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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumskansas wants to prosecute teachers who show "harmful materials"--whatever THAT means!
(sorry if this is a dupe. I don't always catch all the rampant stupidity running around loose)
Kansas Wants to Prosecute Teachers Who Show Harmful Materials Whatever That Means
. . . .
Late last week, the Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would make it easier to prosecute teachers, librarians and school principals for materials that are harmful to minors. The move was in response to an incident involving a sex ed poster hung on a middle school classroom door.
Hmm
A kneejerk reaction to teaching preteens about sex? What could possibly go wrong?!
You may be thinking at this point, What, exactly, is meant by harmful to minors? The bill basically takes an I know it when I see it approach to figuring out if something is inappropriate for minors. It requires the imposition of contemporary community standards. Specifically, the bill defines harmful to minors to mean materials that:
(A) The average adult person applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance has a predominant tendency to appeal to a prurient interest in sex to minors;
(B) the average adult person applying contemporary community standards would find that the material or performance depicts or describes nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement or sadomasochistic abuse in a manner that is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors; and
(C) a reasonable person would find that the material or performance lacks serious literary, scientific, educational, artistic or political value for minors
. . . . .
Im not sure about that, but it is serious. Remember, this all came about because of a sex ed poster hung in a middle school. That poster didnt have graphic images of naked bodies. It was merely a list of ways people can show sexual intimacy. According to the Wichita Eagle:
The poster was titled How Do People Express Their Sexual Feelings? and featured a list of 17 behaviors or sex acts, including cuddling, holding hands, massage, kissing, oral sex and anal sex. It was removed after a parent complained, and Shawnee Mission district officials later said in a letter to parents that the curriculum had been suspended pending a detailed review of the material.
. . . . .
And we Kansans seriously need to talk about sex more. Specifically, we need to talk about safe sex more. In 2011, Kansas had the seventeenth highest teen birth rate in the country.
As potentially harmful as this bill is, it gets worse. Youll notice that the bill prohibits material that depicts sexual conduct. This, too, has a definition. It means, among other things, acts
of. . . homosexuality." Whoa. Wait. Acts of homosexuality? What does that mean? Hand-holding? Hugging? Raising kids together? You only have to live in the world to know that gay couples are held to a different standard than hetero couples. Hand-holding might go unnoticed if it was between people of different genders, but become glaringly obvious when two men or two women do it. Will it suddenly be illegal for teachers to expose students to positive depictions of homosexual couples? I think the bill gives cover to people who want to erase gay people from public knowledge.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/kansas-wants-to-prosecute-teachers-who-show-harmful-materials-whatever-that-means.html#ixzz2vWVArbDl
longship
(40,416 posts)That's where this is going to go.
Watch. You'll see.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)there would be wise to understand the Kansas culture which sadly becomes more and more bizarre each year. It is a state held captive by the Koch Brothers and the GOP Right Wing! Democrats are scarce as are moderates. Maybe the next election cycle will change this, but be careful.
jmowreader
(50,580 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)What is the teen birth rate in Kansas?
niyad
(113,776 posts)And we Kansans seriously need to talk about sex more. Specifically, we need to talk about safe sex more. In 2011, Kansas had the seventeenth highest teen birth rate in the country.
and here:
http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/states/ks.html
Brigid
(17,621 posts)I didn't even finish reading the excerpt. Unbelievable.
niyad
(113,776 posts)throw things.
hfojvt
(37,573 posts)does not really need to be singled out
both condom use and birth control pill use are higher in Kansas than the national average.
percent of high school students who have had sex, percent under age 13 who have had sex, and percent who have had sex with four or more partners - all LOWER in Kansas than the national average.
So Kansas needs to be singled out, why? Because of Thomas fu$%ing Frank?
And the teen birth rate over the last twenty years is down by 36% in Kansas (and 49% nationwide).
Omigod, it's a crisis.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)I don't even want to fly over Kansas anymore. What if they become frightened of that scary, science-y thing in the skies that looks like a metal bird? What if they want to shoot it down?
Any major airline routes that fly around Kansas airspace?
okaawhatever
(9,478 posts)firing teachers. I'll bet the union contracts and teaching contracts have a provision that states if you're arrested or charged with an offense they can get rid of you. How convenient. To the bad folks of Kansas, this is a two-fer.
The New Kansas, even Dorothy doesn't want to come home.
treestar
(82,383 posts)and wants the morals of their day back.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)hfojvt
(37,573 posts)ahead of states like Iowa, Delaware, Oregon, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, ... http://www.census.gov/statab/ranks/rank19.html
High school graduation rate is higher than California, Washington, Oregon, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, etc... http://www.americashealthrankings.org/all/graduation
dickthegrouch
(3,188 posts)Most poisonous book on the planet for a minor.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)It's the interpretations of the Bible that are poisonous. For example, WHERE do fundies come out with their anti-abortion stance? What about their pro-death penalty? How do they explain why they choose one way in one situation, and the other in another? And who says what "LIFE" is? The Bible doesn't explain any of that. It's all Bible "interpretations." First they get an agenda, then they browse through the Bible to see if there are fragments of something in there they can splice together and come up with some sort of quote, half-quote, quarter-quote, or anything to justify their agenda.
Bandit
(21,475 posts)The Bible contains everything on their list.
greymattermom
(5,754 posts)What if teachers put Bible quotes up in the classroom. Specific ones like not eating shellfish,etc.
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)live with or around people with guns and kids will be kids (just like sex and drugs, they are going to do it anyway so give them condoms and e-cigs).
And as far as sex - give em a course in practices and procedures (just don't show them any si covers) - knowledge is a good thing.