Mandatory sex lessons for every 15-year-old

www.timesonline.co.uk...

Sex education aT 15? Seems a little late. Most 15 year olds already know most of the important things regarding sex and more than likely they are experimenting, learning the subtleties on their own.

I do agree that sex education should be a parental responsibility and it should imo be exercised at least by age 8.

[edit on 8-11-2009 by whaaa]

agreed..... in the area i live most of the mothers are about 15 .!

i would say thats very late!!

Im not going to go on a limb and say when i think kids are ready to know, like every person is different every child is different, and will be ready to know at different times in their life. I dont think its something that should be forced on a child at a young age, my thinking.. let kids be kids

then, when you as a parent see (of hear) the signs that they may be entering that part of life ... then its time for "the talk" .

15 though, thats probably a bit too late!

It blows my mind that it's now considered normal for a female of 8 and a male of 9 to hit puberty. While my first thought is that 8 is way too young for sex education, if they're hitting puberty it's time for them to know. Jesus, WTH are we doing to our bodies with all these chemicals?

reply to post by whaaa

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15 does seem to be a bit late for today's youth.

However, a much deeper problem arises that is very alarming:



Schools do not own children. Even if one personally thinks the parents are wrong for wanting to disallow their children from attending such sessions, that is the parent's right. The state should not be above the family.

We begin to venture down a scary road when the school punishes the children for a decision made by the parents on their behalf. The school is trying to supersede the parents' authority.

The issue here is that the sex ed is to be compulsory at age 15 & that parents won't be able to exercise the "opt out" that they can when their child is younger. Pull your child out of these classes and they'll be chased up by the truant officers.

But it's not just the basic mechanics of it all, these classes. They'll also consider relationships plus the emotional/social side of sex too. I assume it'll touch on same sex relationships, which some parents aren't so keen on telling their children about.

I think it's a good thing.

reply to post by AshleyD

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Yeah. What you said

Wasn't it California that just passed the law for sex ed to begin in Kindergarten? That includes same sex, transgender, everything.

People are pulling their kids out and homeschooling them, that can.

Unsure if private schools are mandated to do this too.

At 15 most kids could probably tell ME a thing or two...
Honestly I don't think many kids are unaware of the 'nuts and bolts' of sex by that age.
But I used to work for a city council in UK, and I remember being quite shocked at the material being used. I thought I had lived life but there was reference to practices I hadn't realised existed! Sorry but a big WRONG in my book. As adults, we are all free to explore these things - but I think they should be left out of the equation when educating young people.
What I would support is education about the realities of sexually transmitted diseases - also having a baby - especially as a single parent. And yes, information about birth control. I'm not sure about homosexuality but I would guess most teenagers already know or suspect their inclination. So why not?
Most parents don't handle these things at all well. Much better it comes from someone impartial. And just consider, if there was 'opt out', how it would make the opted out student feel? Would there be ribbing from other students? You bet.
The fear of many parents is that 'information about' = 'encouragement to' .. And these fears need to be allayed.
So I agree with it being mandatory. With reservations.





[edit on 8-11-2009 by unicorn1]

[edit on 8-11-2009 by unicorn1]

And a shocking amount of it would be dead wrong. I did sex ed with my kids at age 13, and at age 14 or so they took a "sex quiz" that was popular with the other kids. My kids scored 90%, their "aware friends" scored in the 40's or 50's.

Sex ed could be a lot of things, from respecting the right to say "no", from encouraging to report abuse, from understanding the difference between play and abuse (while I wouldn't teach them BDSM, it would be okay to say that roleplaying sometimes happens and as long as both agree to it, it's okay.)

A good lecture on the economics of families and what happens to "keep the baby, Faith" type families. Recognizing that some people are gay and that "gay" isn't to be used as a bashing word (my daughter is gay, so I get rather huffy about this), and that some people may change gender (I know four transgendered people) and that doesn't make them insane or whacked out, etc (and that some change their minds before surgery and go back to the original gender.

In short, I don't know what they're planning to teach. I'd like to hear more about it before giving an opinion.

Ash - in the UK it is the parents responsibility to ensure that their child receives an appropriate education. Any kid in state education therefore has to comply with the national curriculum, and as sex ed is a part of it, the parents have no right to disallow - hence the truancy ruling.

Home ed kids, and private schools at the moment have no such compulsion to comply, although I'd wager that such subjects are discussed earlier, and more intelligently in home education.

reply to post by Byrd

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Ah well
I came from an earlier age - when you thought babies might be a result of kissing...
As for BDSM, my personal opinion is that this sort of thing should be adressed in 1:1, not mainstream. Not that it's 'wrong'...
At 15, kids are just short of being adults anyway. So my take is let the education take place. But parents need to be informed and consulted beforehand as they are still legally responsible.
The big problem, as I see it, is that talking about things is seen as sanction/encouragement to do it.
In my city council days, there was reference to use of animals. I am not going to go further.. But I remember being quite disturbed at the whole matter of fact approach.
The pc thing seems to be that 'whatever you feel' is ok.
The whole thing is a minefield...


[edit on 8-11-2009 by unicorn1]

reply to post by AshleyD

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neither do parents, yet again we are in agreement we merely ahve stewardship of our children.
When we send our children to school we hand over parental responsibility to the school, if the educators decide to teach what we disagree with in relation to sex education we have every right to remove the child or not send the child there to begin with, we withhold parental responsibility.

Things change somewhat when there's money involved though like in divorce. In this instance most often the child becomes the property of the parent with breasts.

I tell ya man I am as non-Christian as you can get. I think Christians are repressed and need to calm down. Why do I say this? Because I'll be damned before I ever tell a Christian mother how to teach sex to her children.

Freedom ya'll!

practice it. I think the compulsory part is a bit much

-Kyo

Sex education?

On the job training was my preferred method of education at 15 yrs of age.

Sex education should be by the parents at a much earlier age than 15 but many parents are uncomfortable about talking sex with their kids. That leaves the street and school. School would probably be the wisest choice.