Short answer? No. But McCain would have you believe differently. McCain would have you believe that Obama supported Illinois state legislature that would teach five year olds about STDs and AIDS. That is simply untrue. But I wanted to know for myself, so I looked it up. Here are the facts:

According to Fact Check, very little of what McCain’s ad says is accurate. The bill that McCain refers to is SB0099. SB0099 does include the phrase “comprehensive sex education” but the bill was to update sex education and make it “medically accurate.” Yes, it would have lowered the age for sex education to kindergarten, however, the classes would have remained age appropriate. That means five year olds would not be being taught about herpes or chlamydia. They would be learning about good touches and bad touches. And, the bill would allow for parents to disallow their children to be taught these subjects without question.

The fact is, most states already require sex ed to be taught. I started taking sex ed classes in fourth grade, but as early as 1st grade we were being taught about “good touches” and “bad touches” and what to do if someone other than your doctor or parents want to see your “swimsuit” area. This is a fantastic way to help kids understand that some touches are not ok and you need to tell someone you trust.

For those who think it is up to the parents to teach these things, I agree! I would love it if parents would act like parents and teach their kids things like sexual education, but many do not. Is it fair to punish those kids because their parents didn’t know what to say, or didn’t think it should be talked about or just never thought it was important enough? In a very unscientific and informal study, I asked 10 of my friends if their parents taught them about sex. Only three ever had “the talk” with their folks. Two more were told “if you have any questions you can ask me” and the rest heard nothing.

I think Obama should release an ad that says this:
McCain supports not teaching children how to protect themselves from pedophiles. Is that the man you want running this country? What kind of man is he anyway?
Hey! It would entertain me!