Meet the concerned mom who doesn't think kids need sex ed. Then watch The Daily Show's response.
The lack of sex education in Las Vegas schools is no laughing matter. But this clip from "The Daily Show" manages to highlight just how important sex-ed is and how silly it is to think that students don't need it.
These students are asking Las Vegas to get serious about sex ed.
The Las Vegas school district is tangled up in a bitter dispute over sex education. While some schools fail to offer sex education at all, others focus strictly on abstinence. While abstinence is one way to prevent pregnancy, if students want to know more about safe-sex practices, they're out of luck. So "The Daily Show" sat down with a group of local students to find out why they believe sex education in schools is vital.
But not everyone agrees that sex ed should happen at school.
In the interest of fairness, "The Daily Show" also sat down with "Princeton Mom" Susan Patton. Susan is the author of "Marry Smart: Advice for Finding THE ONE" and an outspoken opponent of sex education in schools.
Do kids just want to hear about sex? Or do they actually want to learn?
Turns out, you can have natural sexual urges AND an interest in safe-sex practices!
That's a pretty good question! Since Susan Patton believes that sex ed should happen at home between children and their parents, "The Daily Show" gave her an opportunity to answer.
So what can "Princeton Mom" Susan Patton tell us about HPV?
Here's the thing: Regardless of how you feel about adolescents engaging in sexual activity, teaching young people about safe-sex practices is not encouraging them to have sex. It's teaching them how to be safe IF they choose to have sex.
This quote from 90210's Donna Martin comparing swimming to safe sex says it best: "It's like if you have a swimming pool in your backyard. You can tell your children not to go in it. You can even build a fence around it. But if you know that they're going to find a way into that water, don't you think you ought to teach those kids how to swim?" Well said, Donna. Well said.
Check out the full "Sin city's missing sexual education" segment below.
(Just as a heads-up, while there's nothing particularly graphic in the video, it is about sex and there are some slightly provocative Vegas clips that your boss might not want you watching during work hours.)