German Sex-Ed Book For Kids Would Never Fly In This Country
I was shocked to hear that Germans were up in arms about a sex-ed book that was circulating in an elementary school in Berlin. I thought Germans were known for being comfortable with nudity and sexuality – or maybe I just thought that Europeans had a more liberal view of sex and sex education than we Americans do.
The book is called Where Do You Come From? When I heard the title, I immediately thought it was just a German version of a book my best friend had when we were in grade school called Where Did I Come From? Picture the cartoon character Ziggy in a romantic relationship. That’s what this book was like. It was two cartoon-ish round figures falling in love, laying under covers and eventually holding a baby in their arms. I can’t remember if there were any anatomically correct drawings in the book – but if there were they were very benign.
Where Do You Come From takes is up a notch by making the cartoon characters more anatomically correct and adding details like green condoms and orgasms. You can click through on the link above to see some (I guess NSFW?) cartoons of Lars and Lisa having some fun in the bedroom.
Admittedly, I was a little shocked that the book was being circulated to first graders. I hate to admit that – because I don’t think our prudish views on sex education in this country are getting us anywhere. I’m just not sure about the necessity of a six-year-old seeing Lisa slide a green condom on Lars’ erect penis, or reading the words, “When it’s so good that it can’t get any better, Lisa and Lars have an orgasm.”
Spiegel reports:
The book was shown to first-graders at an elementary school in the Berlin neighborhood of Kreuzberg. Parents began to complain about the racy content, but the school did nothing — until it was reported in the local press and the Berlin Senate, the city-state’s administrative body, began receiving complaints.
School administrators have confirmed that the book is still available at the school but noted that it is “not accessible to the children.”
Ha! Not accessible to the children. Just available in case some administrators need a little cartoon-y sex-ed brush up. Hilarious. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m not sure I would want my first grader seeing this book. Regardless, I think it’s a decision that should be left to parents – not elementary school administrators.
