how prudishness becomes a pathology

Helicopter parents seem to believe that if kids can't learn about sex, they won't experiment with it. Statistically, they're risking their kids' long term health for their own peace of mind.

This isn't so much a story as it is a cry for help. For some reason, a woman who volunteered at an elementary school library in SoCal either heard about a child finding the definition for oral sex in a dictionary, or her kid just happened to come across it, and demanded that the district pull all the dictionaries, to protect and kids of course. And can you guess what the district did? They obliged. And just to add another bizarre twist to this tale of censorship gone ridiculously, pathologically awry, the district is actually forming a committee to decide if they're willing to allow the dictionaries back in the library. Yes, it seems that the dictionary is just too hot for school. Rumors say that it might even contain definitions for the words "erotica," "pornography," and "sexy…"

Did you need any more proof that we're living in an age of over-parenting, so much so that there's a backlash against helicopter parents who smother their children to to point of absurdity? The really bizarre twist when it comes to overbearing moms and dads is that they seem to worry about everything except giving their kids an honest discussion about sex. In fact, by the time sex is even mentioned, it's a safe bet that their kids already had their first sexual experiences.

And considering the prudish, abstinence only stance of many sex ed and health classes, they're more likely not to use contraception, which puts them at greater risk of pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted diseases. Why? Well, in the quest to scare kids from having sex, they prudes who oversee these classes tell them that contraception doesn't work and the same parents who will hire a college coach to make sure that little Michael or Emma get into the right college don't seem to be worried about this problem in the least, trying to avoid having an important discussion as much as possible.

This might seem like a strange notion to the self-appointed guardians for morality everywhere, but as long as there are humans with hormones flowing through their bodies, there will be sex. Not only that, but people who have sexually active relationships tend to be healthier, live longer, have higher self-esteem and less stress. If we constantly baby our younger generations and pretend that if we censor everything sexual there wouldn't be any STDs or teen pregnancies, the only people we're fooling are ourselves.

Here's the thing about kids. They grow up and become adults who go on to have their own kids. Isn't that the cycle of life? So to do everything in your power to help your children get into a good college and find a career but simply gloss over something as crucial as sex ed or put it off until it's too late, seems like an awfully big gap in the list of parental priorities. And if you're trying to pull the freaking dictionary off the shelves for containing a medically appropriate sexual term, you're on your way into the kind of denialism that should be a warning to all of us.