s the fact that every parent should ponder seriously:
Normal children are almost certain to get sexual information not later
than the early adolescent years, and usually from unreliable and vulgar
sources. It is, therefore, not a question whether children of school
ages should be taught the important facts of sex, but whether parents
and trained teachers rather than playmates and other unreliable persons
should be the instructors. Which will parents choose for their own
children? Thousands of intelligent parents have already faced this
question, and have decided that their children shall have early
sex-instruction in home or school or both in order that there will be
little danger of vulgar impressions taking a deep hold on child minds.

Granted, then, that children should be given some reliable instruction
concerning things sexual, who should be the teacher, what should be
taught, and when should the instruction be given? These are the
fundamental questions now being considered by the parents and educators
who have accepted sex-education as necessary. Upon the final answers to
such questions the decision of many parents will depend. I shall
attempt to answer them in later lectures.

[Sidenote: Sex mystery has prevented progress.]

The policy of maintaining mystery and secrecy concerning sex has failed
with adults even more sadly than with children. Health and morals have
suffered incalculable injury. The sexual evils of our time are not as
bad as were those of the ancient civilizations, but we have little
reason to be proud of the slight progress made. But why should we
expect the human to make progress when sexual problems have been kept
in darkness? The wonder is that, with the prevailing dark outlook on
sexual life throughout the past nineteen centuries, the world has not
developed more sexual vice. Innate animalistic appetites have tended to
lead downward, and surely the policy of silence has offered no
counteracting influence towards higher living. While religion and
ethics, by means of certain rules of conduct, have maintained certain
sexual standards, they have not kept vast numbers of humans from
falling far below those standards into utter degradation. The modern
teachers of religion and ethics have prevented general sexual
degradation, but they have failed to give human sexuality any decided
uplift. The reason for this failure is the policy of mystery and
silence. The teachers of religion and ethics have pr