Your family won’t welcome this grubby book
WARNING: HIGHLY OFFENSIVE MATERIAL IN THIS EPISODE. VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. “Welcome to Sex” is a new Australian book which covers sexual topics with illustrations of masturbation, gender fluidity, LGBTQI issues, anal sex, ‘scissoring’ and more – and the authors say that even children as young as eight should read it! 😡 It has drawings of penises and descriptions of males as ‘penis-owners’ and females as ‘vagina-owners’. The authors also write that if they were talking to their own children about sending nudes, they’d advise them to crop their heads off just in case, because once a picture is out there you have no control over it. You have been warned.
TRANSCRIPT:
According to media report, a new Australian sex education book has topped Amazon’s bestseller list. Welcome to Sex, written by Yumi Stynes and Dr Melissa Kang was released just over 2 months ago.
Let me just warn you that this episode contains highly offensive content. So please use discretion as to who’s watching this with you.
If you’re like me, you will be offended by what you see, but I hope that you’ll be more angry and offended at the fact that this material is being targeted at children. I’m just the messenger. Don’t shoot the messenger.
Welcome to Sex is the fourth in a series of guides for adolescents, following Welcome to Your Period, Welcome to Your Boobs and Welcome to Consent. It covers sexual topics with illustrations of masturbation, gender fluidity, LGBTQI issues, anal sex, ‘scissoring’ and more – and the authors say that even children as young as 8 should read it. It has drawings of penises and descriptions of males as ‘penis-owners’ and females as ‘vagina-owners’.
Rachael Wong, a kiwi and the chief executive of Women’s Forum Australia and who has spoken at our Forum on the Family twice before called it a “graphic sex guide for children”, adding that she felt “physically ill at the thought of children reading it”.
Rachael was further disturbed that Stynes, in an earlier Instagram post, said while the book was suitable for ages 10 to 15, she would be “happy with a mature and smart 8-yo having a flick through”.
Here’s that comment
Rachael Wong also took issue with the language around consent used in the book, which highlights the legal age as either 16 or 17 and suggests that “if the age difference is small, the law might take this into account.” Wong accused the authors of mentioning the legal age just to avoid “getting in trouble because the book is basically a sex manual for kids.”
“But then they sort of say, ‘if you’re a certain age and someone’s not too much older than you … you could get away with it. The fact that a particular comment about the age of consent is couched in this book which explains all these sorts of sexually explicit activities is really just, ‘oh we might cover up that bit’ but at the end of the day we are promoting sexual activity for children,” she said.
A cyber safety expert has condemned the book written for children as young as eight, describing it as “dangerous” and “complete misinformation”.
According to a media report on kidspot.com.au
One section of the book discusses sending nude pictures and sexting, which Dr Kang likens to love letters that were once sent before phones, ignoring the innocence of those letters, which were generally written by adults, compared to the explicit pictures and videos that can be sent today and shared to the world instantly.
The authors write that if they were talking to their own children about sending nudes, they’d advise them to crop their heads off just in case, because once a picture is out there you have no control over it.
However, cyber safety expert with 27 years in law enforcement, Susan McLean, said she was concerned about the peddling of misinformation on such an important topic.
“These people haven’t a clue about the reality of the digital world,” she stresses.
“They are encouraging behaviour which is likely to cause a young person to be arrested and charged and that is not ok. The head is not the important part; you are still creating child abuse material which is a very serious offence.”
“A naked image is very attractive to a child sex offender, and they can end up on the computer of a paedophile or traded in a paedophile forum.”
“I’ve seen paedophiles tell children to just chop their head off and eventually they get a full nude photo.”
Child psychiatrist, Dr Jillian Spencer says “Encouraging children to chop their head off naked images sends an uncomfortable message,” she said.
“It tells them their naked body is the primary focus when attempting to connect and form relationships with other people.
“The book appears to inundate children with a lot of graphic adult sexual information and pictures,” she says.
“It describes sex acts without any relationship context.
Ah relationship – but not commitment, or faithfulness, or morality…. Those words are soooo offensive.
The book provides an entire section on “scissoring”.
“Scissoring is when two people intertwine their legs tightly so that their genitals touch, rubbing together. It’s not technically intercourse because nothing is going into a vagina or anus, but it can still be just as stimulating.”
There is specific instruction on anal sex. And fingering. A whole section on “Oral sex”.
And this charming page
And the most important bit?
“Virginity is an outdated concept. The word virginity should be erased from the dictionary.”
This quickly tells you their warped worldview, doesn’t it.
One of the co-authors Yumi Stynes said she was surprised by the backlash. Really?
She said. “We really have a lot of credentials. We’ve got an army of professors, who fact-checked and contributed to the book. So for people to try and shame us or make us feel like we haven’t done the work, it’s just really misguided. It does make me think that they’re taking a leaf out of the book of Trumpism and fearmongering there.”
Ah – Trumpism! Boom! If you can bring in the word Trump or Nazi, the left say “oh well, that’s it then. We’ve won the debate.” Uh – nope.
And its not the ‘facts’ that’s the issue. It’s the age appropriateness and the moral innocence of children – which is why we have age restrictions in the first place. sheesh!
Described on the inside cover as “the only guide you need to navigate consent for tweens and teens of all genders”,
Stynes is known best for co-hosting the ABC’s Ladies, We Need to Talk podcast. ABC is a bit like Radio NZ – both government owned and funded – so that quickly raises the red flag. Co-author Kang is a trained GP who became a household name by writing Dolly magazine’s Dolly Doctor column.
Kang said. “For those saying the book is sex education, there is a huge difference between giving children age-appropriate information, and prematurely exposing them to graphic, highly sexualised material,”
Judge for yourself. Please remember – this is offensive material – you have been warned – but aimed at your young children.
Here’s the really ironic bit. Rachael Wong posted about the book on LinkedIn in a bid to raise awareness about its subject matter, however it was taken down for breaching its policies on adult nudity and sexual activities, a move she accepted.
It reminds me of the time I was on Breakfast on 1 and on radio NZ about the book “Into the River” which got the NZ Post Book of the Year for young people but which contained the f and the c word and explicit sex scenes – and neither of the broadcasters would let me read extracts from the book – despite it being a so-called children’s book. By the way, that book has all but disappeared – thankfully.
Online book stores Mighty Ape, The Nile and Wheelers are selling it here in NZ (interestingly Wheelers says its for 13+ years – still too young) – but not the major retailers Whitcoulls or PaperPlus – yet.
But parents – beware – there are authors and books and curriculums that want to sexualise your children, want to pollute your child’s mind, want to remove your child’s moral innocence, in some cases even want to groom your children.
Be alert. Be very alert. And stay well clear of this grubby little book.
