Tennessee Bill States Holding Hands is a "Gateway Sexual Activity"

• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2012-04-13 22:40

  Like any state legislature dealing with 8 percent unemployment and thousands of its residents facing disenfranchisement, the Tennessee Senate is targeting the menace of underage hand-holding.
  Last week, the Senate passed SB 3310, a bill to update the state’s abstinence-based sex education curriculum to define holding hands and kissing as “gateway sexual activities.” Just one senator voted against the legislation; 28 voted in favor.
  Since the bill specifically bans teachers from “demonstrating gateway sexual activity”, educators would be prohibited from even demonstrating what hand-holding is. Breaking these laws could result in a lawsuit, as Hunter from Daily Kos notes:
  If your teacher teaches you anything about sex that isn’t specifically on the approved curriculum, like demonstrating “holding hands” for the class instead of quietly tsking about the dangers it poses, they can be sued.
  Still, this anti-hand-holding push may only be the second-worst bill passed in Tennessee this month. Nearly a century after the Volunteer State played host to the Scopes Monkey Trial, the legislature has now enacted a new law allowing educators to teach creationism alongside evolution.

  
  
  http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/04/13/463317/tennessee-anti-hand-holding/?mobile=nc
  
  great...
  abstinence education
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-04-13 23:10
  Seriously Tennessee legislature seriously?!
  
  Why are government so friggen stupid. Idiots. Let's see how many other unhelpful stupid laws we can come up with >.>
• Drizzit wrote on 2012-04-13 23:20
  >Implying it isn't
• paladin wrote on 2012-04-14 00:06
  Okay theres religious influces in eduaction
  Then theres just dumb
  This is just dumb
  Really really?
  Most old people hold hands
  So are they teaching the students all the nice old couples you see holding hands are gonna do it soon
• EndlessDreams wrote on 2012-04-14 00:54
  About time the government did something about holding hands! It was soooo obvious "gateway to sexual activity". Next, they should get rid of looking at the other gender, or even the same gender because it can be a gateway to sexual activity as well!
• Sekwaf wrote on 2012-04-14 01:04
  Kissing I could PERHAPS see (and that's a long shot) but holding hands... Dear god think of the scandal when a mother holds her child's hand when in a crowd to not lose track of them, or when crossing a street.
  
  Edit: I do however think it's good to teach creationism as well as evolution. It's just knowledge, and once they teach both, the kids can decide what they want to believe in.
• paladin wrote on 2012-04-14 01:30

  Quote from Sekwaf;838311:

  Kissing I could PERHAPS see (and that's a long shot) but holding hands... Dear god think of the scandal when a mother holds her child's hand when in a crowd to not lose track of them, or when crossing a street.
  
  Edit: I do however think it's good to teach creationism as well as evolution. It's just knowledge, and once they teach both, the kids can decide what they want to believe in.

  
  
  I wouldnt say that lightly
  Some states people would outright kill lynch or worse to you for saying that
• Episkey wrote on 2012-04-14 04:33

  Quote from paladin;838286:

  Okay theres religious influces in eduaction
  

  
  
  Short of the article's mention of teaching creationism, I see no mention of religion in this decision.
  
  What a nice red fish ... Anyway!
  
  Abstinence-only education does not have to be "religious". Take a look at Florida's sexual education if you want an example.
  
  

  Quote from Sekwaf;838311:

  Kissing I could PERHAPS see (and that's a long shot) but holding hands... Dear god think of the scandal when a mother holds her child's hand when in a crowd to not lose track of them, or when crossing a street.
  
  Edit: I do however think it's good to teach creationism as well as evolution. It's just knowledge, and once they teach both, the kids can decide what they want to believe in.

  
  
  This. I agree 100%.
  
  Admittedly, saying that holding hands is gateway to having sex is quite silly. It makes me wonder what sort of twisted mentality these voting senators have of the action of holding hands.
• Cynic wrote on 2012-04-14 07:09
  So I guess this means a kid holding his Mom's hands will lead to sexual activity as-well? Lmfao.
  
  It seems like they're seriously pushing me toward thinking everyone who preaches absolute abstinence is a fool. Given how stupid they're going about all this, I'm going to go ahead and assume they don't even bother teaching kids about safe sex.
  
  inb4 they start complaining when their kids get STDs.
• TA wrote on 2012-04-15 00:42
  So "hold mommy's hand while we cross the road" now counts as incest?
  
  What.
  
  

  Quote from Sekwaf;838311:

  I do however think it's good to teach creationism as well as evolution. It's just knowledge, and once they teach both, the kids can decide what they want to believe in.

  
  
  Creationism has no place in education.
• Sinned wrote on 2012-04-15 00:54
  Fun.
  
  According to this, I have had many opportunities for intercourse with both genders during my days in elementary school just for the buddy system or something.
• Taycat wrote on 2012-04-15 06:41
  Looks like I wanna have sex with all my friends at school and my teacher's daughter!
• Kazuni wrote on 2012-04-15 07:50
  god I would be such a whore
• Medusa wrote on 2012-04-15 07:54
  oh gosh i love the south.
  
  gives a whole new meaning to 'fingering'.
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2012-04-15 08:08
  I've been holding hands with my nephew repeatedly and for extended periods of time... you know what that means...
  
  Following is spoilered because it's fairly irrelevant to the topic at hand.
  [SPOILER="Spoiler"]

  Quote from Sekwaf:

  do however think it's good to teach creationism as well as evolution. It's just knowledge, and once they teach both, the kids can decide what they want to believe in.

  
  lololol, creationism isn't knowledge, it isn't even a valid scientific hypothesis. It's garbled nonsense. It has at best a place in theological institutions.
  Seriously it's like teaching that you ahve to pump endless ammounts of money into the economy to make everything good. It's utter onsense, and everyone with half a mind who also knows how to use it and then does it can recognise that. There's only one sane way to enable the people to choose for themselves, and that is teaching them the methods to be able to think critically and thoroughly. Education isn't about giving you the personal freedom to be dumb in any way you want, it's about giving you the possibilites to be cleverer than you and your ancestors have ever been before. You can still choose to be deluded, but please don't expect society to hand it on a tablet to you.[/SPOILER]