Leonard Peikoff Podcast 68

August 12, 2009 in Ideas, Parenting | 5 comments

If you haven’t been listening to Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s podcasts, you might want to at least check out his broadcast of June 30, podcast #68.  The first half of the podcast is all about children and marriage.  Here are the questions he answers:

  • How do you explain the concept of religion and god to preschool age children?
  • People are highly uncomfortable with the idea of their teenage kids having sex.  Is this irrational?
  • What is your opinion of sex education in general, and of abstinence education in particular?
  • Am I behaving rationally by remaining married to a woman that I no longer love, in order to keep my physical home?  [Here, Dr. Peikoff touches on the issue of divorce when children are involved.]

I’ve finally caught up with all the podcasts.  Samantha now recognizes Dr. Peikoff’s voice, and sometimes, when we get in the car she says, MOMMY? LISTEN TO PEIKOFF TODAY PLEASE?

  1. Rational Jenn on August 12, 2009 at 3:23 pm

    Thanks for pointing this podcast out. I’m behind on listening to them, and I like knowing which topics are covered in each one.

    Did you find it a little unusual that he said that parents were the worst people to provide sex education because they’d be too self-conscious (I think that’s what he said)? Of course sex-ed doesn’t belong in schools for a zillion good reasons.

    But I think rational parents will not be self-conscious about talking to their children about sex, and explaining not only what’s involved, but some other sex-related topics, such as how to avoid STDs, pregnancy, etc. I certainly don’t want my kids getting information about that from the streets!

    I do think he was kind of making a joke (about learning “on the streets”), and he’s certainly correct in that people have always found the information they needed, but I was a little confused by his brief statement. What did you think?

    My oldest certainly knows all kinds of details about sex, most of which he learned by asking me. Apart from catching me off-guard (he always seems to catch me at a red light or in the grocery store with these questions), it wasn’t really that awkward to talk about to him.

  2. Amy on August 12, 2009 at 4:53 pm

    Jenn,

    I’m not sure, but I assumed that LP meant that the *typical* parent would be the worst one to explain sex to his children. I certainly hope he doesn’t think that is necessarily true. And the “learn it from the streets” crack is typical LP: it’s true but it’s a bombastic way to make his point, which I think is that the typical uptight parent (and, of course, the schools) would give the child all sorts of bad connotations along with the information. Well, that’s my take, anyway.

    I certainly think sex is no different than any of the other life-things that a parent needs to teach a child about. I hope that Adam and I will be able to talk to Sam about sex without hang ups. We’ve already started by not treating private body parts any differently than others. We name them properly and aren’t embarrassed by them (we don’t giggle when she says “vagina” – even the giggle is a sign of embarrassment), but we also tell her that we keep those parts private. That seems to satisfy her curiosity. We plan to just answer her questions as they come up, not give her a contrived lecture at age X. Sounds like that’s how you handle it with Ryan, too. Do you tell him things with Morgan present? I would probably do that, figuring that the younger child will just pick up whatever she can understand just like any other subject.

    Luckily, Adam was raised in a Jewish household with a lot less of the typical Christian hang-ups about sex.

  3. Rational Jenn on August 13, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    I guess the thing that surprised me is that he didn’t go back and say something like “Of course rational parents are much less likely to be self-conscious about this and it might not really be an issue.” If his audience is primarily Objectivists, then of course, we all might get that that was an off-the-cuff kind of joke. But if not, then more explanation might be necessary? Or even if the audience is mostly Objectivists, why not point out that isn’t necessary?

    I’m probably over-thinking this, but it seemed odd to have left it that way, when this is such a common parenting topic/concern.

    Yes, we answer pretty much any questions in front of anyone! So when I was pregnant with Sean, I answered many questions for Ryan, and relatively few for Morgan, who listened to all of the answers I gave Ryan. He even made little sperm out of clay (I have pictures on my blog!). He knows about some of the, uh, mechanics of it, but I did draw the line when he asked for a demo from Brendan and me! No. Really, he did.

    He’s going to be the kid “on the streets” who tells all of the other kids what they need to know. He also spoils Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and “Genius” (aka “Jesus”). So if Sam ever has any questions….. :o )

  4. Amy on August 13, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    Jenn, good point on the Peikoff answer. Why don’t you ask him by writing to leonard at peikoff dot com? I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask him, too, so maybe I’ll include that one.

    That is hilarious that Ryan asked for a demo. Now, what did you tell him when you told him no, and how did he react? Did you just say that it is private? I’ve been wondering about when a child can understand that concept.