Sex ed !!!

Yes, I believe all schools need a comprehensive sex-ed class that's ongoing. It also needs to clearly cover consent and how to deal with sexual assault and rape. That was one vital thing missing in my sex education.

Funnily enough, my friends at a Catholic school said that they covered sex-ed really well. Then again, I think there's been recent Catholic efforts to combat internal sex-abuse, so that might explain the extra focus.

As for faith schools, they should certainly be allowed to exist and do what they wish within reasonable boundaries, but they need to follow a state-set curriculum in the same way public schools do. There is no excuse for neglecting such an important class, not even faith.

 

Even in the secular public high school I went to, Aussie, they never mentioned rape and how to stay safe apart from the date rape drugs (Roofie, etc.). They stressed abstinence and also talked about contraception and how to use a condom correctly and the likes. I remember one video about condoms and it was so funny. A middle-aged woman was narrating a video about condoms.

"While many men don't like to use condoms, it may help you last longer. Remember to place a drop of lube in the condom as it will help with sensation."

 

I went to a Catholic school and they did teach us about roofies although yeah they did mainly stress abstaining from sex, I think they did okay when teaching us

 

"But honestly I wonder if this is responsible for a girl in my year getting knocked up at 15"

Not entirely but it sure as heck doesn't help matters...

 

Promoting abstinence until marriage is one thing, keeping students in the dark and feeling ashamed of normal, healthy masturbation and intentionally withholding safe sex advice is another. It is a lack of information and guidance that results in a lot of teenage pregnancy and disease. Frankly, I think sex ed should be regulated.

 

Definitely needs to be regulated. I didn't know until last year STI's could be got by having oral sex or by by hand contact.

 

I am about a billion years old but I still remember our big "sex-ed" class. We were about 11-12 years old. The boys were moved to one room and the girls to another where we watched a movie about reproduction. We learned "all about" the changes out bodies would be going through, were given a nice starter kit of "the products you will need" and a flustered demonstration of how to use them by the teacher (this was in the olden days kiddies when women's products still included an elastic belt and were sold from behind the pharmacy counter wrapped in brown paper so as not to offend the eyes). There was a bit of a mention of "girls have va-gi-nas and boys have pe-nis-es" with heavy emphasis on the fact they should never ever meet until properly married and for the purpose of making babies only!

When the "special" classes were over the boys and girls went back to our normal classrooms and everyone was all blushy and giggly. All the girls had their "products" hidden deep in their book bags having been thoroughly warned to keep them hidden.

Since my mom had answered all my questions years earlier I found it to be the silliest exercise on the planet.

For my own kid who is homeschooled we just talked to her openly and honestly forever. She knew where babies come from when she was little bitty. She used to love watching the science shows on "from conception to birth" subjects and would act out whatever animal had been used on the last one. She LOVED being a "pre-ga-nent" tiger momma with twins after that episode. We watched one show on women carrying multiples and her next dance class (she was three) she walks into dance rubbing her belly. The dance teacher said "how are you today?" and the kiddo says "I am pre-ga-nent. A boy put poison in me and now I am going to have a baby." LOL The teacher literally fell to the floor laughing with tears streaming down her face. I asked my little pregnant princess if she remembered the real word instead of "poison" and she scrunched up her face a moment then said "sperm! It was sperm!" LOL

Instead of the "this is your changing body" useless movie when she began developing and showing signs that menstruation was getting closer I got her the book It's Perfectly Normal. She read that thing over and over and it really helped explain things in deeper detail and got her over any remaining "ick" or embarrassment she had. She knows she can ask any questions she might have or talk about any concerns.

I think schools need to step up their programs and modernize. I think parents need to do the same. I think kids need to get over the discomfort and ask questions of their parents or other trusted adults if the feel they need answers. Go to health websites like IVillage or places that give trusted medical advice and research things. People need this information and far too many kids and adults just have no clue.

 

I'm starting 8th grade health, aka sex ed in a few weeks. It's funny because I probably already know everything they'll talk about anyway. They gave us the whole "changing body" video and stuff back in 6th grade, some of which was pretty exaggerated (eg. boys going pretty much mute because they don't trust their voice not to crack)

 

i beleive that they should educate in safe sex for EVERYONE. but i was wonering, at my school its all girls school, so do you think they would/should still be teaching us safe gay sex?

 

I think if they are going to teach sex ed then they need to teach it so it's useful for everyone. I went to a public school and when I was in sex ed there was no information for gay people. Thankfully my parents are open and when I told them I was gay they told me how to be safe, being with another woman.

 

We had a week of safe sex lectures when I was in public school. That was it. And it was all about preventing pregnancy and guarding against STD's. There was no LGBT anything.

At the Christian school, all we learned in health class was about first aid, so I guess what the public school taught me was better than nothing.

 

I believe it's the parents' responsibility. There's too much talk about how to get schools to do it right that we forget that parents have a huge role to play in this, much bigger than the school. How about we give sex ed to parents instead? Also, since values and beliefs about sex vary so much, I'd rather make sure I'm the one who instills my own values in my kids---not some random teacher I barely know who rattles off the party line of the current government's Ministry of Education.

In terms of the abstinence thing, it's a nice idea but in our hyper-sexualized culture, it's an uphill battle which will result in far more casualties than happy endings...

 

My school had sex ed but a girl still got knocked up at 12 lol. She obviously miscarried though because well, she was 12