[Luc]

There's a big debate going on right now at my school about whether children in Jr High schools should have the oppurtunity to learn about sex and everything.

I think that it's a pretty lame deal, here. Why shouldn't the kids know about their own bodies?? Everybody has the option not to take it, so why should it matter? Don't ask me, ask the parents.

What are your opinions? Should this kind of stuff be kept at home, one-on-one? Or should teachers be allowed to talk about this with his/her class? And to what extent?

Let's hear some views, folks!

[RAWRR pinkyyy !!]

ohhh i totally think it should be taught in schools
most parents cringe at the thought of talking about sex && all that fun stuff with their children
so naturally most of them would be clueless, which can only lead to them being unsafe in the future
ha not to mention it's terribly fun hearing teachers scream about nipple erections :]
ohhh goshh i love my health class<3

[Descartes]

My sex ed class was nothing that I hadn't already picked up on from my friends. Teach it. Keep it loose, don't be strict about it.

Des.

[RyanJ]

I think it should be taught to kids. Sex is everywhere in today's world, it should be explained to those when they begin to hit puberty so they know what is happening to their bodies and learn about sex. Religions shouldn't interfere with knowledge.

[Jordan]

Sex education should ideally be taught at home, by the people the child trusts most; their parents.

However, since we cannot trust the parents to teach the kids even the basics, the schools should have a mandatory duty to teach them.

My daughter has known the facts of life (yes, I've told this before!) since a young age. She knew that babies come out of the mummy's tummy and then one day asked how they got in there in the first place with the whole seed and egg thing. I told her, she giggled and said "I knew you were going to say that!" and this was when she was about 4 years old.

She came home from primary school one day in year 5 I think it was and told me that Ellie had said the seed gets into the mummy's tummy because the man puts his willy in the woman's mouth. Not wishing to explain what her friend was actually talking about, I asked her "Have I always told you the truth about everything?" "Yes" "Well then you know that Ellie's wrong in what she's saying, don't you?" "Yes."

What I hate though is that some of her knowledge has come from beyond my control... The boys on the special educational needs bus that drives past their school at kicking-out time have shouted out obscenities asking the girls to perform certain acts upon them. (I should point out that my daughter and her friends are 12 or 13!) My daughter has obviously picked up from somewhere what exactly these boys are talking about. However, what's done is done and her knowledge has been expanded.

She recently started her periods (thank goodness nobody here can tell her I've told you lot!) and you know what? The moment was prepared for, she knew it was going to happen, she had supplies in already, she told her mother, then told me when I got in from work, but she got on with it herself because the groundwork had been done. I'd hate for any child to be in the position of Carrie or that girl in My Girl because someone was too shy to explain the most basic of facts.

I can't really expect her to think that men and women only have sex for procreational purposes any more, can I? I'm kinda dreading the day when she asks me what I do in bed with a guy, though I suspect that with some of the stuff that's on TV these days, she probably already knows and doesn't need to ask.

[ConverseSneaker]

[what_the_heck013]

I think that students should get a fact-based, unbiased sex ed class.

[The Duchess of Mint]

Dear Musicals.Net Posters,

I think that kids should have Sex Ed. classes made available to them, and I think that those classes should cover the usual material. I also think that abstinence should be strongly encouraged, and that the psychological effects of having sex too soon should be talked about, so that teenagers can really understand why "going too far" may impact them in more ways than one.

[cabaretfreak]

Kids should know about that stuff, but I think that it needs to be taught by an outsider that is an expert and some of you get your minds out of the gutter. Or the teachers should have a training session about how to teach it. I think that all topics, except for private schools, should be on the table, not just select ones. Though, private schools that are oversaw by priviate groups should have some control on what topics should and shouldn't be taught, but all topics are worth mentioning.

[Beagle On Stage]

I think that the basics should be covered, but it has to be completely unbiased. In middle school, I had to take the s-e-x ed class as did everyone else (it was called "health" but was really s-e-x ed with a week on nutrition thrown in), and it was a very liberal course that was disgustingly biased. (Example, there was a chapter called "Masturbation is Okay.") It was the same with other s-e-x-ual issues such as fornication, homosexuality and artificial birth control. There's a very fine line between teaching the information in a straightforward way so that people have it, and presenting as fact the extreme opinions of whoever wrote the textbook. That defeats the purpose.

It should also be considered when students will take the class. My district required it to be taught in fifth, seventh, and ninth grades. Obviously, the fifth grade session was the only worthwile one, because it caters to children on the cusp of puberty, most of whom started it within a few months of taking the course. It was pre-emptive. By ages 13 and 15, there's really no point in going over everything again. I doubt that anyone forgot what goes where.

[Nudelkopf]

In my high school, each year 8 class has a semester of Sex Ed. classes. I did learnt a lot of stuff.. some stuff I really wish I hadn't learnt but sorta glad I did.

I vaguely remember my mum showing us kids a video of what sex was (it was a cartoon by the way) and I remember my brothers getting bored and walking out.

Teehee.. my favourite memory of my brother was him, in year 4, coming up to me (I was in year 1) and saying "I know where babies come from. Do you?" and then he kept teasing me because I thought they came from kissing.

I was so shocked when I first got my period. I was in Brisbane (24hrs drive away) for the Tournament Of the Minds State Final. It was a school group and we had a male teacher.. I was only 10 so I guess mum never thought I'd get it that early and never bothered to explain. Heh. She still didn't. I got a book with pictures instead..

Sex Ed. should be taught in schools. Some kids just don't have parents like GB.

[Kaiana]

I believe fifth and sixth grade are the best times for a sex ed course. After they've started puberty, kids don't really need help from adults, they generally find things out on their own from peers (or parents sometimes). I know I learned most everything a girl needs to know from the charming people on my bus. Still, it's nice to have official (unbiased) knowledge to look back on. Even if it wasn't fully appreciated when learned in fifth grade.

[BwayJuvinile]

[Luc]

[Nudelkopf]

..I lay in the house of God with a man. Now I be with child..