Have the republicans in Florida completely lost their minds?
Asked by
Dig_Dug (
4259
)
March 18th, 2023
Or do they just want to take ALL your rights away?!
A bill pushed by Republicans in Florida would ban young girls from discussing their periods while in school.
A proposed bill in Florida limits sexual health education to grades six through twelve.
The lawmaker who proposed the bill conceded it would ban younger girls from discussing periods.
A Democratic lawmaker pointed out girls typically get their periods from ages 10 to 15.
A bill backed by Republicans in Florida would ban girls younger than grade six from discussing their periods while at school, according to the lawmaker who proposed the legislation.
State Rep. Stan McClain proposed House Bill 1069, which would limit instruction on sexual and reproductive health to grades six through 12. The bill is part of a string of laws being pushed by Florida Republicans related to gender and sexuality.
In a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Democratic state Rep. Ashley Gantt asked McClain if the bill would “prohibit conversations about menstrual cycles” for girls who get their periods before sixth grade, noting girls typically start menstruating from ages 10 to 15, which would include fourth and fifth graders.
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One can’t lose what one never had.
Jokes aside, I think, hope, that it is just a publicity stunt, and they aren’t that clueless.
My older sister taught me about periods when I was a grade schooler. She used a sheet of paper and a red pen. Lots of red ink. I turned out ok.
Anything to avoid gun control issues.
I don’t live in Florida, but I never needed the schools to talk with my kids about menstruation or sex. She has parents, that’s their job. Teachers shouldn’t be discussing sex with especially elementary school aged kids in any state. That’s not their place.
@Acrylic My understanding from the way the OP wrote the details is that the girls cannot discuss their periods amongst themselves. To me, that type of law is too intrusive. What two girls or boys or whatever gender discuss amongst themselves is between them, unless there is bullying or other inapropriateness involved. To me, girls talking about having their periods to their friends is not inappropriate.
@Acrylic Wouldn’t it be nice if all parents gave a damn about their kids and did the right things at the right times in their life? But they don’t.
But this story is about girls talking about their period to each other. If you are so close and in tune with your daughter, ask her if she ever talked to her friends about periods. See what her answer is and then ask yourself if you want some politician to shut her up.
I’m not sure how I feel about not talking about menstrual cycles being that in some states they want to be able to follow girls menstrual cycles so it can be reported if there is a possibility of someone being pregnant so they can keep an eye on them and know if they possibly got an abortion
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Republicans like to say that democrats impose too many big brother laws and they proudly accept all these BIG Brother, None of your business Laws. I would scream first amendment rights are being torn down by Big Brother DeSantis. So many rules about what can and can’t be said. I had no freaken idea DeSantis got a degree in Child Education.
DeSantis wants to make it Illegal to talk about anything that can make people uncomfortable.
It’s funny how he believes that people’s ideologies should not be forced on anyone and yet that is exactly what he is doing.
For the longest time, teachers needed permission slips signed for a child of a certain age to get sex education class. If the parents didn’t want it they simply didn’t sign the paper. Those children would be sent to another class during the usual 1 day or 1-hour discussion.
If schools are no longer doing that than I see no problem with making that a State requirement . As for children talking about things among themselves it is absolutely not of his business. If parents are that afraid that they need the government to keep their child in some ridiculous bubble then they can send them to private school or homeschool them.
It makes more sense for parents to care about school bullying or shootings than whether or not a young girl is taught about how her body works.
Whats next? I mean, when did Periods go back to being a bad word. Are we back in 1800? De’Santis should go back scrapping his knuckles back to cave he crawled out of.
No, simply working on the most crucial issue of the century thus far. Why bother with some asinine issue like keeping schools save from guns and crazies, when you actually have young girls having private conversations about normal female bodily functions? The Horror! On edit the only people who have lost their minds are the voters who continue to elect these morons.
I haven’t heard this one. When I was in school in the ‘70’s sex ed started in 5th grade. 6th grade would have been adequate for most children, but some girls menstruate very early. The idea of not being able to discuss it among themselves is crazy talk to me. So much for freedom of speech I guess. I think back to being ten years old and can’t imagine having to be afraid of what I say or a question I ask.
Do you have a copy of the proposed bill? I wonder what when it is already being taught. DeSantis does a lot of stuff that barely changes anything, but it sounds like he’s doing big changes. It doesn’t sound like this is a DeSantis move from the OP, but the Republicans are learning the technique. All of that is just awful, I’m not defending creating new laws just to please the base and fire people up.
@Acrylic Menstruation and sex are part of our anatomy and physiology. If we learn about our digestive tract, nervous system, lymph system, and cardiovascular system, we should also learn about our sexual organs and how they function.
Learning about Menstruation helps a girl know if things are working correctly or unusually, let’s her know what to expect, and let’s her know when she is most fertile. You can have an opinion about what age you feel it’s appropriate to teach it, and what is appropriate to teach in the class, but to think no lesson is needed through age 18 I completely disagree with.
I’m pretty sure parents need to sign k-12 for their children to be in class for Sex Ed, so parents have control.
I know so many adults who are completely clueless about how their body works. I wonder how well you would do on a ten question quiz about menstruation.
@jca2 “So if little girls experience their menstrual cycle in 5th grade or 4th grade, will that prohibit conversations from them since they are in the grade lower than sixth grade?” asked state Rep. Ashley Gantt, a Democrat who taught in public schools and noted that girls as young as 10 can begin having periods.
“It would,” McClain responded.
I just googled and Florida starts teaching comprehensive health including sex ed in grade 6 currently. That part isn’t really a change. More specifically it looks like current law requires abstinence be taught grades 6–12 I guess as part of sex ed, when sex ed is taught.
In 5th grade I wasn’t taught much more than about my period and how baby puppies pop out of the mommy. In 5th grade we were segregated by gender for the discussion about getting our periods, Boys were in a separate room.
@Dig_Dug Hopefully, that bill doesn’t pass.
There was a bill in Florida to basically outlaw the Democratic Party in the state. We have some lunatics down here.
Hell, Florida is worse than Texas it seems like. Even Texas Repubs aren’t that looney. Yet. @JLeslie
I think that last hurricane blew their brains away!
It just now struck me, the irony of all of this bull shit. On the one hand Repubs are anti abortion and want pregnancies in young women carried full term, on the other they don’t want young women to learn about their own bodily cycles, so that hopefully some of these unplanned/unwanted pregnancies can be prevented. Am I missing something here? WTF?
@NoMore Nope you got it! They some cray cray loony toons there!
It sure does not sound practical or sustainable. If it passes, it will definitely be altered before long.
And I hope it does not pass as written.
My perception is I don’t think FL is worse than TX. Maybe it’s similar in a lot of ways. Does TX still have legal abortions? I thought it’s completely banned. Florida it is legal for any reason through 15 weeks and legal after that for life of the mother and severe fetal defect.
We have more northeasterners down here than TX probably.
It’s just that the media is constantly reporting on Florida so we are hearing every lunatic thing.
The meme that I saw on social media about Florida proposing to outlaw the Democratic Party had a photo of DeSantis and then the words on top. DeSantis didn’t even propose it, it was some other congressman here.
@JLeslie the fact that any politician proposed such a crazy thing, outlawing the Democratic party, is total lunacy.
@jca2 They want a one party dictatorship. Of course you’ll still have a vote, you can vote Republican, or even Republican if you like. A real democracy.
@jca2 Totally agree. I used the word lunatics/lunacy too. It’s more than crazy, it’s disgusting, anti-American, disgraceful, embarrassing, ignorant, and beneath the position he holds, just to use a few descriptive words.
Every Republican asks the same question about Democrats in California. Try to remember that not everyone sees the world from your perspective. I try to remind my Republican friends of the same.
The Republicans may argue that this can be taught in the home.
When my sister got her first period, she was scared, not knowing what was happening. My Mom tossed her a box of Kotex, and said “Welcome to the club!”, which was the entirety of her instruction.
Keep it in schools!
DeSantis and his allies are attempting to appeal to a specific portion of the electorate, specifically the one that relishes primarily in making their perceived enemies mad. So by asking if they’ve lost their minds, you have helped them achieve their goal. This isn’t to say that these bills shouldn’t be opposed. They should be opposed vigorously. But you have to be careful about how you do it if you want to be effective. When your outrage is the main selling point, withholding it is your best defense. Talk about policies, not personalities. Use numbers, not name-calling. Refuse to take the bait. Make politics boring again, and the rage farming subsides (though it will never go away entirely).
@Zounderkite I completely agree with everything you wrote. Just note it is not DeSantis this time.
@Zounderkite it seems that we have a few jellies here who live in a state of rage. At least that’s how they come across in their posts here. It’s too bad.
@Zounderkite “Talk about policies, not personalities. Use numbers, not name-calling. Refuse to take the bait.”
Democrats are talking about things of importance. Maybe not here on this question, but those in office are. Meanwhile Republicans are fear mongering about drag queens.
@Jonsblond Democrats just over-rotate sometimes. There are so many legitimate complaints about what the Republicans are doing, but Democrats also freak out about things that are being exaggerated or are not accurate information. Then Republicans get to say, “that’s not true,” or, roll their eyes.
I say research (I know you do) and stick to what Republicans are actually doing so there aren’t any distractions. The distractions help the Republicans.
Edit: Just wanted to agree that Republicans are being mean and ignorant regarding the trans issue.
^Republicans are using fear right now to gain support while Democrats are offering solutions. I see no solutions from Republicans, unless the solution is to lock the border or arrest drag queens. They have nothing when it comes to health care.
^^Republicans have been using fear as long as I can remember. They are the masters and the leaders when it comes to that tactic.
Good point folks. In the same way that they refuse to take any action to prevent school shootings other than “thoughts and prayers”. But a couple of pre pubescent girls talking about menstruation in public? A trans kid using the rest room? Call Swat, Marshall Dillon, and the Royal Mounties to the scene immediately. And Superman too, if he’s not busy.
Overgeneralizing is never a good idea.
The answer to your question is no.
But here’s the good news you can keep your gas stove, see the Republicans are working for you.
@NoMore seems sensible. Kids with guns are scary. Just ask Texas police.
@Dig_Dug it was a little while back Florida Republicans went on to say Democrats want to take your gas stove away,they claim it’s bad for the environment .
@Dig_Dug – apparently, gas stoves generate fine particles that are bad to breathe in, in addition to generation of CO2. Health advocates are jumping in, along with Climate Change advocates.
@RocketGuy What about a gas furnace? Do they also generate fine particles because we have a gas furnace.
The furnace is not in the kitchen giving off fumes; the smoke, fumes and heat go up the chimney on a furnace !
@JLeslie “Just note it is not DeSantis this time.”
That’s why I said “and his allies.” They’re doing the things described in the OP, but DeSantis is the one who would have to sign the proposed bills. So I guess I’m just assuming that they’ve coordinated with him at least a little bit.
@jonsblond “Meanwhile Republicans are fear mongering about drag queens.”
Absolutely. But my point is that a lot of that is bait. They want Democrats to overreact, which amps up their base (“we’re owning the libs!”) and turns off swing voters (“politicians are all the same”). When everyone is engaging in name calling and other personal attacks, it’s easier for those narratives to take hold. It also makes counterarguments less effective. “You’re evil and wrong” is not a winning strategy. “I understand why you feel that way, but here’s why I disagree” is no guarantee, but it’s still more effective.
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