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Poor and Uneven Sex Ed in US Schools

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posted on Aug, 29 2016 @ 07:31 AM
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a reply to: Vroomfondel

I agree that that is the ideal. The school teaches the biological, scientific basics of human reproduction, including sexual development, and leaves the more complicated, personal issues to the parents, doctors, and others in the kid's life with that knowledge and position.

At my school, the sex ed classes always passed out permission forms and waivers so parents could decide whether or not they wanted their kids to participate. Subject matter was outlined. That way, choice was given. Those who didn't were allowed to opt out, and spent the sex ed class time in the library given a list of other topics to study and do work on. As for those who remained in class, the curriculum was pretty standard. it did include the subject of VD, how it is spread, and broadly discussed the mechanics of some contraception methods. But they also taught abstinence, and promoted that first as the best failsafe against pregnancy and disease. The important thing, however, is that both options were discussed, and the choice to not even participate in class was also there.

The problem today, however, is like I said: parents not doing their jobs. Someone has to teach kids the birds and the bees, and the critical importance of why they need to keep it in their pants until they are fully functioning adults. They are young, they are raging with hormones and strong biological urges to hump like bunnies. And unless someone breaks it down to these kids exactly what sex involves and why this is a bad idea regarding their developing young bodies, these kids are going to follow their urges, are going to pick up advice and "knowledge" on the street which will steer them wrong and ruin their lives.

So if the parents aren't doing it, are we going to leave it to the street to teach the kids? Or are we going to bust down doors and check to make sure the family is teaching Jane and Johnny the birds and the bees? No. Hence, the best solution is for the school to teach Johnny and Jane the birds and the bees to at least make sure someone is teaching them this critical topic.

My mother is a a pretty good example. She got pregnant with me at 18. My dad was 25. She didn't have sex ed at school, and her experience with birthcontrol advice from her family was the usual "save yourself for marriage" crap that clearly didn't sink in, so she was incredibly clueless. My dad told her after sex all she had to do was do jumping jacks and take a shower after, and she wouldn't get pregnant. That sage advice is what brought me into the world.

I have seen and heard the absolute myths and BS kids like to pass around amongst themselves and believe, and that ignorance gets them into trouble. And that ignorance ends up creating a huge burden on society on a social, economic, legal, criminal, and productive level.



posted on Aug, 29 2016 @ 12:19 PM
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a reply to: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf


They are young, they are raging with hormones and strong biological urges to hump like bunnies. And unless someone breaks it down to these kids exactly what sex involves and why this is a bad idea regarding their developing young bodies, these kids are going to follow their urges, are going to pick up advice and "knowledge" on the street which will steer them wrong and ruin their lives.


Yep!

You and reldra are spot on.
Hormones will rule with adolescents. You can not 'lecture' kids into not being sexually mature. You can not 'override' those hormones.

The problem is that parents are too uneducated themselves to teach sex ed objectively. In Georgia, as a matter of fact, back around the turn of the 21st century --- they did an experiment with changing school hours for high-schoolers. Instead of starting at 7 am (which high-schoolers can barely manage, because their physical, biological development changes their sleep cycle), they started at 9. They went until 5.

The outcomes were that the students not only did better academically (because they were actually AWAKE and their brains were in gear), but also --- TEEN PREGNANCY WENT DOWN.

This was a side-effect of changing the hours. It is "latch-key" kids who are unsupervised for the 3 hours of the afternoon before the working parents arrive home who were getting pregnant.

I worked with teen mothers -- and they were very very interested in learning how to take care of their babies. They were also acutely aware that they had messed up their school trajectory. The BEST way to handle it is to provide care for the kids AT THE SCHOOL.

Kids have sex. There is nothing any adult can do to stop them short of keeping them prisoner. And even then, the kids are not supervised 24/7.

The issue with the USA is that it remains the MOST PURITAN of western societies. Europe and the UK are far and away ahead of the USA in sexuality being an accepted part of being human. Nudity isn't as big of a deal. Kids are taught the actual names of the body parts, and it used to be that masturbation was taught as a good alternative to actual intercourse. Even mutual masturbation.

I am not going to 'argue' this with any of the prudes who have chimed in here. Teens have sex. They are, biologically, sexually peaking. NOTHING WILL STOP THIS. If society doesn't want to educate them properly and provide them with birth control, but instead to demonize, shame, embarrass, hover over, and control them --- then society must ALSO expect teen pregnancies.

A neighbor lady, a grandmother, told me a few years ago that her daughter was having a second child, and the older child asked where babies come from.....
the grandmother told him: The baby comes out of mommy's FOOT.

what bullcrap.

That poor kid. Thank god schools have stepped up to take up the slack. Yes, the slack. The SLACKER parents who think that if they just don't talk about it, or tell the kid the facts, it will go away. It's retarded. Socially regressive. Don't want kids to get pregnant? TEACH THEM HOW TO AVOID IT.

I won't argue this with anyone. I will provide sources if requested. Anyone who is bleating about "abstinence only" being the best practice for handling adolescent sexuality as it rears its insistent head is kidding themselves.

There is NO SHAME in sex. It is a natural biological process.

Has been forever. MOST cultures around the world (except the Abrahamic religions) don't condemn it as filth. They teach the kids what to expect, and how to deal with it. My daughter became active in high school, and she told me. And I made sure she had access to birth control.

Now, ten years later, she's still not a parent. Neither is my son, who is 25.
I would also add that when teens DO get pregnant their own parents must be supportive - not punitive.

But - that's just current thinking about best-parenting practice.

And finally --- if 'abortion' is forbidden, then 'SOCIAL SUPPORT' and PARENTING TRAINING MUST be provided for those babies and THEIR MOTHERS.

That's all I have to say. Good thread, reldra.
S/F


edit on 8/29/2016 by BuzzyWigs because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 29 2016 @ 11:30 PM
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a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Thing is, despite all this sex education, it didn't give me a green light to go ahead and screw around. I didn't have my first sexual experience until I was 18 and almost out of high school. Because despite my raging hormones, I was given a clear and detailed picture of just how and why I feel this way, and all the potential consequences I could face should things go wrong, and the best way to avoid.



 
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