Sex-Fu Challenge

I was riding the subway into the office this morning and I was struck by a thought while looking a particular billboard style ad on the train. The ad which captured my attention was prompting passer-byers to take the Sex-Fu Challenge (text message edition) and win a video ipod.

Now I have an ipod and I am not particularly keen to get a video ipod; probably because I am long past the age where staring into a tinsey bitsy screen holds any kind of reward or pleasure. At 44, size means a great deal. I think it’s a fair guess that I am not the target or key demographic this promotion was aimed at. Although, I was a key demographic riding the subway car in which the ad was posted in.

But here’s my thought. If after 30 years of sex education in the elementary, middle and secondary schools our young people still fail to take in what should be the key components of any sex education program (how to protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases and how to take charge and care of your own sexual health) I think it’s safe to say it’s long past the time to change the curriculum drastically and immediately.

Promoting Sex-Fu challenge on a public subway train represents the most dismal kind of indictment of the sex education programs currently being offered in our schools. While it’s cute and eye catching, it only underscores the failure for our educational experts at the Ministry of Education to develop an effective way of teaching sex education to our young people.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out one little irony. Free love can kill you in more ways than one.