Olivia Burton
Sex at First Sight
Each copy of "Sex at First Sight" was accompanied by an explanatory note from the donor.
On Thursday, June 4, parents of Mountain Brook students opened their mailboxes to find free copies of Sex at First Sight: Understanding the Modern Hookup Culture by Richard E. Simmons III.
An anonymous donor paid to have approximately 2,000 copies of the book mailed to parents of junior high and high school students. “[The donor] was disturbed by what he read [about hookup culture],” said Simmons. “He grew up in Mountain Brook and loves this city, so he felt he should be proactive.”
Sex at First Sight offers a definition of modern hookup culture on college campuses and examines the psychological, spiritual and physical effects of “hooking up” on teenagers and young adults.
“In most colleges today, sex has become another form of recreation that you fit into your schedule, like studying or exercising,” Simmons writes. The book also outlines a Christian perspective on relationships, what it refers to as “God’s blueprint” for sexuality, presenting it as a healthier and more fulfilling alternative to hookup culture.
Each book was accompanied by a note from “concerned parents” at The Center for Executive Leadership that explained the purpose of the delivery: “Hopefully, [this book] will equip you as a parent to be better prepared to talk to your children about today’s culture.”
Simmons explained how Sex at First Sight served as a conversation starter with his oldest son, who is 18 years old. After his son finished the book, Simmons asked him to describe three or four things he had learned from it.
“It really shook him up,” said Simmons, whose three children have all read the book. “[The book] served as a basis for starting a conversation that we would not have had otherwise,” he said.
Simmons acknowledges that Sex at First Sight contains sensitive material and viewpoints that may be offensive to some. Both Simmons and the anonymous donor expected push back against the free delivery of the book, but Simmons said that the donor had a “real conviction” that he needed to share the messages in the book with Mountain Brook parents and students.
“He told me, ‘I really want to do something for these young people,’” said Simmons.
To those who are offended by the book or do not agree with its message, Simmons said, “You can treat it like junk mail and just throw it out.”
After the book was delivered to homes last Thursday, several members of the Facebook group “What’s Happening in Mountain Brook” (WHIMB) expressed concerns that their personal information, including names and addresses, had been shared with a third party. According to Simmons, the donor supplied only the information necessary to deliver the books, including parents’ names and addresses.
PTO President Tanya Cooper confirmed in a post on WHIMB that “only parent names and addresses were supplied to the business and the donor. This has been verified with the donor, Center for Executive Leadership and the mailing service that did the actual mailing.”
In the same statement, Cooper wrote, “[The book] was sent from a couple who has children in the system and meant well and was in no way influenced, proposed, endorsed or supplied by Mountain Brook Schools.”
Currently, Simmons said, there are no plans to distribute free copies of Sex at First Sight to other communities in the Birmingham area.
For more information about Sex at First Sight, visit the book's website or read Village Living’s article on the book from April.
Sex at First Sight is available at the book's website, Books A Million, Amazon and other retailers.
