Schools stumble over sex education

Montana, I see it differently. Human sexuality is universal. It's about the birds and the bees. All aminals do it. There's nothing "private" about it except when two people do it in privacy. Condom training is very important today, because of HIV/AIDS and other STD. Some countries in Africa are now teaching their citizens to use condoms, and it has reduced the incidence of HIV/AIDS. I think it's a good thing. c.i.

When I went to school there was no sex education taught in the schools. Of course that was before the sexual revolution. Drug use was practically unheard of. Marijuana being the only thing I ever heard of and that was because some of the musicians in the big bands were caught using it. And surprisingly or not it was more than common for a girl to come to the wedding night as a virgin. Something almost unheard of today.
In today's world that of course has all changed. With the breakdown in morals and the selling of sex by the movie makers children are bombarded on a daily basis with the message that there is nothing wrong with having sex as long as you like each other. If you meet someone and you like each other hop into bed. With that in mind it is imperative that children be made aware with the dangers involved and how to protect themselves . Something few parents are equipped to do. I believe that it is a plus for children be schooled in sex education and that the schools are well equipted to do the schooling. A little knowledge goes a long way.

I agree, but I don't think it's up to the schools to teach things that are on such a personal level. A persons sexuality is personal and the schools have no business going there. I am all for them teaching kids about aids, etc.... Sex is personal when it comes to human beings and it is private. When's the last time you saw someone having sex in public? If you have to actually teach someone how to use a condom, then something is wrong somewhere. Hell, I was embarrassed when they showed a film in science class of a woman giving birth. There's nothing wrong with teaching about aids, but when they start passing out questionaires asking young children very personal questions, such as "have you ever had sex?", etc, it's getting personal and is none of their business. I wouldn't be against any of these teachings if they got the parents consent first. The parents should decide weather it appropriate for their child or not. I wasn't given that choice and that's what troubles me the most. I'm the parent and I should have had a say is what my child was taught. sure, aides kill, but so does sars, abola, lightning, tornado's, etc...., but do we keep our kids locked in the house so they don't get hurt?

In my sons school back in Mass they were teaching the children that sex was great as long as they use protection. Totally unacceptable for anyone to be teaching anyones child without parent consent. If a parent wants to consent to this form of sex ed, then it should be their choice, but parents should have a choice.

Montana
Yes I agree parents consent should be required. And IMO if the parent has any sense at all they should give it. Most teenagers of today if they are socially active are more than likely sexually active. Whether you believe it or not it is a fact. With that in mind they should be as prepared as possible. Would you send your child out in a snowstorm without being properly dressed?

Montana - what is your thinking on all the kids whose parents take no responsibility at all for sex education? Have the children no rights to education that may save their lives? Or do parental rights outweigh this?

It might really be that Eiropean and other non-USA children and parents are different to those in the USA.

My experience is -which is widely shared- that problems about sex ed are not focused on children but on the parents/adults.

(And therefore we did adult sexual education as well :wink: )

Walter Hinteler
Parents and adults unfortunately are just is as need in many instances of a sexual education as the children.

Parents (and adults unfortunately) are just is as need in many instances of a sexual education as the children.


au, Amen to that! c .i.

I can appreciate that Montana is taking responsibility for her son and what he learns. Regrettably, the reality is that many parents do not take the responsibility of parenting seriously. They are not aware of what is going on in their children's lives, and are not ensuring that the children have the information they need to survive. Because of that, I believe that sex education should be a requirement at school. Schools teach children about personal hygiene, road safety etc. I see sex education right in the middle of that group of things.

Here's a good link on parents and sex education. http://www.dearpeggy.com/mfsexed.html

I have a teenage daughter, so we can all assume I've had a sexual relationship in my life (at least once )... But I've never used a condom and I'm not sure how to. I have no partner/relationship at present, so I have no way to "practice" and then teach my daughter... (Yeah, I know, buy a box of condoms and a bunch of bananas...) But she should know! We talk about what she learns in school, about AIDS, human sexuality, contraception, safe sex. I am glad someone is teaching her these things -- not because I'm unwilling, but because I don't have all the knowledge I want to pass on to her. I'm with ehBeth on this one -- it belongs in with all the other "life learning" that schools offer these days.

I'm also glad she and I can talk about these things. Some of her girlfriends are woefully ignorant. Some of her girlfriends' parents are woefully ignorant...

My formal sex education class (just one) consisted of the girls in my class and their mothers invited to a screening of a short movie about sanitary napkins, produced by the Kotex Corporation, demonstrating how to attach a napkin to the belt and wear it. Followed by cookies and punch. Woeful.

Woefully lacking, I think. c.i.

I learned quit a bit on my own . But that's not optimum. Trial and error is not a good way to learn about human sexuality and disease transmission, and that's what we're condemming people to if we don't make ourselves, as a society, open to education and disease prevention (which includes abstinence, but does not UNinclude condoms!)...

In Uganda, the government runs an AIDS education/prevention program, including the distribution of condoms, and the Uganda AIDS Commission says that the infection rate of AIDS has dropped dramatically.

AIDS (and other STDs) is not the only reason for sex education. It's only a part of raising healthy adults with the knowledge they need to live their lives.

Wy, Couldn't agree more. c.i.

i loved that, Wy.

i think we need to make a t-shirt out of something like

my choices include abstinence, but don't UNinclude condoms

love it

ehBeth, thanks! I'm kinda lightminded; I don't often try to express things I feel deeply. It's nice to have someone whose views I respect agree!

And I think it would be a very cool T-shirt!

and all proceeds go to A2K.

How can one teach about AIDS and not talk about sex, though? I mean, how can you teach kids about what AIDS is, how it gets transmitted, without talking about condoms? (I.e. - AIDS gets transmitted by oral sex and intercourse, unless condoms are used, in the proper way, namely, X, Y and Z - ?).



Again, what is personal, though? Is it OK for schools to teach kids about traffic safety? About the dangers of drunk driving? About the choices you make as a kid when you decide to drink, how, when? Where in/around these questions would you draw the line, and how would the example be different from that of deciding on sex and its risks?



That's a touchy subject for me, because there are so many parents around who harm their kids. They consider it their right to do so, because its their children, and no government educator / child protection agency / etc has the right to get between them and their children. There's something in there that suggests that children are their parents' ... property, kinda (sorry - cant think of a more subtle word). But children are citizens as much as anyone else, and thus the state has a responsibility for their security as much as for anyone else's. If they are at grave danger, isnt it our common responsibility to warn them? "It takes a village" to raise a kid and all that - to erect a wall of privacy around the nuclear family, in that respect, seems irresponsible to me, because children are not for parents to treat whatever way they see fit - we are all responsible for the kid next door not being maltreated, and the state is responsible for the security of all its citizens, including the children.

We have the same kind of dilemma here in Holland. Some very Christian families of certain denominations refuse to have their children vaccinated (agaisnt tetanus, pox or what-is-it-nowadays). They believe they should not tamper with the will of the Lord. But the state considers it its responsibility for such diseases not to erupt in the country and inflict its citizens. There's been a battle around that. Thus far the families have won, probably also because there's so few of them, so the risks are relatively negligeable.



No, exactly! Yeh, thats what I would say, too. We can't keep our kids locked up in the house. And the state, the school, the community can't rely on parents being able to keep their kids locked up in the house either. They're gonna go outside. They'd better be prepared - not just for their own sakes, but also for others'. So you learn about diseases at school, right, and about the natural disasters of your area too, I'm sure - "what to do when a tornado's coming". IMHO, this' the same.

It ticks me off when parents don't take responsability for their childrens sex education and I agree that kids need to have that education. If a parent can't or won't teach their kids then I think these classes are needed, but not without the consent of the parent. If the parent refuses to teach the child and refuses consent I still think it should be the parents choice. People are losing more and more of their rights every day and if we allow it to continue, parents will lose all their rights.