Innocence

There is absolutely no reason why kindergartners need to know about AIDS. There is absolutely no reason any child younger than fifth grade needs to know about anything to do with sex. No fifth grader needs to have any idea what a condom is. But the public schools of New York State are telling them about these things. Children have a very limited number of years to be children as it is. Why are we making that time even shorter?
Prominent politicians, authors, movie stars, etc. seem to have no problem foisting adult problems and responsibilities on very young children. People like Phillip Pullman, author of the atheist book series His Dark Materials (the first installment of which has recently been made into the anti-catholic movie The Golden Compass) are quoted as saying things such as "We don't seem to know how to view children." However as the Catholic League states "He should speak for himself. For example, when a children's book was released that portrayed a teenage girl who morphs into a fornicating dog, Pullman objected to the book's critics - not the book." (p.s. this guy hates Winnie the Pooh. How do you hate Winnie the Pooh??? Anyone who hates Winnie the Pooh obviously hates children and is not to be trusted.)
But worse even than the influence of famous people is that of educators, who have day-to-day contact with young children. These educators seem to share Mr. Pullman's views as evidenced by the fact that they have instituted the idea of teaching kindergartners about AIDS, of teaching fifth graders how to use condoms, etc.
There's a great line in the song Innocence by Sarah Buxton where she says "The one thing I can't get back is the one thing I miss . . . it's that young-girl, wide-eyed, first love, one time innocence". If you have the choice to keep your innocence or lose it, I am begging you to keep it. You will regret it later if you lose it. Your first kiss should be a magical moment not a make out session. You don't need to know what certain things are. I guarantee you can live without knowing.
And do those of us who are desperately trying to maintain our innocence a favor: if you have the urge to tell us something that you know we don't want to hear: SHUT UP!