Quote:
Originally posted by sugar and spice
I'm surprised that there are so many GCers against abstinence-only -- I was imagining there would be a little bit more dissent. But I won't complain. 
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Yeah, I'm kind of surprised, too. But, we're all fairly forward-thinking, educated people here, so I guess it makes sense.
My sex-ed classes were mandatory, and I don't remember anyone opting out of them (although I'm sure they could have). Similar to most of your classes, we had the "how our bodies work/where babies come from" classes in 5th or 6th grade, we went a little more in-depth in 8th grade, got into birth control/STDs in 10th grade, and had the "let's scare the crap out of them by showing them 'The Miracle of Life' video" class in 12th grade. All of my classes were single-gender until 12th grade.
As far as parents talking to their kids, I agree that they should definitely do that, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. My family is very open, and being the daughter of a teenage mother, I was taught very early on that I should be careful so that I wouldn't be put in the same situation as her. My grandmother actually sat me and my cousins down when were were between about 9-7 and lectured us about not getting pregnant, etc. (Of course, this had no effect on my cousins, who all had been pregnant or had kids by the time they were 18.
) My boyfriend, on the other hand, comes from a fairly traditional family, and he thinks his mom won't think he's having sex even after he's married. We've been together for 5 years and she still thinks he's a virgin. (Although this approach can work, too, because he's so terrified of his mom finding out that we have sex that he is careful to the point of being paranoid.
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