Roger Marsh: According to a report from the CDC, 55% of teens, both boys and girls, are sexually active by the time they reach 18 years of age. Now, that is a startling figure, but it's not a surprising result of the sexual revolution. Since the 1960s, our society has fully embraced this warped free-thinking ideology. And sadly, the effects of that "movement" continues to wreak havoc on today's youth, particularly in the classroom all over the country. Radical and progressive curriculum is being perpetrated upon young mind. Gender fluidity, same-sex "marriage", and sexual perversion is openly taught, oftentimes without parental consent or knowledge. So what can be done to fix this crooked view of sexuality in our culture? Well, on today's Family Talk broadcast we're going to address these concerns through the conclusion of Dr. Dobson's conversation with Lori Kuykendall, who is the president and CEO of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, an organization founded by our good friend, Dr. Joe McIlhaney.
Roger Marsh: Last time on the broadcast, Lori and Dr. Dobson examined the disastrous effects the sexual revolution has had on American society. In just a moment they will discuss more specifically the revolting agenda taught in America's classrooms. Now, this is an important conversation, so be sure to pay close attention to every minute of this discussion. Here once again is our host, Dr. James Dobson.
Dr. Dobson: Lori, I've been reading about a struggle in the state of Texas over this issue of abstinence and there's apparently a life and death struggle that's taking place. Bring us up to date on the nature of it, and where it stands right now.
Lori Kuykendall: Yes, thank you for asking about Texas. I know you have a heart for Texas also.
Dr. Dobson: I do.
Lori Kuykendall: But it's interesting, because about a year ago some national groups, the comprehensive sex educators, closely aligned with Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth, and Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. These are kind of the players in sex education.
Dr. Dobson: SIECUS?
Lori Kuykendall: SIECUS, that's correct. SIECUS came to Texas and they held a press conference on the steps of the capitol building and they said it was time to take Texas. They knew that the state board of education had called for the health education standards, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, to be revised. They were written originally in 1998. So last year when they knew it was time to review these standards, they called it a once in a generation opportunity to take Texas for comprehensive sex ed. Now, quick explanation on the difference between what Texas has had in place, is an optional sex education chosen by local school districts, and then if it is taught in Texas it must be clearly giving an emphasis to abstinence until marriage.
Dr. Dobson: Is Texas the only state in the union that has done that?
Lori Kuykendall: No, sir. There are several others that have held onto an abstinence focus message in their sex education.
Dr. Dobson: It's the only way to avoid a sexually transmitted disease, isn't it?
Lori Kuykendall: Well, absolutely, 100% effective. So they saw this as their opportunity to turn that, to get into the very heart of the standards taught in public schools in Texas and say, "We want something more." Unfortunately, they posed this battle between abstinence only and comprehensive sex education. Comprehensive sex education nearly always includes LGBTQ, differentiated instruction, abortion information, contraception information, ultimately normalizes sexual activity, or worse, sexualizes children. So we don't want comprehensive sex education in Texas, and yet that is the battle nationally as well. So when the national groups came, they know that what happens in Texas will not just impact Texas, because Texas has over 5 million children, drives a serious textbook market which-
Dr. Dobson: A lot of money involved.
Lori Kuykendall: So that's often what it comes back to, isn't it? So they knew that if they could turn Texas for their agenda of comprehensive sex education, then they could turn the world. They could turn the nation, and the world is watching. So there are national implications for what we're battling in Texas. So that began a year-long review process. There were several what they call work groups that began to look at the old standards, update them, review them, make recommendations. I served on three of those work groups throughout the year. Those went to a first public hearing in June and it was ugly, Dr. Dobson.
Dr. Dobson: Oh, I'm sure it is.
Lori Kuykendall: As you can imagine.
Dr. Dobson: I've seen that battle.
Lori Kuykendall: A first reading, as they called it, of those standards was held in September, now poised for a final vote in November. We have a strong-
Dr. Dobson: So those new standards would have completely revised the curricula?
Lori Kuykendall: Absolutely. It was that time. If they were going to change what was taught in Texas, this was their window of time to do it. The good thing is we have a strong conservative state board of education reflective of really the values of Texas. It would upset me, one day they came out with a Texas Is Ready. Texas is not ready to change their conservative family-focused values, particularly around abstinence education, and yet these groups have purported that and said, "This is what we need to do to change and get in line." We've held them off but we've got a lot of good people on the ground.
Dr. Dobson: Were parents mobilized about this battle? This struggle?
Lori Kuykendall: We have certainly been working to that end. We need parents more. You know, parents have a strong voice in their local districts and at the state level. We've tried to bring awareness to parents of how important this vote is, how important those state board of education members are, their tireless work that happens that affects every child in a public school in Texas.
Dr. Dobson: You have an opportunity right now to talk to a good number of people in Texas. Make your best case, because parents, your kids are being propagandized and taught immoral concepts, and abstinence is really the Godly way of doing things. If you believe that, get involved in this fight. Apparently you had some support from somewhere.
Lori Kuykendall: Well, our state board of education, for the most part, the majority is with is and upholds these values, so-
Dr. Dobson: And they were appointed by the governors.
Lori Kuykendall: They are voted. They're elected members.
Dr. Dobson: Elected?
Lori Kuykendall: Uh huh (affirmative), elected from the 15 districts.
Dr. Dobson: All right, it comes back to parents one way or another.
Lori Kuykendall: Absolutely. So those elections are coming up again. Several spots are up for election, so I would tell your Texas parents, please find out about the state board of education election in your region.
Dr. Dobson: When will that be?
Lori Kuykendall: That's in November, with the general election.
Dr. Dobson: We're just right around the corner from that.
Lori Kuykendall: Yes. And then a few weeks after that general election becomes the state board of education vote on these health standards.
Dr. Dobson: Are you nervous about this?
Lori Kuykendall: I am hopeful. If we can uphold our state board as it sits, we're going to be just fine.
Dr. Dobson: They're the ones that make the decisions.
Lori Kuykendall: Yes, sir.
Dr. Dobson: Parents don't have the right to decide what that curriculum is going to be.
Lori Kuykendall: Well, it's interesting because in Texas we have this clause about local control, that according to the state law-
Dr. Dobson: It's antiquated.
Lori Kuykendall: It comes back to local districts. So, yes, parents need to get involved with their local districts, and then be watching what's happening at the state level as well. These state board of education members need to hear that parents want the focus to be on abstinence until marriage, as it has been. We want good quality instruction on communication, healthy relationships, sexual risk avoidance education is the term we want people using. And these state board of education members need to be uplifted and upheld. They are coming under fierce fire, much pressure, much attack, for the men and women who are upholding our values. The things that are being said about them and to them, even by their colleagues, but more so by these very vocal activists in the community. I haven't ever been this close to an issue and watched personal attacks on people who are upholding good for kids.
Dr. Dobson: You know, I've been saying for years, but even more recently to parents, saying, "Do you know what's happening to your kids? Do you know what they're being taught? Do you know what they're hearing? Do you know the influence that those teachers are having?" I'm not opposed to teachers. I said in yesterday's program that I was a school teacher in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades, and then a high school counselor, so I'm not against public education. But I'm telling you, what's happening across the country is breathtaking, and I have been saying, parents, get involved. Find out what the curriculum is. Find out if you agree with it. If you absolutely cannot change it, get your kids out, and homeschool or Christian school or charter schools. Find another alternative because your kids are suffering, and they will suffer for many years to come if they get this wrong. Their marriages will suffer. They will have sexually transmitted diseases. They will have abortions. They will have a manner of relational problems that come out of this.
Dr. Dobson: Parents, get involved. So I say to the parents of Texas, now is the time. Will the election for those trustees or the board members, will that occur on presidential election day? November 3rd?
Lori Kuykendall: Yes. The state board of education positions that are up on the ballot will be on that general ballot. I think it's really important. I've been a parent, I raised four children through a public school system and didn't realize how important those state board of education seats are, so we want to make sure we uphold. And there is a clear attack coming. To use their terms, they want to flip the school board and make it Democratic and get the Republicans off, is what we've heard from the other side. And sadly, this shouldn't be a political issue or a partisan issue when it comes to health-
Dr. Dobson: We're talking kids.
Lori Kuykendall: Health and wellbeing and education. Absolutely. But unfortunately, it is, and the few Democrats that are on have made it clear they want to flip the board. You've heard people talk about changing Texas from red to can we get it a little purple, and maybe turn it blue. So, that's what's going on in Texas.
Dr. Dobson: All right, parents have heard us today I assume, and they want to know, what can I do? Where do they start? I mean, they don't even know who's running, or what they stand for.
Lori Kuykendall: Well, I think it starts in really two directions. So first of all, start with your local school district. You have a right to know what your children are being taught around sex education. So, it takes effort sometimes. It shouldn't always be so hard, but as you're compelling parents to get involved, and then it takes figuring out who's on the school board. Those local school boards control what's taught in that school district. So know those folks. Know where they stand. And then on the state board of education, it's super easy to find out who your state board representative is and whether they're up for reelection or not. But I think it's more than that, because I think it's helping parents be the primary sex educators of their children, that really what their children believe and their attitudes and behaviors around sex and sexuality and relationships comes back to parents. I think parents have lost sight of their very powerful role, the power of parents to uphold truth. If your children are taught truth so well, clearly and consistently from you and your family's values, that can be from your faith values, from your family values, from your heritage, what's best for them. If they know it so well, they'll know the counterfeit in an instant and they won't have to be pulled away by the lies.
Lori Kuykendall: So no matter what's taught in schools, your kids can know truth because you've taught it at home. I think we talked about sexual revolution and parents of that generation or who maybe didn't choose this themselves, often feel like they can't call their kids to a higher standard themselves, or they're not sure what to say or how to say it. We've got to help equip and empower parents to be the primary sex educators of their children.
Dr. Dobson: We're talking to Lori Kuykendall, president and CEO of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, and she's my guest today, was here yesterday as well. Lori, I'm going to do something I have never done before. This is a first. I've done maybe more than 8000 radio programs in 43 years, and I've never done what I'm about to do to you right now. You have written an op-ed on this subject, and I have a copy of it in front of me and I would like you to read it. Would you do that?
Lori Kuykendall: I'd be happy to. For over 50 years a battle has waged for the health and wellbeing of our children in regard to sex education in schools for Texas. To some degree, that battle has been fought in other states and on a national level. Horrors. We've heard nationally of harmful radical sex education imposed by schools and liberal advocacy groups have largely affected people who live in other places, but now the battle came to Texas soil. Parents, it's in our backyard now. SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, founded in 1964 by the medical director of the Planned Parenthood Federation, recently held a press conference with the Texas Freedom Network in Austin. SIECUS thanked everyone for coming out to demand a change. The two organizations have teamed up to try and take advantage of this so-called once in a generation opportunity to change course from Texas's longstanding commitment to abstinence-focused education. SIECUS knows that what happens in Texas surrounding the updating of the health TEKS, that's the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, will have national implications for sex education including not just what is taught, but what is bought.
Lori Kuykendall: National health textbook development and sales are often driven by the large Texas market. Many contend also that money from reproductive services, especially abortion, encouraged by comprehensive sex education, also drives the focus on Texas. In the ongoing debate over sex education, it is, in the end, our children and their parents who end up losing. I am hopeful that parents will rise up, responding with courage and engaging in this battle as never before. Parents, your voice, your courage and engagement are needed now more than ever before. What can you do to protect your children? Number one, know when and what is being taught, or is under consideration to be taught in your schools. What curriculum is being used in sexuality instruction and growth and development? Read every page. Look at every slide. This is your right, according to the law. Second, find out about your district's school health advisory council. When are they meeting? Who is serving? By law, parents are to make up the majority of this required district committee overseeing all human sexuality instruction. Number three, are you concerned? Are your friends concerned? Speak up and speak together. Know that you are not alone, and that one of the enemy's strategies has been to eliminate you. You know what's best for your kids.
Lori Kuykendall: And fourth, know the health and science that support your family's values. You will have more credibility focusing on what is best for children for their physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual health. Parents are sometimes discredited as being too moral, religious, or political. Progress can be made focusing on medical accuracy and prevention. According to the Power to Decide, the campaign to prevent unplanned pregnancy, when asked who most influences their decisions about sex, teenagers continue to say their parents. For youth ages 12 to 15, 52% say parents and just 17% say friends. And perhaps surprisingly, for youth ages 16 to 19, parents come in at 32%, still ahead of 28% for friends. Parents, you matter most when it comes to helping your child make the best decisions for their health, both for today and for their future. Now it's time to defend your family and your family's values and engage in the battle over sex education in your backyard.
Dr. Dobson: Lori, that is so well written and well read, and I appreciate you doing it. Now I want our listeners in other parts of the country to understand what we just did. We're not just talking about Texas. We're not just saying here's a battle going on in that state and parents, you must get involved. This is a national and an international battle. There's an effort to control the minds of kids throughout Western civilization and certainly here in the United States. In some states the battle is already concluded and it's been lost, like California being one, Massachusetts is the other. Many of the northeastern states, there isn't even a discussion anymore, but there should be. Parents there care about their children too. As the SIECUS people came into Texas and said, "This is our opportunity to change it", those parents that care about their children have an opportunity to work to change the law and the curriculum in other states as well. So, that's the reason you're on the air today, not just to talk about your battle, which is so important, but to also talk about the rest of the kids in this country. My heart aches for them and what's going on. They're being distorted and warped and twisted. They're growing up without a sense of morality and decency and the principles that draw a man and woman together in marriage.
Dr. Dobson: All of those things are under attack, and we're trying to do what we can to get the word out. I hope today we have stirred the hearts of those parents who are out there who are saying, "I've got a third grader, I've got a fifth grader, I've got one in high school. I wonder what's going on there? I wonder what they're being taught? I'm going to go find out." And then talk to other parents and see if there aren't others who feel like you do. And for goodness' sake, go to your church. Conservative Christian churches have a right to know and to be involved too, and they need to be organized. I would like to start a movement even from this distance. I won't lead it, but a lot of what you're doing is part of the effort to lead in this arena and it is so important because it's not only the physical welfare of our children, but it's their emotional and spiritual welfare as well. I appreciate your taking the time to write that, and thank you for reading it and for bringing this information to us. Is there anything else you want to tell parents about this issue?
Lori Kuykendall: Well, I think parents need to know the power that they have to bring their children up in their values and to offer perhaps a better life even than they chose themselves in this area around sex and relationships. But know that it is absolutely the strategy of those who oppose us, those who are pushing comprehensive sex education or worse, they sometimes call it abstinence plus education.
Dr. Dobson: Lori, explain what abstinence plus is. I think I know, but it could go both ways.
Lori Kuykendall: Abstinence plus is a phrase that those who push comprehensive sex education have tried to use to get out ahead of us as they'd like to stay, so it's abstinence plus comprehensive sex education. It's abstinence, but if you're not abstinent, use-
Dr. Dobson: It's kind of tricky, isn't it?
Lori Kuykendall: Absolutely. And if you think about the dual messaging, right? We want to give clear messages and clear direction to our children. Abstinence plus says, well, abstinence is great, but if you don't, that fine. Just be protected and consensual in your sexual activity. If you think about McDonald's selling hamburgers, they don't say, our hamburgers are great, but you can go down the street to Burger King's for a good burger also. That's dual messaging. Abstinence plus is a dual message. It's not abstinence getting the attention it needs or the direction or the clear message. It's absolutely sugar-coating it, trying to get a hold of and trick parents into thinking this is good. Abstinence plus is dangerous. So, parents are no longer the experts for their children.
Dr. Dobson: That makes my blood boil. Do you know that?
Lori Kuykendall: Yes, sir. Absolutely. Parents are considered barriers to service. So know that that's the strategy, and why you feel frustrated and perhaps disempowered. And you've got to know that you are the parent. Your child, even the research I just stated, says that they will hear louder from you than they will hear from anybody else. So parents have got to speak up. It's not just so much that you can, and I want to encourage you. You can do this, whether it was done for you or not. You can do this. But even louder than that, they need to hear, you must do this, parents. You've got to talk about these topics. And may I tell you that if you can talk about sex, you can talk about anything. I believe that the family-
Dr. Dobson: That terrifies parents, doesn't it?
Lori Kuykendall: It does. And we've got to help them have the courage. And that starts with the knowledge and the information, but really the courage to say this matters to my kids. It's the very essence and core of who they are, and the family they will sometimes build. It's, as you said, the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing. These are personal topics. But look at what the world has to offer. It's so empty. We can help them find freedom and fullness by following God's good plan, which is absolutely based in the health and science of what's best.
Dr. Dobson: That's so well said.
Lori Kuykendall: So parents, be empowered. Talk up. You must do this.
Dr. Dobson: Going back to the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, do you have materials available for parents to understand more about sexual health? Sexually transmitted diseases and the treatment of them, and other things? Do you have materials like that?
Lori Kuykendall: Yes, sir. Books, brochures, information sheets, online trainings, and we can come to your community. We want to be about helping parents be equipped absolutely as the primary sex educators of their kids.
Dr. Dobson: Give us your address.
Lori Kuykendall: www.medinstitute.org.
Dr. Dobson: How about your physical address?
Lori Kuykendall: 5999 Summerside Drive, Suite 116, in Dallas, Texas, 75252.
Dr. Dobson: Can they call your organization?
Lori Kuykendall: Yes, sir. 512-328-6268.
Dr. Dobson: And we'll put that on the website. Any last thing to say?
Lori Kuykendall: Thank you so much for what you're doing for families. Know that we are with you. It is that vision for families and wellbeing, that's heart, mind, soul and body of children. And however we can be a resource to you and to your efforts as well, we love our partnership, so thank you so much.
Dr. Dobson: Well, tell Dr. McIlhaney how much we appreciate him, and him suggesting that you come be on our program today. God be with you as you lead this organization. You're three weeks in. Are you having fun so far?
Lori Kuykendall: Absolutely. We've got a lot of good work to do ahead.
Dr. Dobson: And thank you for taking a trip on a plane at this time. A lot of people are afraid to do that. I hope you get home safe.
Lori Kuykendall: Well, as I've said, I'll come to Colorado anytime, Dr. Dobson, so thank you.
Dr. Dobson: And give your husband my regards.
Lori Kuykendall: Absolutely. Thanks.
Dr. Dobson: What's his name?
Lori Kuykendall: His name is Chris.
Dr. Dobson: Chris.
Lori Kuykendall: Yes.
Dr. Dobson: You bring him next time.
Lori Kuykendall: I would be glad to. Thank you.
Dr. Dobson: Okay.
Roger Marsh: Two thought-provoking programs about the devastating impact of the sexual revolution, both on our society and in the classroom. You've been listening to Dr. James Dobson's interview with Lori Kuykendall, the head of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health. Connect with this organization by visiting today's broadcast page at drjamesdobson.org. Their site is full of helpful resources and advice for moms and dads parenting in this obscene society. Also, while you're on our broadcast page, be sure to request a CD of this interview to revisit again later. You'll find all of this when you go to drjamesdobson.org and then click on the broadcast page. Well, that's all the time we have for today. I'm Roger Marsh thanking you for listening and for your faithful financial support of this ministry. Be sure to join us again next time for another edition of Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk.
Announcer: This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.