Shocking article in the Herald this morning about a bunch of parents being aghast at the explicit nature of the sex education classes at schools. Some students as young as 12 being taught and shown some pretty graphic stuff.

One article is here. And a follow up one.

A poll on NZ Herald shows that 72% of respondents think 12-year-olds shouldn’t be taught about oral sex.

I think its time we addressed sex ed in this country. I’m as reluctant as the next person to let the Government to decide what’s right for kids in this delicate area – but a national curriculum-based , tightly focused, sex ed class would go a long way to stamping out these kinds of classes.

It’s a major failure of the modern Catholic Church to still regard sex education as a taboo. The result is a vacuum that is rapidly filled from TV, Hollywood and the internet. That vacuum gives liberal groups like Family Planning the opportunity to indoctrinate. Schools don’t know what to teach so they call in a “sex expert” who then overexposes the students.

Sex ed a subject never raised at my high school to the detriment of students.

It’s the same with other moral issues for Catholics. Never, not once was I taught about the consequences of abortion, or what the Church really thinks about homosexuality, or what to do if my girlfriend wanted to have sex.

Shock horror, sex ed is not actually about condoms and avoiding STDs. It’s about relationships, deep connections, respect and responsibility – to you and others – and ultimately creating life.

There are a number of tricky, complicated and difficult questions around sex. Parents would be better assured if they knew their kids were getting the right stuff.

You can’t fault schools for trying. But the substance needs to be right. If Catholic schools aren’t being provided the right info, then how can you expect secular schools to be on the ball?

We have all these great Catholic thinkers in this area – why can’t we capitalize on them and start taking back the sex ed debate?

St Emily de Rodat, pray for us

It’s a day for reflection today as we remember the terrible tragedy of Sept 11. It was truly a horrible calamity, watched by hundreds of millions worldwide.

It really was a terror attack.

2,977 innocent people died. Only 23 people crawled out of the wreckage of the Twin Towers.

Not just Americans, but people from all over the world. I’ve always been a bit cynical of American rhetoric but it rang true in this case – it really was an attack on the world, and our ideals of freedom.

Fantastic documentary on Prime last night covered a documentary team who followed a rookie firefighter in the months of his probation. They were there when the planes hit and were inside the Towers when they collapsed. The footage was raw and captured the fear and horror that unfolded.

You could even hear the thumping as people leapt from their burning windows onto the buildings and streets below.

The most poignant of the documentary was the ongoing impact on the firefights, police and other rescue workers who were involved in the immediate rescue. Some have died from respiratory illnesses and cancer; others have had family breakdowns, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, or eventually left Manhatten, New York and even the US.

Sept 11 was one of those moments where everyone remembers vividly where they were and how they found out. I was on a bus on the way to school. A friend was pouring over the papers emblazoned with pictures of the burning towers. At that stage the NZ Herald had printed its earlier edition where they reported the two explosions as accidents (like so many media initially did). By the time we arrived at school, the whole place was a in an uproar. America was under attack. World War Three was about to start. No one did any work that day. We watched TV, prayed for those caught up in it, and thought of how lucky we were so far away from it all.

Where were you on September 11?

Regardless of what you think of America, or who planned it, or whether the following invasion of Afghanistan was justified, there is little disagreement over the wanton waste of innocent life at the hands of a few.

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us and for all souls.