Should Sexuality Be Taught In Class?

[RavenEye]

I remember Massachusetts commercials saying "Children will be taught about homosexuality in school." Which was true, with the book King and King. I think this made people think twice. I think that some people aren't as accepting as they thought they were. I think their thoughts are: "Homosexuality is fine... as long as it's not my child." All this is of course is riding on the belief that sexuality is a choice (Which I think is true for SOME people); and they fear that their child might choose to be gay or bisexual. So I can see both sides of this. So should sexuality be taught in class? If so, what grade? Why?

I think that it should be taught along with sex education in fifth grade. Kids need to know that they have choices in life and not just what society, their parents, or anyone tells them they have to be or can't be.

[Long Duck Dong]

should it be taught....??? only if it can be taught as a equal aspect without any biased leanings......

if I was teaching it, I would teach it around the 10-12 year old age group, as a group studies aspect and if i could, involve unbiased, agenda neutral speakers as a cross section of society to show that all we are all people that can get along with the majority of society without issues, if we so choose to....

I would teach it as a respect for ALL sexualities....as there is a fair whack of hetero bashing / religion bashing in the LGBT communities as it is... and between them and the * bash the heteros / religions *, its like watching a kindergarten fight in the sandpit over who gets what toys

sex education I treat as a different aspect as its a biology aspect of the human body although you can do cross over lessons such as safe sex etc......

teaching people to be tolerant of the differences in people is something that we can teach.... but in all honestly and being dead serious, tolerance for the differences in others and with others is something that some adults need to learn before they talk about teaching others anything about tolerance and respect for others and their differences.......

I quess my main question would be WHAT sexualities would be taught about..... hetero / LGB.... or Hetero LGB GQ ( gender queer ) and if trans people would be included cos of their own sexuality related issues due to transitioning

[keefer201]

Absolutely not. School is for one purpose, learning the fundamentals to continue intellectually in society. I take it you do not have children, and if you do, have you handed them over to the government for indoctrination? What my children learn of sexuality i.e. the birds and the bees thing, that comes from their mother and myself. Enough of this blather about the furtherance of having our childrens heads filled with more liberal psychobabble. Cripes almighty, can't anyone here just enjoy who they are sexually, as an adult, or are we now intending to have 11 year old boys and girls join the site so they too can give opinioins? Damn! This is just getting fucking stupid anymore.

[RavenEye]

should it be taught....??? only if it can be taught as a equal aspect without any biased leanings......

if I was teaching it, I would teach it around the 10-12 year old age group, as a group studies aspect and if i could, involve unbiased, agenda neutral speakers as a cross section of society to show that all we are all people that can get along with the majority of society without issues, if we so choose to....

I would teach it as a respect for ALL sexualities....as there is a fair whack of hetero bashing / religion bashing in the LGBT communities as it is... and between them and the * bash the heteros / religions *, its like watching a kindergarten fight in the sandpit over who gets what toys

sex education I treat as a different aspect as its a biology aspect of the human body although you can do cross over lessons such as safe sex etc......

teaching people to be tolerant of the differences in people is something that we can teach.... but in all honestly and being dead serious, tolerance for the differences in others and with others is something that some adults need to learn before they talk about teaching others anything about tolerance and respect for others and their differences.......

I quess my main question would be WHAT sexualities would be taught about..... hetero / LGB.... or Hetero LGB GQ ( gender queer ) and if trans people would be included cos of their own sexuality related issues due to transitioning

Sex educations covers EVERYTHING, not just reproduction. And yes I think about all sexualities. Although I have never thought about Transex being taught, but I don't see why not. In my sex ed class, quite a few years ago, we talked about gay sex, and before we even started my teacher was like "If you're going to laugh about this then gtfo my class!" But yes, we covered straight, gay, and lesbian sex. And EVERYBODY was accepting. Which I kind of find weird because I went to a school in a rural town of rich people and I have never seen bullying like all this media has been talking about. But that's a discussion for another day. :)

[elian]

I am proud of the sex ed class we teach in church, I mentioned before that we partnered before with the UCC to develop this curriculum..

http://www.uua.org/re/owl

However knowing that most denominations are not as willing to knowledge that sex is a part of people's lives and that children are blasted with sex-laden media all the time I would advocate AGE APPROPRIATE training on at least some fundamentals in public schools.. I would suggest in the early teen years when children are likely to be filled with crazy hormones..

The alternative children learning whatever they can from uninformed sources kind of scares me. Some parents, given a choice will not tell their child anything at all - or they may not KNOW. You're probably laughing but remember we're talking lowest common denominator here.

US has a crazy attitude toward "sex". I'm not talking about teaching children pornography..I received a very formal, factual, medical description in public school - they told us what we needed to know - all except how to actually HAVE sex..which was probably a good thing. As much as parents wish their kids weren't interested in sex the hormones and the desire for love, attention and acceptance are hard to ignore. What we ought to do is teach respect, love, tolerance and acceptance first - then the consequences of actually HAVING a child (good and bad). Maybe then the "forbidden fruit" of sex wouldn't be so salacious.. Right now the only "role model" kids have for that seems to be that "Teen Mom" reality show...eewww...

[Long Duck Dong]

Sex educations covers EVERYTHING, not just reproduction. And yes I think about all sexualities. Although I have never thought about Transex being taught, but I don't see why not. In my sex ed class, quite a few years ago, we talked about gay sex, and before we even started my teacher was like "If you're going to laugh about this then gtfo my class!" But yes, we covered straight, gay, and lesbian sex. And EVERYBODY was accepting. Which I kind of find weird because I went to a school in a rural town of rich people and I have never seen bullying like all this media has been talking about. But that's a discussion for another day. :)

.... sex education in NZ sounds to be different than the way its taught in the us, so i was talking from the current NZ standards...... generally its a 3 week study aspect in science .... so there may be a difference between the us and NZ ways of doing things.....

sex education is taught as part of the human and biology section of science.....sexuality is taught as part of the social studies criteria which is a seperate subject.... and that deals with cultures, countries and human relations and interaction

[tenni]

Yes, sex education and sexuality as part of a developmental education programme should be taught. A well developed programme had been introduced where I live. It started and should start in Junior Kindergarten. Although more complex detailed aspects may be introduced later on, a good programme uses a KISS approach. In JK, sex ed (including sexuality) is introduced under the concept of "me", "who am I" etc. Just as discussions are introduced simply by adult standards the concepts of who I am are introduced. The idea that some people are the same and different from others whether it be eye colour, hair colour, and the words "penis" and vagina" would be introduced. Nothing more elaborate or detailed at that time. Still within the early primary grades the concept of family would introduce a "two mommies" , "two daddies", "mommy & daddy", "mommy and me" "daddy and me" (single parent) family structure would be introduced and that is it at that point. Just that they exist as family structures. Each year the ideas are expanded on but I do not recall the progression in detail.

From a professional perspective this makes sense and is most appropriate. Over the remaining years of education other aspects of sex education (including sexuality) would be introduced as the child's mind is capable of comprehending. Unfortunately, there are too many reactionary people and people who, although unqualified, believe that they "know" better. The programme was withdrawn by the government (province wide programme) and is still being retooled. Consultations had apparently been done but the backlash indicated that further and wider consultations were needed (religious, secular group consultations). It has not been introduced yet and the older sex ed province wide programme is in use.

Other aspects such as bullying(based on sexuality) are still also being developed and the right for every school to have access for Gay Straight Alliance groups in every school are still being resolved. My country has become more reactionary and right winged extremist in the past few years and continues in that direction with the present federal government charging in that direction. Therefore, I don't know if such programmes will continue to be developed or surpressed.

The confusion that "homosexuality is being taught" inferring encouragement and a campaign to promote homosexuality over heterosexuality is at the crux of reactionary campaigns imo. The reality that homosexuality bisexual and heterosexuality exist is a different concept that the promotion of one sexuality over another. Imo, the best approach would be to acknowledge that no one sexuality is "better" than another sexuality. They all exist.

[swmnkdinthervr]

Considering both the lack of information and the misinformation being "taught" in the home there are few other sources for sexual information for kids today.

Sadly the very same people that either refuse to teach their kids anything or those that would teach them all the negative aspects of sexuality are the people controlling what information is available. What we end up with is a watered down version that leave our children leaning everything from their classmates much like many of us did! Boy did that ever turn out an informed society free of prejudice and full of understanding acceptance of others!!!

[darkeyes]

What we are really discussing is not sexuality but gender orientation.. and of course it should be taught in schools along with other aspects of sex and sexuality.

In the UK it is a mandatory requirement that a child receives sex education and that schools teach the subject..but unlike England and Wales, I am unsure of the situation in Northern Ireland, but Scottish parents may opt to withdraw their children from such lessons to teach them at home and are expected to discuss with the school what arrangements they have made to provide their children with sex education.. a retrograde step in my view since it is remarkable how many parents do not discuss sex, sexuality or gender orientation with their children and many myths, fallacies and prejudice all arise from many who do as well as from the children of those families who do not.. this is slightly countered by the fact that sex is also covered in several compulsory subjects on the curriculum, but no where near enough to compensate those children withdrawn from the dedicated lessons.

To foster a better understanding of all the issues of sex, including gender orientation it is essential that all children are given access to proper sex education.. not to foster a viewpoint or promote a particular orientation but to attempt to explain to and educate children as far as the curriculum allows, all the issues surrounding sex. It can and does help understanding and can and does help reduce much of the prejudice which exists among the young.

Lessons in Scottish schools and throughout the UK are age appropriate as they should be but religious denominational schools I know operate additional guidelines to the vast majority of schools to take account of the teachings of their faith.

An education system exists primarily to prepare children for the life to come after school, and provide them with all the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the half century and more of that life... sex, sexuality and gender orientation are immensely important aspects of our lives and an education system fails in its duty to children in particular and society as a whole if it does not adequately provide education on such an important matter.

Many of the problems our society face, from prejudice, sexism, incidence of STDs and teenage pregnancy have much to do with the inadequacy of home teaching of sex, sexuality and gender orientation and historically bad education in our schools. Sex education is not the answer to all our problems whatever our personal sexuality but it is the answer to many... it is no coincidence that those countries in northern Europe with the most progressive sex education produce children with a more balanced and compassionate view of sex and sexuality.. far fewer teen pregnancies, less homophobia, and much less angst on matters sexual.

As sex education has devoped and improved in this country, while huge problems still exist, I do not think either that it is a coincidence that our children are beginning to adopt much more compassionate view of the sexuality of others and that the incidence of teenage pregnancy, the highest in Europe has over the last few years, finally begun to decline.

[Gearbox]

It would be nice if once in a while the standard 'Man & Woman' set-up in any mention of relationships, were accompanied by alternative setups.
It might give a child some notion that they are not completely obligated to fill that future role!

A simple "But some people prefer the same gender..." when talking about marriage etc, might help some kids stop feeling like a freak!:)

[12voltman59]

I am proud of the sex ed class we teach in church, I mentioned before that we partnered before with the UCC to develop this curriculum..

http://www.uua.org/re/owl

However knowing that most denominations are not as willing to knowledge that sex is a part of people's lives and that children are blasted with sex-laden media all the time I would advocate AGE APPROPRIATE training on at least some fundamentals in public schools.. I would suggest in the early teen years when children are likely to be filled with crazy hormones..

The alternative children learning whatever they can from uninformed sources kind of scares me. Some parents, given a choice will not tell their child anything at all - or they may not KNOW. You're probably laughing but remember we're talking lowest common denominator here.

US has a crazy attitude toward "sex". I'm not talking about teaching children pornography..I received a very formal, factual, medical description in public school - they told us what we needed to know - all except how to actually HAVE sex..which was probably a good thing. As much as parents wish their kids weren't interested in sex the hormones and the desire for love, attention and acceptance are hard to ignore. What we ought to do is teach respect, love, tolerance and acceptance first - then the consequences of actually HAVING a child (good and bad). Maybe then the "forbidden fruit" of sex wouldn't be so salacious.. Right now the only "role model" kids have for that seems to be that "Teen Mom" reality show...eewww...

That sex education program seems pretty good---the thing is with teaching sex in schools---the fact is that sex does happen---and that our culture is dripping in it when even the most mundane things get sold with a bit of "sex appeal"----it is not anything to ignore---the thing to do is to teach the topic in the most neutral way possible--that does include the discussion that homosexuality exists and that it cannot be ignored--the problem is with some elements out there--if you don't teach that premarital sex is automatically bad along with homosexual sex and many other aspects of sex then you are somehow actually promoting and encouraging kids to engage in sex in general and also promoting the agenda of the "Gaystapo" to recruit the poor innocent kids over to gaydom---so it is damn hard to have a totally "valueless" and objective program of teaching "sex ed" as we used to call it.

One thing is damn for sure----merely teaching that a person should just say "NO" does not work for teaching kids about how to deal with sex or drugs, in fact, with the way the minds of young people often work--if the lame-assed, old out of touch fart bags that are their parents, teachers and principals, their clergy, etc. say not to do something----that only means its got to be something that is way fucking cool and they sure as shit are gonna do that thing!!

[elian]

I agree w/you Volty. People sometimes act as if sex is not natural..and that lends all sorts of mystique and taboo that it ought not to have..

I'm NOT advocating making sex a "big deal" in the life of young children, but it should be discussed as an important topic - especially for teens. When I've seen it offered at the church it was always with parental consent and the parents have to sign a covenant that says they will participate in the class with their children.

Sex Ed was taught in my school both in Physical Education/Health in younger years and later on in Biology class..covered the reproductive cycle. In the later classes we had a somewhat frank discussion at the end of the presentation that answered all the questions *I* had anyway..

[Realist]

I agree with those who advocate teaching sex in school. I do wonder if there is a consensus about exactly WHAT and HOW to teach it? I'm sure many would disagree on the specifics.

I certainly wish I'd been taught, because my parents weren't about to touch that subject with a 10 foot pole! They were never told, so why should I expect them to teach me...they probably didn't know that much about it, anyway. I sometimes wondered if they knew how my sister and I got on this earth! Most of the things I learned from my peers about sex, before an older neighbor seduced me, were WRONG!

I consider myself one of the lucky ones, who wasn't hurt, threatened, or scared, when I had my first experience with a older person. I could have, just as easily, been in danger of being hurt, or even killed!

[dafydd]

if i told you I'm working with the government on a new curriculum in schools around sexuality that starts at age 5 right up to 18, would u believe me?

[lizard-lix]

I think the typical useless 'Sex Ed' should be improved to include alternative orientations, discuss sensitivity to them and the real details on birth control and safe sex.

Then again here in TX, they screamed when the gov in a rare moment of intelligence wanted to mandate Gardisil (the HPV vaccine) but because HPV is generally sexually transmitted, they shot it down saying that giving the vaccine would make it seem OK to have premarital sex. I guess cervical or throat cancer is better.

(and we have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, but not teaching BC and safe sex in school is good by those idiots)

[lizard-lix]

It just so happens that my wife just showed me this..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8961010/Pornography-is-replacing-sex-education.html

This is totally awful! Parents and schools are NOT teaching kids about sex, so they are watching porn to learn. Kids will find out what they want to know about, one way or the other. This is especially bad because so much of mainstream porn is not at all respectful toward women. They are often treated as objects and treated roughly. I'm all for rough sex if that is what you like, but kids need to learn about respect, love and loving first..

From the article: “Too many young girls are absorbing from the popular culture around them that they only have value as sex objects. Inevitably they act this notion out."

So, teach your children well...

[biguy71]

I've always liked the Monty Python approach to sex-ed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh39-RZcooo