I remember when my boy child was a youngster--kindergarten and early elementary school age. There were times when he had to use a public bathroom and his dad was not available. Neither were any other males. I had to let him use the men's room by himself.
Sometimes it was nail biting time, believe me. But thanks to elementary "sex education" and the work of the Cub Scouts, I had allies in my mission to protect my child.
Now you can call me overprotective, but I would bet many a mother of sons have felt this way. Perhaps you are in a large restaurant or a department store. You let your child go into the men's restroom. You start looking over all of the men who go in. You wonder about each of them. You hope that nothing bad will happen. You count the minutes as each stretches. You hope that all is okay. Your young child is in a place where you cannot protect him, a place where predators may be lurking.
You can only hope that he knows what to do if someone approaches him.
As a mother, I was very happy that when he was in kindergarten and early elementary school, he was taught what McCain calls "sex education." He was taught to cry out "Inappropriate Touch" in a loud voice in every case where he was made uncomfortable.
Now that "sex education" did have some laughable moments--like the time a relative was tickling him unmercifully and he cried out "Inappropriate Touch!"
But by and large, for those nailbiting times waiting outside the men's room, for those times when he was alone, unprotected in the world, for those times when he may have been exposed to predators, I was happy that my son, thanks to "sex education," knew what to do.
And now I find, (hat tip to Hilzoy), that Cub Scouts also teach this--according to McCain-- horrendous version of young child sex education:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/...
In fact, Cub Scouts even publish a comic book on the subject for early elementary school age children. The book, entitled "Power Pack Pals #3: 4 Rules for Safety Comic Book" is described this way:
This 8-page comic is the third in a series of youth protection comics for Cub Scout aged kids featuring Akela, Baloo, and T.C. It illustrates scenarios that advise kids about the dangers of strangers and inappropriate behavior by adults toward children, and what to do in scary situations.
Available in English or Spanish versions.
http://www.scoutstuff.org/...