As we've reported at NewsBusters, the MSM have scoffed at the McCain campaign charging Sen. Barack Obama with supporting sex ed for kindergarteners. Time's Joe Klein has gone so far as to call McCain a liar for the ad, although the legislation in question would have meant 5-year-olds would be taught about STDs at the same time they were learning their ABC's.
The way the media have complained about the McCain ad, you'd get the impression the media think no one has ever seriously entertained the notion of teaching kindergarteners about sex.
Yet yesterday, ABCNews.com's World View blog reported on a controversy in the United Kingdom over an illustrated sex ed book geared to 6-year-olds. An excerpt from London-based reporter Philip Victor (emphasis mine):
A U.K. charity has published a new sex education comic book directed specifically at 6- to 7-year-olds, which has angered parenting groups who say it’s up to families to speak to their children about sex.
The FPA, formerly the Family Planning Association, has released a new 12-page booklet titled “Let's Grow With Nisha and Joe” in which the two main characters and their dog introduce kids to the physical and emotional elements of sexual development.
FPA Press Campaign Manager Rebecca Findlay says that sex education for children is “massively important,” and that the publication was developed in response to children’s curiosity. The group says that the target age was chosen to coincide with the English and writing development of 6- and 7-year olds.
Findlay says that “children are asking these normal questions” and that the pamphlet was developed after sending out test comics to schoolteachers and their pupils.
[...]
With the British government currently reviewing sex education in its schools, the Family and Youth Concern released a statement saying “There is no doubt the publication is intended to put pressure on the government”
The interactive pamphlet includes coloring and cartoons, and it is written in a comic book style to engage its young audience. The work also features a section in which children are asked to label the parts of the body, including sexual organs -- a main factor in the outcry.
