We have two granddaughters. Their parents are an Infectious Diseases specialist, our son, and his wife – a finance major with an MBA.
During our visit last Christmas, I noticed the almost five-year-old playing with a stuffed unicorn – a My Little Pony rainbow type toy. She had three diminutive unicorns that she carefully placed inside a flap in the larger unicorn’s belly only to take them out, one at a time, later in her play.
It turns out that she had asked her Mom how babies got out of their mothers’ bellies when they were born. Mom replied that the got out “between their mother’s legs.” The child’s curiosity needed a proper visual, and Mom looked to YouTube for some videos of kittens, and then other animals, being born.
By the time we arrived, Mom had bought the unicorn plush toys. A bit later, Susan and granddaughter were watching YouTube videos of mares giving birth to foals.
I quipped to her Dad that this child might well go on to become a veterinary OBGYN specializing in mythological species. That or perhaps an investment banker. It is hard to predict these outcomes at such an early age.
I found myself thinking about this today when I heard a TV news segment featuring Nikki Haley commenting that Ron DeSantis has decreed that children did not need to know about gender until the third grade, but in Nikki’s mind, that didn’t go far enough!
I suppose that Nikki Haley believes that discussions of sexuality and procreation should be postponed until a child’s first pregnancy or STI. I myself align with our daughter-in-law.
Our granddaughter is not so much precocious as she is curious – a hallmark of every good student and every great scientist. If other Republican governors succeed in stifling the education of children the way that DeSantis has in Florida, I hope that there are children like my granddaughter to educate their peers in the facts regarding the birds and the bees.
Those Republican jerkoffs can fire teachers for sharing facts with students, but they can’t fire the students. And if they try, there will be hell to pay.