David’s Blog

I had one of those dad moments a couple of weeks ago. In our oldest's backpack we received notice that a film would be shown to all of the 4th grade boys about the upcoming physical changes. Now? I thought, oh boy… Then, the next sentence read that there would be a preview for parents before school on the day of the premiere.

I arrived, checked in and made my way to the room in the gym, no red carpet. I looked in the room and hesitated, around the walls were balls, cones, flags, etc and set in the middle was a TV on a cart and 3 other parents. Running a little late caused me to enter the room as the anatomy portion began, oh boy! Awkward and quiet would accurately describe the atmosphere (I've heard that the boy's showing was a little more light-hearted and full of laughter). Overall, a pretty harmless, semi-informative film, for the boys, and it gave me a few things to talk about later.

As I reflect back, I am puzzled by the lack of response and the fact that the district introduced the subject at this age, he's just 9! Is it too early? Yes, it should be. No, because they talk on the bus, in the halls and on the playground…and most of that is slang hearsay. Therefore, it seems the district had to assume that nothing would happen at home. In our culture where sex sells and supposedly we're an open village it seems odd that some would stick their head in the sand and hope someone else speaks. Responsibility. This word has far more meaning than wrangling legal ramifications. If no one is responsible what happens next? I pray all parents will be the parent. And, that the home will become more of an environment to teach, talk and guide. I'll be taking the next step from here…oh boy…

This entry was posted on Monday, May 15th, 2006 at 9:08 am and is filed under Uncategorized, kids, responsibility, society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.