So, let's talk about teachers. Personally I like teachers. They're generally kind and helpful, and they devote almost all of their time to helping students learn things that they'll need (or so they say) for the rest of our lives. Since some people see their teachers more often than their own parents I think it's safe to say teachers can have a huge impact on the lives of their students. Luckily our school systems have realized this and for that reason conduct extensive background checks, and only hire people they believe will have a positive influence on a students development and are also just fine with having an extremely small paycheck for the amount of work they do changing society. Or at least, they usually filter who they hire pretty well. there's always a few people who will slip through the cracks, my eighth grade english teacher for instance. If my memory serves me correctly (other MOQers can correct me on this) I believe we opened our book a grand total of four times the entire year, turned in maybe six assignments (on which we all got the same grade) and spent most of the class listening to her talk to the girls about her personal life. Needless to say many parents were outraged, the school received a mountain of letters throughout the year, and Ms. Taylor didn't come back for a second year of "teaching".
Now, that I could understand, it wasn't so much the school's fault for hiring her, she seemed like a normal person with the potential to be a good teacher. But there are certain instances that I don't completely understand the logic behind. For example, hiring an actress from the... "adult film industy", to teach a sex ed class. What, don't believe me? You think I'm making this story up just to get this blog done? Well I wish I was, but I'm not. Here's your proof, the original article that I'm writing this blog about. The University of Illinois recently had a week long sex education course. The instructor was a woman by the name of Annie Sprinkle. The course included speeches by Sprinkle about life as an actress in the adult film industry, a presentation on "eco-sexology", a free "sidewalk sex clinic", and a screening of a movie by the name of "Annie Sprinkle's Amazing World of Orgasm". The course apparently included "hands-on" (but fully clothed of course) participation by the students, and received some criticism about the films and clips used. It obviously wasn't enough criticism though, as Annie currently visits numerous colleges around the country to teach sex education. Apparently she isn't the only person in her line of work to have an interest in teaching either. Another school (Los Angeles County Elementary School) was severely criticized for inviting a former actress named Sasha Grey to read to first and third grade children. Find the story yourself, or here's one version.
So what do you think? Is it right allowing people with these pasts our teach our future adults and leaders of society? Many parents have already given their blatant opinion but let's hear from the huge audience of people that happen to read my blog.
Original article (again): http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/09/16913843-porn-star-teaches-sex-seminar-at-the-university-of-illinois?lite
Bonus article (a second time): http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45270845/ns/us_news-life/
P.S. Do you guys have any clue how hard it was not to use that compound word that starts with a p?
Interesting article. I think it's good to teach sex education in college and I think it'd be good to teach to high school students now because I cannot even remember half the things I was taught in Human Growth and Development in middle school. As far as former porn-stars teaching it?...Needless to say I guess they know how the best ways to stay safe during sex. But really the best way is to avoid sex.
ReplyDeleteWow, John. I respect your opinion on having the teachers evaluated carefully before hiring them, but I felt that I learned a lot in Ms. Taylor's English class. Explain to me how so many MOQ students got into Honors English? Putting this petty argument aside, porn-stars should probably not be reading to children who will give a highly detailed explanation of how their day went to their concerned parents. Mommy and Daddy won't be to pleased to here that a certain adult celebrity took time out of her busy day to read to their kids. However I do not see a problem with the actress that was teaching sex ed classes at colleges. Sure the clips and movies were probably a little much but think about it. What work could she possibly have after her previous career? Let's assume that she has a college degree. Is that enough experience to teach a sex ed class? What exactly do you believe qualifies someone to teach a college sex ed class?
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