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You haven't mentioned anything pertaining to the OP's question.
I don't really know how to respond to such a question. Sex ed in schools is different when you move to different areas so it is nearly impossible to compare it to a different time period.
Luckily, my kids are in private school and their sexual education is left to their parents. I think kids should get a sexual education but I really don't want someone else giving it to them.
Edited to add: I don't think any one person can really say something is worse than it was in a different time period. I like the lack of sexual education in schools so I think it is better. Others may think it is worse.
Yes, it depends on your location and the prevailing political attitudes in the region. In the Bible Belt, they don't want the school discussing sexual education because they feel this material is private and should best be left up to the parents to decide what their children should be exposed to. I know in states like Oklahoma and Texas, many schools will require parents to sign a form and if the parent refuses to allow their child to participate in that lecture, they are excused from the classroom and allowed to be in a study hall.
However, parents should be educating their children on sex ed. It might be embarrassing and uncomfortable but it's your responsibility just the same. Do you really want your child getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant before they are ready? Do you realize how detrimental that can be to their lives? I would much rather be embarrassed for a couple of hours than have my teenage daughter tell me she is pregnant. There are lots of health risks as well. Hepatitis C remains you with you life long in the majority of cases. Herpes doesn't go away. These conditions also increase your risk of cancer.
Finally, sex ed is human biology and an important component of human physiology and the body. It's simply ignorant to prevent students from being exposed to this. I knew so many friends who made poor decisions in life because they were ignorant regarding sexual education. I too am glad that my children attend a private high school. If conservatives don't want their children being exposed to sex ed, they don't have to enroll their kids in our school, they can send them to Bible academy or wherever
How? I was under the impression that abstinence was covered in sex ed, along with the proven methods of contraception. Conservatives have a much more visible platform in our schools than liberals do.
However, parents should be educating their children on sex ed. It might be embarrassing and uncomfortable but it's your responsibility just the same.
This is the crux of it. It is your job as a parent to educate your children about their sexual health. This is information that children need to know in order to be functioning adults. All adults eventually grow up tot be sexually active. There is NO REASON for a parent to abdicate this responsibility.
This is the crux of it. It is your job as a parent to educate your children about their sexual health. This is information that children need to know in order to be functioning adults. All adults eventually grow up tot be sexually active. There is NO REASON for a parent to abdicate this responsibility.
But they don't, and for many and varied reasons.
I was a midwife for a number of years, I can't tell you how many grown women who are pregnant are completely ill-informed regarding their own anatomy. And all one has to do is read a newspaper or magazine to know how woefully ignorant people are regarding sex.
The reason I think sex ed is important in schools is because our children don't live in a bubble. They socialize with, and heaven forbid, have sex with their peers. If their peers are ignorant that will impact our own children. I would rather all the children in a community are well informed on the subject than a handful.
Last edited by Zimbochick; 01-30-2013 at 06:23 AM..
I was a midwife for a number of years, I can't tell you how many grown women who are pregnant are completely ill-informed regarding their own anatomy. And all one has to do is read a newspaper or magazine to know how woefully ignorant people are regarding sex.
The reason I think sex ed is important in schools is because our children don't live in a bubble. They socialize with, and heaven forbid, have sex with their peers. If their peers are ignorant that will impact our own children. I would rather all the children in a community are well informed on the subject than a handful.
When it comes to sex one person's idea of "well informed" is different than another person's. It is people who are driving the sex education curriculum in schools so you will get different versions of well informed with different schools. That is why parents need to be responsible for their own children's sexual education. Even if there is sex education in schools it may not be adequate and it may teach things that clash with your own beliefs. Parents need to educate their own children if they want them to be well informed in a way that coincides with the parents beliefs.
The parents are responsible for teaching their children what they want them to know about sex. Regardless of the sex education that is available (or not) in schools. I don't disapprove of sex education in schools but ultimately parents need to take responsibility for teaching their children.
I am glad that my kids don't have to deal with mixed messages because they do not have specific sex education in their school. They learn about sexual reproduction in plants and animals in their biology classes. They study literature with sexual themes and have those discussions in class (this is upper school). Their weightlifting class (an elective) had a unit on steroids and the effects they have on male and female reproductive organs. Sex is covered in many different ways but there is no "sex education" per se. The school assumes that 7-12 graders have been educated at home regarding sex.
This works at our school. I can see it being a problem at public schools.
I'm always amazed that people think so narrowly when the topic of sex education comes up. It's always about affecting the short-term behavior of teens. There never seems to be much discussion of the need for knowledge that won't be needed until much later in life. It's strange how it's understood that most school subjects won't be needed until much later in their careers, but sex education is almost always intended to be used immediately. In my mind, that is what abstinence-only programs target--premarital sex.
I have often thought the same. Even if a teen is not going to have sex until marriage, s/he still needs information on sex and family planning, even if that information isn't going to be used for several more years. I think it is a perfectly valid topic for a health education class. I was taught these things in school, and I hope that my children will be too. I'm not saying that parents shouldn't also talk to their kids about these topics from a moral and emotional background if they choose, but I do think that the facts of health education are appopriate for schools too.
When it comes to sex one person's idea of "well informed" is different than another person's. It is people who are driving the sex education curriculum in schools so you will get different versions of well informed with different schools. That is why parents need to be responsible for their own children's sexual education. Even if there is sex education in schools it may not be adequate and it may teach things that clash with your own beliefs. Parents need to educate their own children if they want them to be well informed in a way that coincides with the parents beliefs.
The parents are responsible for teaching their children what they want them to know about sex. Regardless of the sex education that is available (or not) in schools. I don't disapprove of sex education in schools but ultimately parents need to take responsibility for teaching their children.
I am glad that my kids don't have to deal with mixed messages because they do not have specific sex education in their school. They learn about sexual reproduction in plants and animals in their biology classes. They study literature with sexual themes and have those discussions in class (this is upper school). Their weightlifting class (an elective) had a unit on steroids and the effects they have on male and female reproductive organs. Sex is covered in many different ways but there is no "sex education" per se. The school assumes that 7-12 graders have been educated at home regarding sex.
This works at our school. I can see it being a problem at public schools.
Again, yes, in an ideal world it's a parent's responsibility to educate their children about sex. The majority do not. Many are embarassed, many are themselves poorly informed.
I was being a bit silly. But I will never understand some conservative inclination to think that lack of information is going to lead to good choices. One can learn about biology with no moral weight at all applied to those facts.
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