It is unwise to teach the young that which is both beyond their understanding and harmful to their developing character...

What Classical Education Tells Us About Sex Education

by Zachary Palmer


Plato, in a sense, lays the foundation for what many modern educators believe: It is senseless to teach children the reasons behind things. 

• Try and explain to a child why apples are sweet and be sure to mention cell walls and human olfactory membranes. Or try and convince a child the sky is blue because blue light molecules are easily scattered by the Earth’s atmosphere. 
• All the child really knows is apples are sweet, and the sky is blue because it reflects the ocean. 

Where Plato differs from modern educators is in his caveat regarding what particularly should be taught to children. If Plato were alive today, he would undoubtedly play devil’s advocate with those in favor of teaching children about sex. 

Yet it is unlikely he would conclude anything other than this proposition: It is unwise to teach the young that which is both beyond their understanding and harmful to their developing character...




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