The Little Black Book That Has Parents Outraged

The government of Manitoba is getting set to release it's Little Black Book to youth organizations across the province. It's an "address-style book from Manitoba Healthy Living, packed with life-skills advice on smoking, weight, drugs, credit and debt, moving out of the house, workplace health and safety, and sexuality," according to this article from the Winnipeg Free Press (read the article for more info).

Some parents are outraged because of the sexual content. Some say it's okay to talk about sex, but the information in the guide is misleading and doesn't address the issue of STI's.

[Side note: What the heck? First it was "venereal disease", then they called it "sexually transmitted disease" (STD) and now it's "sexually transmitted infection" (STI)? I'm totally out of the loop!]

Some parents object to the drug information provided in the guide and feel that the info will encourage kids to get into things they normally wouldn't. Interestingly enough, I was listening to the radio and a guy who received the Little Black Book in high school said he was able to use the information to discover that his friend was using drugs and was actually able to get him help. Sounds good to me.

Kids are kids and just because parents think their kids aren't already exposed to this stuff doesn't mean that they aren't.

My kids are young and I don't know how I feel about the sex thing. I haven't had to answer any of those difficult questions yet. I know some parents want to be responsible for teaching their children about sexuality, but so many parents do NOTHING and I think there is a need for the information. But outside of the topic of sex, this guide contains priceless information I could have used as a teenager - about credit and debt, college, student loans, etc.

Could they have created the same useful guide without the sex and drugs? Would that have made parents happy? Who knows, but how would you feel if your child came home with a Little Black Book?