Are students ready for this academia?

Though the viewing of pornography seems to be an accepted practice in our society I was yet shocked at the recent news of the Northwestern University professor who not only shows graphic videos in his classroom, but also felt the need to teach through live display of a sexual act.

The rationality that these activities and videos are of an “academic” nature and the professors “at the leading edge of their respective disciplines” is appalling at best.

At the leading edge? Sex has been around since the beginning of nature. Professor J. Michael Bailey even went so far to set the standard that the students are “open-minded grown-ups, rather than fragile children.” I think we have forgotten that indulgence in such activities has resulted in the damaging of marriages, families and the lives of many children. A 2003 Focus on the Family Poll determined that 47 percent of families polled considered pornography to be a problem in their home.

Mr. Bailey has forgotten that these “open-minded grown-ups,” as he calls the 20-something students, are not the only ones viewing pornographic material, however “academic” it may be. It is our children viewing it, and the open-minded grown-ups are soliciting them. May we all be reminded that sex is not a recreational activity nor is the viewing of sexually explicit materials, but often results in the damaging of marriages, families, and most importantly the children involved.

I’m ashamed that our standards for academic excellence are so low, that we now invite this much conjecture into the classroom.

Carin Young

Wheaton