Sex-ed survey given to 7th Graders

[mattttherman3]

Gotta say, that is the appropriate age. I saw my first porno at that age so.

 

[Busdriver580]

/agree with Necromancist
The fact that people are disturbed by this is indicative of a frankly disturbing amount of sheltering

 

[skitzo van]

They did this in fifth grade at my school... what the hell are people getting up in arms about?

 

[Tanner The Monotone]

I had a biology teacher that was once a doctor. He would tell us of some cases where 9 and 10 year olds were getting pregnant. (9 year old was molested, 10 year old had sex with another 10 year old). We need to teach kids about safe sex earlier.( Women are having their first periods sooner, we need to base it on this.)

 

[IkeGreil29]

Over reacting much? I mean, I feel like sex-ed needs to happen, simply because of the amount of porn and evil people in the world that want to screw you over. Also, I don't really get why they're stressing over a survey...?

 

[smeghead25]

Dude really? I thought every kid in the world knew eveything there is to know about sex by year 6. It's like the main topic of ALL 6th grade jokes.

Some Hardy 7th graders who took the survey last Tuesday, Solomon reports, were "disturbed," "bewildered," and "confused" by its contents; one reportedly "hyperventilated."

Oh come on, when we talked about sex at school some kid always 'hyperventilated' in fake shock to get a laugh. I highly doubt this was real. And if it was you Americans are pussies.

Solomon went on to report that Hardy parents were "outraged" and "practically in tears" over the "inappropriate" and "graphic" survey of their children.

Yeah, this happens all the time. Dumbass parents who have nothing better to do than cause a fuss and get their fat soccer mum asses in the papers. They always want something to complain about. They're like real life trolls.

...all complained anonymously.

That says a lot about how much faith they actually had in their complaints. Obviously they all sat around at some Tupperware party and one especially whingey mum brought up the topic and said she was complaining, shortly followed by the rest of them who didn't want to be left out of the comlainathon. And then they complained anonymously because they didn't actually want anyone else to know which idiots it was exactly who complained...

 

[ShadowsofHope]

..Solomon reports, were "disturbed," "bewildered," and "confused" by its contents; one reportedly "hyperventilated." Solomon went on to report that Hardy parents were "outraged" and "practically in tears" over the "inappropriate" and "graphic" survey of their children

Who wants to bet all of those clever little adjectives were made up by the parents and forced their "poor children" to parrot it?

12-13 years old is more than old enough to learn about the domain of sex. Hell, I did my first sex-ed course in Grade 5. In one of the more liberal Christian elementary schools in my city.

 

[The_Amazing_G]

Has anyone every noticed that kids are having sex earlier and earlier in their lives? 20 years ago, it would have been a huge deal if 7th grader were having sex, drinking, etc. So, in response, we had sex-ed and wellness classes put in earlier and earlier ages and younger classrooms. It is a possibility that sex among kids of these ages have been having sex for years without public attention being drawn to it, but I doubt this, especially becasue there is proof that sexual activity has been on the rise with kids of increasingly younger ages.
So, did I just prove that sex education CAUSES teen sex?
Yes and no.
I think that I can easily prove that there is a definite connection between sex-ed classes and the amount of sex kids have, and that having sex-ed earlier in education is having a ADVERSE effect on the students.
However, THIS DOES NOT PROVE THE SEX ED. IS BAD!! SEX ED. IS GOOD!!
So, where does the problem lie?
Here my my hypothesis:
the problem with sex ed in schools, (and arguably the problem with schools in general) is the way it is taught. Sex ed. in the modern age is taught with ZEAL (at least, in my experience). Teaching kids about how bad sex is, especially STDs, is not helping them. I could argue that TV and video games and all that such have an adverse effect too, but that;s bull; kids are smart enough to know what is real and what is not at 7th grade. They are smart enough to know that STDs and teen pregnancy is not the whole story.
They can see TV and real adults have experience with sex that is pleasurable, and schools only teach that sex is something that should not be down or explored.
So what do these kids do in response?
THEY SELF EDUCATE!
So how do we fix this?
One way is to not put so much emphasis on sex and STDs. Make sex ed. an OPTIONAL class. Most kids will want to take it so they can learn about sex, but at least they won't feel like it ts being shoved down their throats.
Another way is to be honest and realistic about sex. Kids know that sex 'feels good', and that is the part that they will be most curious about. If we teach the whole story about sex, including that yes, STDs and teen pregnancy do happen, but so do orgasms and actual meaningful relationship between tow people who have sex as an afterthought. What we can teach is that yes, sex exist, and it and positives and negatives, but it is better to WAIT. Teach that sex is an experience that can be cheapened easily, and CAN BE dangerous, but isn't always is. Patience is the key of what to teach here, becasue if they don't have patience and realism, is doesn't matter what you teach them.

 

[Arcanite Ripper]

Y'know, it was actually from one of these similiar-based quizzes I caught the biggest glimpse of the "Fast Lane" ugly reveal. I wonder what it says about me for laughing straight through all of the classes.

OT: Can't say i'm a big fan of those types of programs either, as they usually poke at the subject matter to initally get young'ins interested in trial-and-error then to justify it for themselves at a third-person glance as something probably not worth it. For the most part, people can make the decision's for themselves with these thing on what they might be getting into and if it's worth it at a time that wouldn't plague innocence.

But I suppose if you introduce it this way, the government's or societies can't be blamed for individal wrong-exposure to...it...

 

[Leftyrem]

Ha ha HARDY parents...

 

[The Youth Counselor]

I went to a catholic grade school and a catholic high school. One thing i can say in retrospect, is that we talked about this stuff in class, and we all knew how the things worked and what could happen, what did happen, why we should wait, that we COULD wait, and that there were other options out there. We never had a formal sex-ed, and in a way we were taught "abstinence" sex-ed, but the subject was open and discussed and never got more graphic then need be.

Maybe its because we all had decent classes and great teachers who cared about us, in addition to that the whole thing now seems very carefully planned and orchestrated, they went through a lot of trouble to teach us this stuff and the realities of it. Had you asked anyone in our 5th grade class, even, what menstruation was, or how a woman could get pregnant, or what a condom was, we could all tell you. Admittedly at that point much of the stuff was simplified down, but we were explained to why things were happened and how they could be good or bad.

It's odd i think about it and i never had a sex-ed class, but it was worked into every other class, and they talked to us and taught us about it. More than just scaring us, or telling us it was bad, it was offered to us as our first big decision, that we could do this or we could not and they could not really stop us, but they told us it would be bad and there could/would be consequences for our actions. We were encouraged to control ourselves and we were told what could happen if you don't.

it was very different than what public schools seem to teach, which is: "use a condom and you'll be fine you cant help your self", which is a bit off a disgusting thing to tell anyone really. Not only do most sex-ed classes skimp on some important facts like: you can get a STD from oral sex, anal sex, and normal sex and a condom does not prevent most STDs, most STDs are transmitted through genital CONTACT, and you will have to live with your choices the rest of your life; but they tell kids that they are unable to control themselves and are only animals.

It really is a nauseating message when you think about it, and the expectations it sets. The message i was always given was "even if you slip up you can always seek forgiveness and DO BETTER and you have to OWN UP TO YOUR ACTIONS." The message given to many of my peers seems to have been "It does not matter you can't help yourself, your not really responsible." These messages pertain to so much more than sex-ed, but to the whole of public vs. private schooling, private schools hold there students up to an example and say "you are responsible for your own actions and the results of them" and public schools say "its not really your fault."

And we wonder what is wrong with schooling in America.

/monologue

I hope my writing was not too scatter-shot, i tend to write a little bit too much for posts, there is just so much to say! I do not hold to the bests of grammar and such as i really should with something this long. The Quiz itself that was given to these students, who should undoubtedly know what sex is at their age, seems a tad bit on the graphic side but more so on the cautious side. The pepole who wrote this and the school district have the best intentions but it ultimately comes down to the parents and the pepole these kids see as role-models, teachers and coaches, to give them the right message. The test is never gonna make a change in these kids lives' only the teacher can do that, and only the teacher can teach this, and only the teachers and parents are going to have influence over the actions of the children. Not some silly little test.

I don't want to discount your experience, but you did go to a Catholic Grade School and Catholic High School. You did not state where your middle school/junior high education partook, but how do you know that public schools have that mindset and are irresponsibly telling the kids that they will be irresponsible?

I went to public schools from childhood to adulthood in the liberal Mecca of the nation (San Francisco) and our sex-ed classes (known as Family Life here) were exactly as you described in your Catholic style of education.

We were taught that sex was a huge decision to make between two people, and that we were too young for that. We were taught that we should be safe, and focus on other things. In the fifth grade the teachers scared half the class away from sex via graphic photos of STDs and footage of a woman painfully giving birth. They did care about us, and though conversation occasionally went over the line because of immature students, they did curb the comments and maintained an atmosphere of honesty and maturity.

 

[CitySquirrel]

Hey speak for yourself. I'm from southeast VA and I got sex ed in 3rd grade.

I am from New England, which makes things a little more... eeeh... in that area. Still, I submit third grade is extremely rare in our country. And we were still founded by puritans =P

 

[Kermi]

Any kid who hasn't already figured sex out by age 12-13 is in dire need of some educating if only so they understand the implications of the confusion caused by puberty. I think these reports are vastly exaggerated by needlesly outraged parents - probably because said parents were too timid/embarassed to approach the topic with their children like they're supposed to and now have to deal with the fact that their precious, innocent little loinfruit suddenly knows where they came from.

 

[SimuLord]

All I know is that if I had a nickel for every attractive girl older than 22 who hasn't yet managed to get herself knocked up in this town, I couldn't buy lunch. The hypersexualization of kids and teens needs to stop---MTV disgusts me, as does...well, just about everything else in popular youth culture.

Yes, I'm getting old. But seriously---the teen (and overgrown-teen young adult) pregnancy rate is out of control in my current city. I had a five-night stand with a girl from here just to get laid, but other than that I won't date Reno girls.

 

[Seydaman]

Well it's America

Sexually is super taboo here, despite how completely illogical it is.

But honestly, I saw a naked woman at age 9-10, even if I couldn't figure out all the anatomy etc etc it still seems silly to think we're "corrupting" our youth who would probably will be more fucked up if we just leave them to their own devices.

Oh for [PROFOUNDLY OFFENSIVE AND LENGTHY STRING OF EXPLETIVES].

It's things like this that make me glad that I'm living in Sweden and not the US. I mean, seriously. What are these parents thinking? I'm 18, I'm not having kids for a while yet, but I can not see one single logical, compelling reason a responsible parent would act like this. "Oh, but my little baby would surely be ruined for life if condoms or STD's are mentioned in his/her presence! Nope, I'd rather keep them in the dark about it, then ***** and moan about proper steps not being taken when they're pissing blood!"

I don't know about the last part, but it seems the next logical step for these people. The kind of people I'm talking about (not unique to the US, by the way) who have this notion that their children are perfect, pure, incorruptible little angels.

Here's a hint: THEY'RE NOT. I sure as hell weren't, and neither are your kids. Children are curious. That's a well established fact. Sexually explicit material is widely available EVERYWHERE, and no matter how much you try to shield your kids from it they will be exposed to it sooner or later. If they don't find something on the internet, it will be from a "cool older friend" or another kid who's managed to steal one of his dad's poorly hidden porn magazines. To quote every mad scientist ever, the possibilities are endless.

However, the sad truth is that most parents who have these opinions won't listen. They didn't grow up in an age where this material is so widely avaiable, and they have different moral values. To them, the world is frightening and unfamiliar, so different from the supposed paradise they grew up in (though to be perfectly honest, they were probably exposed to sexual things at a young age too; they just either don't remember or don't talk about it because people were much less open and accepting about it back then). This leads to contempt for society and culture at large, and thus we get scared parents who throw bitchfits because their children can't grow up in the pure, wholesome and above all "safe" world they did. A world which, by all venues of logical thinking, have not, does not, never will and practically CANNOT exist. And yet they rage.

So what's the solution? I don't know. Talking to them is useless. I'm open for suggestions, but for now I'd say to just ignore them. Including their children. Yes, I'm talking to you, kids: do not listen to your parents when they say stupid shit like this. You don't deserve to have your lifespan shortened just because your parents refused to let someone teach you how to put a piece of elastic rubber on your dong. The advice about not touching hot plates is gravy, though. Memorize it.

Aaaand that's my rant.

EDIT: Another tip. Don't bone people before your voice has dropped a few octaves.

......
*clap*
*clap*
*clap*

You sir, make an excellent point, but I would suggest making sexual education mandatory, not sure if private schools have to adhere to those rules in the U.S.


Edit: And oh yea we need masturbation instruction in schools too.

 

[Yureina]

That's a bit... screwy, but sadly what I have come to expect from America. I'm not one for talking about sex all the time or anything (most people who know me know that I avoid the subject quite alot), but... those kids are hardly too young.

 

[Fran108]

........ in my school an eighth grader is already pregnant........it turned out she didn't pay attention in fifth grade when they taught us this stuff.......it's kinda sad......BTW ima seventh grader.........also this never happens in Mexico...just sayin