interest has been expressed on the former blog regarding International Planned Parenthood’s (IPPF) Stand and Deliver report.  I’d like to address some of the comments I’ve received all at once, so here you go.

How do I substantiate my claim that “young people” in this report includes 10-year-olds?

On page 10 of the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s (IPPF) Stand and Deliver  report, they use  the term “young people” to refer to those who are between 10 and 24 years of age. So, yes, 10-year-old children are considered eligible for IPPF’s “services” for young people.

Why do I “pick on” (not so) poor Planned Parenthood and other liberal-sex groups?

Because sex without boundaries – even with a condom – is dangerous, not only to children, but also to teens and adults.

Planned Parenthood (PP) promotes casual sex, homosexual sex, outer-course, inner-course and most any other course that “freely expresses sexual pleasure.” It’s unconstrained sex without boundaries. Heaven forbid we should “impose tremendous boundaries” on sex by encouraging abstinence or marriage!

In our view, sexuality is not a public playground to be shared, taken for granted, exploited, exposed and abused multiple times by multiple people. But, to PP and casual-sex groups, sex is just that: a public playground.

Research tells us a child’s brain lacks the ability to make fully rational decisions and discern good from bad. Thus, protective boundaries are particularly important for children and sexual behaviors, unless children are to become victims of sexual predators or fall prey to harmful pornographic and sexual addictions.  

Focus on the Family believes  that sex is a sacred union to be shared between one man and one woman for a lifetime. Yes, we proudly support traditional marriage and great sex within that context.

What about sexually active kids?

These kids need their parents’ attention, love and communication ASAP - alongside a qualified doctor and counselor -  to have some very serious conversations about their current actions and future direction. Schools simply handing children condoms does little to reduce or change risky sexual behaviors; rather, it’s the parents who need to initiate this change in direction.

Am I just “over-reacting” and afraid that children “will learn the names of his/her sexual organs?”

Look for yourself, ”young people” will learn MUCH more, to the extent of being suggestive and provocative. 

Consider the following examples:

• Comprehensive Sex Education Curricula review   (Note the references to explicit materials, lack of medical accuracy and lack of effectiveness.)

And if that doesn’t give you an idea of the kind of crude, explicit content on their website, check out this site designed specifically for teens [Warning: crude, explicit content]:

•  takecaredownthere.org  - (video clips)
• plannedparenthood.org/teen-talk - (Masturbation section)
• plannedparenthood.org/teen-talk/- (phone sex, online porn)
• plannedparenthood.org/health-topics - (abortion)

Still want your kids getting Planned Parenthood’s “safe” sex education? You’re the parent, you decide.

The International Planned Parenthood Foundation released a report,  “Stand and Deliver: Sex, Health and Young People in the 21st Century,” which classifies children as “sexual beings” and promotes “pleasurable sexual lives” in children as young as 10 years old – mere sexual objects to be exploited.

This should make parents across the nation feel really comfortable with their school’s Planned-Parenthood-comprehensive-condom-based-safe-sex-if-it-feels-good-to-children curriculum, now shouldn’t it? YIKES! Parents, keep your children and schools far away from the sexually debased Planned Parenthood organization.

Jeanne Monahan, Director of the Center for Human Dignity at the Family Research Council, has perhaps the most concise observations about Planned Parenthood’s true agenda:

“This report isn’t about doing what is right for young people and certainly not about offering them the very best options in life. It is about advancing an ideological agenda that is hostile to traditional families, religious faith and the good of children.

“‘Stand and Deliver’ dangerously oversexualizes children as young as ten. Not only are the recommendations developmentally inappropriate, but they advocate behaviors in ten year-olds that can lead to such disturbing problems as pedophilia and statutory rape. Why can’t Planned Parenthood let kids be kids?

“Polls show parents overwhelmingly believe that sex education should reflect the values taught at home. However, Planned Parenthood’s report downplays the role of parents in transmitting values to their children. …”  Read FRC’s entire press release …

 Parents, you are the primary communicators to children about sex. Be intentional about communicating your family values, and don’t hesitate to express your approval and disapproval of certain behaviors.

More on Planned Parenthood 

• Planned Parenthood’s Campus Crusade
• Leaving Planned Parenthood (Part 1 of 2)
• The Planned Parenthood, Kinsey Morality Heist
• Planned Parenthood’s Origins (chart)
• Condom Cover-Up
• Take Twelve: Top 12 Sexual Myths Refuted
  

Sex is a tough subject to approach with your children, no doubt. You stutter, they squirm. But if parents don’t present the truth about sex and solid family values, plenty of sexually harmful messages are waiting in the shadows, classrooms and school halls.

Recent research in Pediatrics indicates that teen sexual activity is beginning before parents ever approach the subject – not good!

Research Findings:

• Less than one-third of parents had ever talked to their children about reasons for not having sex.
• By the time teens were engaging in genital touching with a partner, only 17% of parents had talked to their girls and 6% to their boys about how to refuse unwanted sexual advances.
• Parents had not yet discussed refusal skills and the importance of not pressuring a partner into sex in about 25% of girls and 40% of boys by the time that they had engaged in sexual intercourse.

The Talk:

Be open, vulnerable, get involved and be real. Don’t be afraid to laugh and admit it’s awkward. This is one of the most important conversations you’ll ever have with your child.

Good resources for quick information:

• Dear Parents – Let’s Talk About Doing
• Before The Talk: Dealing with Our Past
• Talking to Pre-Teen or Teen About Waiting
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
• Sex is never “safe,” even with a condom or the pill
• The Medical Institute- information on sexually transmitted diseases
• The Medical Institute FAQ
• STD Wizard can calculate risks of sexual behaviors (a real eye-opener for teens)
• Trouble with pornography? Visit Pure Intimacy
• Tough questions, good answers
• Teen Sexual Behavior Quick Facts
• Oral Sex Quick Facts

Yet more evidence revealing the dark side of GLSEN–the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network—has surfaced. (GLSEN is the group founded by President Obama’s “safe school’s czar,” Kevin Jennings.)

At issue this time is a GLSEN fundraiser featuring a theatrical play called Santa Claus is Coming Out!

GLSEN’s fundraiser invitation says the play depicts “Santa in his heartfelt struggle to reconcile his romantic relationship with Italian toy maker Giovanni Geppetto.” Pictures on a Web site promoting the production depict Santa in not-so-subtle sexually suggestive situations. The play also mocks those who support traditional values.

It’s sad that GLSEN, which claims that it wants to protect kids, has chosen to use a fundraising tool that perverts the innocence of Christmas and sexualizes the longtime, child-revered icon of Santa Claus.

Public comments made by the play’s writer and performer, Jeffrey Solomon,  provide more enlightening insight into the true agenda of homosexual activists and groups like GLSEN.

In recent interviews, Solomon explained that he “was inspired to write Santa Claus is Coming Out by his research into the parents’ rights movement to keep gay issues out of the classroom.”  He said the central message of his play is “a challenge to speak truthfully to children.” What is his version of “speaking truthfully?” Consider this anecdote Solomon shared:

I was dressed as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, and I had a sign saying ‘Rudolph Supports Sexual Diversity.’ And the owner of the pharmacy on Commercial Street came out [shouting]. ‘I’ve got kids inside. Get out of here. They’re asking questions. I don’t want to see that. I don’t want to see that sign.’ … We love this lie of Santa Claus and when we mess with that ‘they’ [the anti-gay activists] get very upset. The same summer I was promoting the play, and I had the poster ‘Santa Claus is Coming Out.’ A straight couple with a very young boy about 7 asked me directions, and the kid was kind of looking at the poster. Suddenly, the mother clenched her hands over his eyes as I was giving them directions, and she held them there the whole conversation. And it’s very funny. In both these instances, the play is playing out in front of me.”  (“Santa Claus is Coming Out: An Interview with Actor-Writer Jeffrey Solomon,” by Deirdre Donovan, Nov. 29, 2009, TheaterScene.net)

Clearly homosexual activists like Solomon have no qualms about using shock tactics to expose children to homosexuality.  And it’s sad that GLSEN promotes these tactics.  Apparently, GLSEN wants to have it both ways: On one hand, it wants to be perceived as a mainstream group for public schools that’s worthy of parents’ trust. On the other, it wants the freedom to desensitize kids and attack parents’ God-given rights to protect their innocence.

Warning: Graphic content included below.

In states where gay activists are pushing hard to legalize same-sex marriage, we keep hearing the same claim: This will not have an impact on our public schools.

That claim is simply untrue, and we need look no further than Massachusetts for evidence to the contrary.

Massachusetts was the first state to legalize full-fledged gay marriage. Not long after it was legalized, National Public Radio (NPR) featured an interview with an eighth-grade teacher, Ms. Allen, who was exuberant about her new-found freedom to talk about homosexuality in the classroom.

“In my mind, I know that, ‘OK, this is legal now.’ If somebody wants to challenge me, I’ll say, ‘Give me a break. It’s legal now,’ ” she told NPR.

The NPR reporter went on to explain that due to the gay marriage debate, Allen now discusses “gay sex” with students “thoroughly and explicitly with a chart.”

Allen explained in detail exactly how she explains this chart to kids: “All right. So can a woman and a woman kiss and hug? Yes. Can a woman and a woman have vaginal intercourse?, and they will say no. And I’ll say, ‘Hold it. Of course, they can. They can use a sex toy. They could use’—and we talk—and we discuss that. So the answer there is yes.” (From: "Debate in Massachusetts over how to address the issue of discussing gay relationships and sex in public school classrooms,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, Sept. 13, 2004.)

It’s also disturbing to hear what’s happening at the elementary level in that state. Consider the parents in Lexington, Massachusetts, who complained that their kindergarten and second-grade age kids were exposed to storybooks introducing them to the idea of homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

Even more concerning were the school officials’ response to those parental concerns, as reported by The Associated Press: “Officials there say that since same-sex marriage is a part of life in Massachusetts, it comes up naturally and it’s impossible to notify parents every time the issue is discussed.”

“It certainly strengthens the argument that we need to teach about gay marriage because it’s more of a reality for our kids,”  Lexington Schools Superintendent Paul Ash said. (“Gay Marriage Foes Face Issue in Schools,” Associated Press, May 5, 2006.)

In light of these facts and public news accounts, is there really any serious question that legalizing gay marriage will tangibly and concretely affect our public schools? It’s simply disingenuous to claim otherwise.

Parents may be surprised to realize that gambling machine manufacturers are creating video slot machines that imitate the video games little Jimmy and Alice playing in the living room. Spider Man, Hulk, Superman? Yep, they’ve got most any video gambling machine imitation of the games your kids currently play at home.

The difference? Video slots take your money – up to $54 dollars a minute in a nickel slot, as a matter of fact, and even more online.

A recent study out of Australia found that teens who “game” regularly may be more likely to develop social characteristics that lead to problem gambling. But it’s not so much the physical act of playing video games as it is the lack of parental supervision. ”[T]he sorts of kids who are playing video games probably do so because they’ve got less parental supervision …  They’re probably bored; they probably don’t have a lot of structured activity in their life,” said one of the researchers.

Dean Bryden began gambling at age 14 and his habit led him to spend $180,000 in a single year. ”It’s an adrenaline rush for people,” he said. ”I think the internet poker is a big thing because you don’t have to be over the age of 18; it doesn’t matter how old you are.” Just one more reason not to legalize Internet gambling in the U.S. and for parents to interact with – and closely supervise – their kids’ activities.

• Help for parents: Gambling Is Not Child’s Play
• Read more on Childhood and Adolescent Gambling

There’s a place where you’ll find both kids and criminals: online casinos.

Federal prosecutors just indicted a Canadian resident on charges of bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling crimes, allegedly related to illegally processing more than $350 million for Internet gambling operations. Crime and corruption are no strangers to gambling, but for parents who doubt their children would ever engage in online gambling, think again.

Some may recall the story of Greg Hogan, Sophomore Class President at Lehigh University, who became addicted to online gambling and turned criminal to support his new-found vice. More recently, a South African dad was shocked to find that his 17-year-old son had lost R30,000 ($3,743 USD) by gambling only two hours online.

In Canada, where Internet gambling has been legalized, researcher Dr. Derevensky of McGill University finds that teens and “tweens” are logging onto Web-based casinos in huge numbers and little is being done to address the problem.

“There’s a lack of general awareness that gambling can become a problem amongst teens,” says Derevensky. Rates of problem gambling are two to three times higher in adolescents than adults, and many addicted adults began gambling between the ages of 10 and 13.

Canadian minors virtually have unrestricted access to online casinos. Teens lie about their age by checking a box that “confirms” they are 18. Using the “honesty policy” for gambling? Deception and exploitation are king. Internet gambling: dangerous playground for kids and criminals.

Between Congressional actions on “hate crimes,” mandated abortion coverage in healthcare reform legislation and the Sotomayor nomination to the US Supreme Court, this blog needs a lighter post.  So, here’s one out of Great Britain:

 A Telegraph newspaper article highlights the results of a book that aims to put a monetary value of what we value most.  Before you scroll away, the findings are interesting as authors Steve Henry and David Alberts (You Are Really Rich, You Just Don’t Know It Yet) reveal what most people already know – that money isn’t everything.  

 For the book, a research group asked more than 1,000 people what made them happy, and then ranked those findings with a calculated monetary value ( converted in this post from British Pounds to US Dollars) derived from how they’d feel about winning the lottery.   

At the top of the list is good health, roughly valued at $295.  Hearing the words, “I love you,” is the next highly valued experience at $267.  Other top rated experiences include having children ($202), spending time with family ($180) and laughing ($177).  

The list goes on but the point is made:  People still highly value family, children and interactions in those relationships – the very elements of life we promote here at Focus on the Family.   So, even in these tough economic times, you can “spend” generously on your friends and family.  A simple “I love you” is worth a lot.