As a (hopefully) more sexually aware adult, do you think it would have benefited you to have more complete sex education as a child or teen? If they teach anything these days, it's basically "no sex until marriage" or "how to use a condom" at the most liberal. There is sometimes a very basic overview of male and female anatomy and a brief, frightening introduction to STDs and how to acquire them. Tragically enough, as many of us know, this information is sometimes incomplete, or in the worst case, downright incorrect. The psychology of sex, sex as pleasure, and non-heteronormative sex is hardly ever discussed by educators or parents.
Childhood Sexual Education
06/28/2011
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We didn't discuss male and female anatomy at all until Anatomy in high school, which wasn't a required course. We were told that STDs were incurable and usually led to death. Then we were told that post-marital sex was the only safe sex (because STDs go away when you're married...), and no contraceptives worked well (no contraceptives specifically named).
I had all my questions answered by my parents when I was about 10 or 11. It was nice knowing what my body was about to start doing and why it was going to happen BEFORE I found blood all over my PJs and thought I was going to die. And I had the facts around the time other kids were just snickering about the idea...
I had all my questions answered by my parents when I was about 10 or 11. It was nice knowing what my body was about to start doing and why it was going to happen BEFORE I found blood all over my PJs and thought I was going to die. And I had the facts around the time other kids were just snickering about the idea...
06/28/2011
I think I learned the basics in Health class in jr high. I think that was fine for me. Schools should be able to teach the biological process at the appropriate level for the previous levels of Science the students have learned...if that makes sense.
As for the who/when/where...that' s up to the parents to determine, me thinks.
As for the who/when/where...that' s up to the parents to determine, me thinks.
06/28/2011
Of course, but it's been my experience that many parents don't talk to their children about sex, or what they do say is more alarmist than educational. I spend many of my younger years in the south, and I saw many young people, especially female, that knew close to nothing about their own bodies, or how to healthily approach their desires. Many ended up repressed, hurt, or pregnant, often with men who didn't want to take care of the children (but often married the girls anyway, leading to many years of unhappiness).
06/28/2011
OMG! I love this topic and can get on a bit of a soap box about it, so if I ramble on and on feel free to tell me to shut up!!
We completely under educate our children about the most primary and natural part of our human existence! Without sex there is no life. However we (I mean the collective public, not this forum of course) treat the topic of sexuality as though we are talking about ways to commit murder instead of something god given and natural. I did a series a few years ago about comparative sexuality across the globe and it required I do a lot of research on the subject of sexual education in different societies around the world. At that time the U.S. one of the most developed countries, had the highest teenage pregnancy and abortion rates. The rate of STD's was also thru the roof compared to Euro countries. I traveled to France and visited some of their educators and talked with parents there. They begin teaching their children about sex and sexuality around age 9. They had a huge conference hall right in the middle of Paris with a presentation where children of any age could walk through called ZiZi Sexual. They used a cartoon character named Pitoff (their Charlie Brown equivalent) to discuss topics from how to French Kiss to how to avoid being a victim of molestation. Their pregnancy and abortion rate was/is 9%, ours is 49%. Birth control and condoms are handed out freely and the topic of sex is no more taboo than talking about any other part of life. The kids blew me away with how much they knew and how nonchalantly they would discuss it.
Any way, YES! We need to educate our children sooner and give them all the answers they might have questions to..
Sorry so long........ I have a lot of passion about this!
We completely under educate our children about the most primary and natural part of our human existence! Without sex there is no life. However we (I mean the collective public, not this forum of course) treat the topic of sexuality as though we are talking about ways to commit murder instead of something god given and natural. I did a series a few years ago about comparative sexuality across the globe and it required I do a lot of research on the subject of sexual education in different societies around the world. At that time the U.S. one of the most developed countries, had the highest teenage pregnancy and abortion rates. The rate of STD's was also thru the roof compared to Euro countries. I traveled to France and visited some of their educators and talked with parents there. They begin teaching their children about sex and sexuality around age 9. They had a huge conference hall right in the middle of Paris with a presentation where children of any age could walk through called ZiZi Sexual. They used a cartoon character named Pitoff (their Charlie Brown equivalent) to discuss topics from how to French Kiss to how to avoid being a victim of molestation. Their pregnancy and abortion rate was/is 9%, ours is 49%. Birth control and condoms are handed out freely and the topic of sex is no more taboo than talking about any other part of life. The kids blew me away with how much they knew and how nonchalantly they would discuss it.
Any way, YES! We need to educate our children sooner and give them all the answers they might have questions to..
Sorry so long........ I have a lot of passion about this!
07/02/2011
Quote:
God knows I love my parents and they tried really hard to give me some great sex-ed. However, they definitely fell short and I just didn't get anything at school. I think part of the problem with what my parents taught me is that they had never really gotten a great sex-ed talk themselves. How would they even know how to go about it?
Originally posted by
Ghost
As a (hopefully) more sexually aware adult, do you think it would have benefited you to have more complete sex education as a child or teen? If they teach anything these days, it's basically "no sex until marriage" or "how to use a
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As a (hopefully) more sexually aware adult, do you think it would have benefited you to have more complete sex education as a child or teen? If they teach anything these days, it's basically "no sex until marriage" or "how to use a condom" at the most liberal. There is sometimes a very basic overview of male and female anatomy and a brief, frightening introduction to STDs and how to acquire them. Tragically enough, as many of us know, this information is sometimes incomplete, or in the worst case, downright incorrect. The psychology of sex, sex as pleasure, and non-heteronormative sex is hardly ever discussed by educators or parents.
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I truly believe our youth would benefit from a comprehensive, sex positive sex education. I hope that we will see it one day!
11/01/2011
Total posts: 6
Unique posters: 5