Sex education.

[david and julie]

To David and Julie:

Quote:
I believe there are some things that can be taught, but some also need that bit of extra tact or same sex experience


Is this an unfortunate choice of words or do you really mean that a bisexual teacher could do a better job - and I'm not joking. It's an idea not to be dismissed out of hand.

felix, What I mean is I do not see how you could teach a man how a woman feels about aspects of growing up. Yes he could learn about it on paper, but it would take the real life experience of a woman who has gone through the same thing to truly understand.

I am not suggesting the classroom is the place for sexual deviants.

Quote:
why should, say a history teacher, be expected to be up to speed on the latest STI issues?.


Give these two an A for hitting that nail right on the head! Why indeed? What would OFSTED say if a school's only maths teacher didn't have so much as a GCSE in the subject?

Although I don't think you are disagreeing, I am not sure what you mean here. Do you mean the maths teacher didn't have a GCSE in maths or sex-ed.

 

[felix]

Yes he could learn about it on paper, but it would take the real life experience of a woman who has gone through the same thing to truly understand.

And the reverse is equally true.

I suspected that this was what you meant. I just lobbed the alternative in to see what everybody else thought. You're right of course. In my generation we were segregated off at the age of seven and I'm afraid far too many of us boys got our ideas about women from the pages of Penthouse. If, as I suspect, the girls learnt all about men from Mills and Boon the end result was never going to be easy. Mixed classrooms and some half decent sex-ed would have spared us all a lot of misery. I suppose it's just fortunate that human sexuality is so incredibly robust.

Yes I do mean that a maths teacher should be properly qualified to teach mathematics. I'm not sure how you'd determine the ability of anybody to teach sex. A degree in biology only gets you as far as widgets, spigots and sockets. It's the old problem of who teaches the teachers and who examines the examiners and it applies equally to another very new subject on the national curriculum - citizenship. We'll just have to wait until somebody devises recognized qualifications and a generation of students sit the exams.

Unfortunately there is a snag. It's virtually impossible to find any politician who will stand up and say that sex is a GOOD THING, that we should all learn how to do it properly and that we would be a lot happier and healthier if we did, even though it's so obviously true - and it doesn't even cost any tax payers' money! I think this is a left-over from our prehistoric non-pair-bonding past and I can't see an easy way out. Don't expect real sex-ed to appear in our schools any time soon!

 

[securespark]

It's virtually impossible to find any politician who will stand up and say that sex is a GOOD THING

Stephen Milligan found it "exhale"erating.......!

 

[Richardp]

I'm really not convinced about sex education and yes I am probably a prude but Well I didn't get no sex education at school (not from the teachers!) I worked it out the old fashion way when there was very few accidental pregnancies and single mums hadn't been invented yet, but today you got to be so careful with children so telling a 10 year old boy about wet dreams could get you into trouble and I wouldn't do it, do you remember some years ago a well known tv personality sent their family photos in to be developed at boots and got investigated by the social services for some pictures of them with their kids in the bath or bed or something innocent its a shame but that's how things are going like having to lock your doors and stuff.my wife told our daughter about the monthly periods at the time she decided was appropriate and I guess it was the same with my Mum and sisters but us boys just found out the stone age way, what's it all about? teach the kids maths instead.

 

[werealldoomed]

very few accidental pregnancies and single mums hadn't been invented yet,

I don't know how old you are, but provision was made for single mothers in the Poor Law in 1839. (They were sent to the workhouse.)
Perhaps it's your lack of sex education letting you down here?

 

[david and julie]

Most of us probably learned the same way as you richard but there is more to it now than just the act itself.

We now have to consider the likes of HiV and other STI's and also the various contraceptives need explaining too.

I agree that ideally the parents would be the best option really but unfortunately some parents don't know much themselves. Theirs are the kids we need to consider or otherwise they may loose out. Surely sex-ed at school should be seen as "as well as" rather than "instead of" Parents can still talk about it as well if they or the kids wish to.

Regarding unwanted pregnancies, yes maybe through ignorance when we are talking about young schoolgirls. When you start talking about the girls of 16 plus though, I have my doubts if they are through ignorance. In many cases a fairer description would be financial pregnancies because it means a free flat and money etc, for nothing. There are to many of them for it to be accidental.

 

[Igorian]

Reading the various posts here, you can see how difficult it would be to have a 'scheme' to satisfy all needs. Even if women taught girls and men taught boys, are we really to believe that all men and women share the same emotions? I think not.

Also, we have to consider the different cultures in our schools. What might be right for one, will almost certainly upset another.

I strongly believe that the parents should take this role, but also recognise that there are parents who don't understand, are too embarrassed or simply couldn't give a toss. Maybe we are looking at it the wrong way and should be educating those parents rather than the kids directly.

 

[david and julie]

Reading the various posts here, you can see how difficult it would be to have a 'scheme' to satisfy all needs. Even if women taught girls and men taught boys, are we really to believe that all men and women share the same emotions? I think not.

Also, we have to consider the different cultures in our schools. What might be right for one, will almost certainly upset another.

I strongly believe that the parents should take this role, but also recognise that there are parents who don't understand, are too embarrassed or simply couldn't give a toss. Maybe we are looking at it the wrong way and should be educating those parents rather than the kids directly.

Yes Ian you are 100% right, but how on earth could we get through to the parents that don't care?

 

[Richardp]

very few accidental pregnancies and single mums hadn't been invented yet,

I don't know how old you are, but provision was made for single mothers in the Poor Law in 1839. (They were sent to the workhouse.)
Perhaps it's your lack of sex education letting you down here?

um! yes well I didnt mean to be taken literally and certainly don't mean to hit any nerves on this

 

[Igorian]

Yes Ian you are 100% right, but how on earth could we get through to the parents that don't care?

A cull comes to mind

 

[werealldoomed]

I strongly believe that the parents should take this role, but also recognise that there are parents who don't understand, are too embarrassed or simply couldn't give a toss. Maybe we are looking at it the wrong way and should be educating those parents rather than the kids directly.

I think educating parents is a great idea, but although you could give them sex education, I doubt if you could educate some of them into giving a toss.

(Ps. I have some 'educational' videos somewhere, I will have to dig them out to refresh my memory!)

 

[AdamW]

There definitely are "financial pregnancies", as a teenager I had a Saturday job where I worked with a girl who's mum was trying to persuade her and her sister to go that way, luckily it seems they had more sense as last I heard they both work for a living.

Not sure about the "stoneage" approach to finding out about periods... how many boys would be treated for shock after "discovering" that

If nothing else, sex-ed at school teaches you that sex is a thing that should never be discussed with parents. Which is exactly how it should be.

 

[felix]

I think educating parents is a great idea, but although you could give them sex education, I doubt if you could educate some of them into giving a toss.

Is that a carefully disguised joke or just another unfortunate choice of words? It's true either way.

Maybe we are looking at it the wrong way and should be educating those parents rather than the kids directly.

Great plan. So when's the best time to educate them. Certainly before they actually become parents. Better do it before they're legally old enough for that, ie while they're still at school!

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

Good reading this.

I got fed up of waiting for the missus to explain the intricacies of puberty to our eldest daughter...

So I did what I thought best, I took her to the pub!

Which isn't actually as daft as it sounds, because it instantly made her feel important and more adult, which put her in the right frame of mind for a discussion of an adult nature.

It's no good expecting the schools to teach them this stuff, it's up to the parents! Maybe the schools expand on certain things, but not teach them everything!

I think one of the problems is that some of the sex education that you here about is so pc, that it doesn't relate to real life. For example:

"When a man and a woman love each other very much"

Mmmmmm, Yeh right!!!

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

I think that they should add bromide as one of the yummy ingredients to McDonalds.

That should reduce teenage pregnancy by 92.8% at least!