Sex Education in Public Schools

[mystikchick]

absolutely!
i had comprehensive but age-appropriate sex-ed starting in 4th grade through 9th grade, some of which was reinforced in 11th grade IB/AP bio. you better believe i'm well educated as to the risks associated with being sexually active, the benefits of abstinence, the variety of different measures to protect myself from disease and pregnancy, and what to do (God forbid), if something fails.

i have two friends in college who did not have the benefit of such comprehensive education, and thus, as a 19 year old freshman, found myself assuring my friend that there was no human way possible that performing oral sex would result in pregnancy so long as none of the semen got anywhere near her vaginal opening and assuring another friend that bleeding after her first time was perfectly normal (she had had abstinence only education.) i have never felt so glad that i had the education i did as i did then.

knowing all there is to know has helped me make smart, informed decisions about my body and my health, and i think that's vital. sex shouldn't be turned into something taboo, teens should understand that if you have sex, you can get pregnant. but i think it is also important to emphasize the emotional/spiritual aspects of sex as well, because too many kids think it's something you can engage in casually and wind up hurt and damaged emotionally as a result.

overwhelming yes.

[Coramoor]

I'm sure this is a cliche line...but

We can't trust the public education system to teach little johnny long division or mandy US history, yet we trust these dumb ass teachers to teach them sex ed?

Yeah, right.

[AlethiaSi]

Originally Posted by Coramoor

I'm sure this is a cliche line...but

We can't trust the public education system to teach little johnny long division or mandy US history, yet we trust these dumb ass teachers to teach them sex ed?

Yeah, right.

But the education NEEDS to be there in the first place in addition to parental guidance.

As Mystikchick said, I had comprehensive sex education throughout elementary, middle and high school and I found myself in situations with friends answering questions that they were truly mystified about, because their PARENTS and SCHOOLS had not taught them otherwise.

[Tom Earp]

There better be besides the Birds an Bees!

Find out how the little one goes in the other thing in stead of learning about through electic plug ins!

How, how are babies mad: Stork, under a cabbage leaf, or the rubbing of noses!

The do rightess said it is wrong to show the Male penis and the female vigina and that is where it all starts! DAR!

Then these little suckers swim up stream as they have the hots for those little eggie things that make babies!

My Dad tried to tell me about sex as Mom told him to! I listened to his halting speech and said are you talking about having sex?

We never had that conversation again!

[BetteDavisEyes]

Originally Posted by Coramoor

We can't trust the public education system to teach little johnny long division or mandy US history, yet we trust these dumb ass teachers to teach them sex ed?

Yeah, right.

Well, as a "dumb ass teacher" as you so succinctly put, we do the best we can with the limited resources & training we get in this subject. Parents have the final say on what they will allow their child to hear in regards to sex ed. Many parents actually send in notes with demands as to what their child can hear from us and when we're to make them leave the room. There are a lot of dos and don'ts in this subject area. We can only tell them so much. The school I used to work at actually sent the students out to a different room where a RN (male for the boys and female for the girls) would walk them through body changes, sex, etc. Other schools have the teachers tell them the basic facts.


Unfortunately, many parents still have the attitude that sex is taboo and not to be spoken of so they refuse to sign the consent forms.

[KSUViolet06]

Yes it should be. I think there should at least be some education about male/female reproductive systems, puberty (and what it entails for both males/females), the reproductive process (sex & conception).

As far as contraceptives & abstinence, I think those things should BOTH be covered briefly as well. Students should know that sex is a choice, and that they can choose to abstain from sex. Likewise, if students choose to have sex, they need to know about how to prevent diseases & pregnancy.

*I also think that there should be an option for parents to sign something if they do not want their kids to participate, since everyone has different attitudes about sex.

[ziasha07]

Originally Posted by BetteDavisEyes

Well, as a "dumb ass teacher" as you so succinctly put, we do the best we can with the limited resources & training we get in this subject. Parents have the final say on what they will allow their child to hear in regards to sex ed. Many parents actually send in notes with demands as to what their child can hear from us and when we're to make them leave the room. There are a lot of dos and don'ts in this subject area. We can only tell them so much. The school I used to work at actually sent the students out to a different room where a RN (male for the boys and female for the girls) would walk them through body changes, sex, etc. Other schools have the teachers tell them the basic facts.


Unfortunately, many parents still have the attitude that sex is taboo and not to be spoken of so they refuse to sign the consent forms.

In my school system, the parents only sign foms if the DON'T want their children to go.

[honeychile]

I want to add to my own post, that abstinence was very much part of the program, too.

I can remember one point very vividly. Bearing in mind that we had to sit boy-girl-boy-girl, the teachers (always one male, one female) passed around a grapefruit. Then the teacher said how many of the girls complained about cramps every month, which was the result of a heavy period. He then said, "if you think having menstrual cramps are bad, think about this grapefruit. It's roughly the size of a baby's head. Think about the cramps that would go along with that!"

I should also add that I graduated with over 700 in my class. There were exactly two pregnancies in my entire class! Knowledge is power!

I apologize in advance if that's too graphic for some.

[Kevin]

I went to a Catholic school.. we had sex ed in biology. No scary stuff or anything. I'm pretty sure we had no pregnancies out of a class of around 150 or so. I always heard rumors when girls would just "disappear" that they had been sent home. I'm pretty sure they expelled pregnant students or those who had abortions.

That said, maybe we shouldn't have sex ed in schools... it ought to be left to kids to research for themselves on the internet.

There are probably volunteer teachers just waiting in chat rooms.

[OneTimeSBX]

my parents never had the "birds/bees" talk with me, and for the life of me i cant remember where i learned it from! mom did, however, explain my cycle to me in enough detail that i decided i didnt want to be a girl anymore...

by 8th grade, 3 of my classmates had children. by my graduation, 3 more of my close friends had children (one had THREE), and a handful walked across the stage pregnant. within the 2 years after graduation, all of my close friends had children, including myself at 19.

something in the sex ed curriculum isnt working. i applaud the teachers/nurses who do that for a living. i dont think its them. kids have changed, teenagers are soo hypersexed that they make me look chaste! they are having not only sex, but orgies in high school. they have had 3 and 4 partners by their sweet 16's.

there needs to be more videos and photos of EXACTLY what your stuff looks like with herpes. the bills that a baby runs up. what childbirth looks like and feels like with NO EPIDURAL. the results of an aborted child.

to quote George W...they need "shock and awe".

[Drolefille]

Catholic school:

In grade school we had sex ed seperately from any of our other classes. Once in Fourth grade, and once later in seventh or eighth when we saw the whole giving birth video. In high school we had Health class that included sex and Anatomy covered it as well.