Losing Isaiah...

Remember the stories about Pushalittleharder, the daddy who put his fire truck into the mommy’s fire station, or the school girl chants that we used to sing while shaking it to the north, east, south, and west? Or remember the episode of The Cosby Show when Rudy was singing, “Baby do it to me, all night long?” And she thought that the song was about doing homework? Well, those were the sexual jokes and references that I was introduced to in my elementary years. Yea, we had little innuendos and sexual conversations, but those stories are nothing compared to what children know these days.

Recently I was looking through some files, and I saw a beautiful picture of man’s penis and the vaginal lips of a woman. The illustration also showed a girl receiving oral sex from a little boy. Oh and the artist?....a 3rd grader. Since when did eight year olds know what oral sex was, let alone know that girls receive pleasure by being tasted in their Loveland? I sure didn’t. I’ve even had a 12 year old say something to me about tea bagging, and a 10 year old say something about jacking off. You may think my name was Wilma Mae if I told you when I learned about tea bagging. Kids are being exposed to so much….where does it end? And more importantly, where does it lead to?

This reality honestly scares me, because it means that children will inevitably make choices that their bodies and minds are not prepared for. They’re hearing things from their peers, seeing sexual acts and references on the television, and no doubt getting inappropriate information from their parents. This is when curiosity can literally kill the cat. Kids may end up choosing to participate in sexual activities without truly understanding what they are undertaking and the responsibilities that come along with it. And I know that “mama gotta get hers too,” and “rappers ain’t nobody’s role models,” but who then gets the responsibility? Or better yet, who will take on the responsibility as babies continue to have babies and communities continue to be plagued with STDs?

It’s like at some point between the 90’s and the new millennium, we’ve forgotten all about censorship and that line between what adults should know and what kids should know and the pacing of it. Before you know it, kids will be teaching adults the sexual education classes…but wait; do they even still have those?

And as an aside...special shoutouts go to my childhood sexual jokes research team...the women who had problems with their legs in undergrad.