Response regarding about shutting down Coed Schools for Jews because of Sex Ed

Recently, a gentleman with a well known Jewish blog was writing about sex education in religious schools and how one Open Orthodox Rabbi wants sex education in modern orthodox schools the way that it is done in public schools. During the course of his post, he said that he is opposed to coed schools beyond 6th grade and especially high school. The reason is that once a child reaches puberty the sex drive kicks into high gear. Teenage boys think of little else when their minds are not being distracted by their studies.

I will grant that boys do think about girls a good deal. However, a number of students at coed high schools somehow during puberty managed to do exceptionally well in high school that they were admitted to Ivy League schools such as Columbia, Yale, Penn and Harvard. Additionally, what are the number of students from single gender high schools that are accepted to elite schools? They're probably single gender but modern such as MTA and Central High School for Girls, not the "Bais Yaakov" type schools.

My biggest problem is that he wants to shut down a whole section of schools because of a few incidents of premarital sex in high school. A number of these coed schools have been around for many years. They aren't going to just close shop or totally remake themselves into separate gender schools because of a few individuals succumbing to temptation.

Then this gentleman goes to to delineate appropriate interaction between the sexes such as Shabbat meals with teens of opposite gender, Kiddushim at synagogue and chaperoned activities such as Bnei Akiva and NCSY.

In case this gentleman is not aware, at a lot of these single gender high schools, the student and parents sign a contract with the school saying that they will not participate in mixed activity while they are enrolled in the school. How can one expect teachers at a Bet Yaakov or Yeshiva High School who enforce rules about boys not talking to girls magically chaperone the same group of teens on a joint out of school activity during vacation or Yom HaAtzmaut, etc.?

This type of condescension towards the Modern Orthodox is the kind of thing that hardens our hearts and makes us not want to cooperate with the Yeshiva world on other important issues such as rising tuition costs.

Dress Code for Journalists

I saw this from the University of Missouri School of Journalism website and thought it was interesting. It's why I believe that most of the women "journalists" at Fox News should not be journalists.

Stacey Woelfel’s KOMU-TV Dress Code

Dress Codes for KOMU Work

It’s important for our young staff to dress professionally while they are
representing the station—whether on the air or at the building where
visitors might see them. There are specific dress codes for the job you are doing at the station, but everyone needs to follow these major rules each time they are coming to the station:

DO NOT have bare legs. Women wearing dresses, skirts, or shorts must also wear some sort of hose
DO NOT wear sweatshirts or sweatpants
DO NOT wear t-shirts
DO NOT wear shirts that expose the shoulders or midriff
DO NOT wear flip-flops or ultra-casual sandals
DO NOT wear baseball caps or other hats
DO NOT wear clothing that exposes tattoos

Remember, these rules apply whether you are coming to spend the day, or just dropping in for ten minutes to make a dub.

These rules MUST be adhered to by any of these so-called "Conservative/Republican" women or they should be unwelcome.

Capital Punishment

The Washington Capitals had the best record in the regular season this past year. Yet they succumbed to the Pittsburgh Penguins (aka NBC Sports favorite team) in the second round.

Why is it that all of the Washington, DC teams never get to the Final round of one of the four major sports? Is it the "gridlock" in Washington? Are the coaches to blame? What about the stars (RG3, Ovechkin, Wall and Harper)?

Maybe it is the nature of Washington, DC which has a lot of people from elsewhere since it's the capital. Most Pittsburgh people are natives of Pittsburgh or Western Pennsylvania. They're invested in the team more than DC or Floridians are.

Good luck to the Sharks and Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday.

Enough with LGBT Issues

I have had it with the constant barrage of LGBT issues on if state X is hateful and should lose concerts, etc. Why can't the Gays leave us alone? We leave you alone, you leave us alone and be respectful like every other human, regardless of creed, color, etc.

Thoughts on Presidential Campaign

Here are my thoughts on the GOP Race.

When the race started last year, I was for Scott Walker of Wisconsin. A reform governor who won two elections and beat back a recall effort by the Labor Unions in a Midwest state seemed great. Unfortunately, he has very little national recognition and money so he dropped out of the race in the fall. I then supported Cruz and still do.

I do like Marco Rubio, though some pundits think that he's a "RINO". If he's a RINO, then the GOP is in better shape than it was 20 years ago with Bob Dole and Jack Kemp as nominees against Clinton.

Trump is a narcissist and egomaniac and that is exactly what we have in the White House right now.

Hillary is untrustworthy and using the gender card to get votes and Bernie Sanders is a Socialist who is to the left of the Israeli Labor Party (Maarach).

It would be nice to see the New York State GOP show some leadership and resolve in Albany and not just let Andrew Cuomo do what he wants because he's an heir to the Mario Cuomo legacy. He's the New York version of Richard M. Daley. Hopefully, there's another George Pataki here.

Use of language- good and bad

A few months ago, a prominent commentator referred to our current president as a "retard". This caused an uproar among people who have children with special needs and others who for one reason or another don't have the full development that others are blessed to have.

I understand that one should not use words like "retard" and "fa!@#$%ot" in public discourse because it's offensive.

The literal definition of retard means to slow or impede progress. However, when used to describe a person who has developmental disabilities, it's offensive and rude.


My question is: What are the acceptable alternatives? Will these alternatives convey the meaning of developmental disabilities without diluting the true nature of the disability?

Special Needs, Extra Attention, high maintenance? High Maintenance is a euphemism.

Thank you.