| Author |
Message |
Lauren Brezinski
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 01, 2005 - 5:10 am: |       |
I actually am a physical education teacher in Illinois and I have a friend who is right now getting her master's degree and is currently doing a research project on the appropriate time sex education should be taught to children. I wanted to post a thread getting others input on this topic just to see what others think. So if you have an opinion about when sex education should be taught and why could you please reply to this thread. Thanks,
Lauren Brezinski
Martin Elementary |
Jennifer Pursell (Jennifer)
New member
Username: Jennifer
Post Number: 1
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2005 - 9:28 pm: | |
I teach middle school Health and we use a comprehensive sex education curriculum.
6th grade - "Growing into Healthy Sexuality" - how the mind and body changes during puberty.
7th - "Abstinence"and "Human Sexuality " - developing intimate relationships without becoming sexually active through "where babies come from"
8th - "Reducing the Risk of Pregnany, STIs, and HIV/AIDS". Emphasis is on refusal skills and delaying tactics but we also get into the use of methods of having safe sex if you make that choice.
Our district has several different approved curriculums that meet all state requirements but I will say that we are able to teach a lot more than other schools in our state. Many schools begin with F.L.A.S.H. / S.T.A.R.S. in 5th grade and listening to some of my kids even that sound to late. It's fun to see how much they DON'T know when they think they know it all. The most important thing to consider is how comfortable is the teacher in teaching sexuality. If the teacher is not knowlegable and comfortable about teaching this subject the kids will pick up on it immediately and make life miserable for them. Example: in 7th grade we were brainstorming ways of showing affection and one of the boys said "Having sex". He was amazed that I wrote it down and said so to some classmates. When I asked why he was so amazed he said "If I said that in any other class I'd be in trouble". They still find it strange that in Health we can safely talk about such subjects that affect their lives. |
Sarah Phillips (Sep8720)
Junior Member
Username: Sep8720
Post Number: 2
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 4:25 pm: | |
Hi. I am a current physical education major and I believe sex education should be taught around the 5th grade level. I think it is imperative that we teach students about sex at an early age so they will make good decisions in their futures. I know so many people at my old high school that are getting pregnant in 9th or 10th grade and I believe part of this is due to lack of sexual education |
Leo Saucier
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 10:24 am: | |
Informally, as soon as young children start asking the questions.....likely to occur at home. The problem is, parents are unprepared or reluctant to answer questions truthfully, then they worry about what some progessive, tell-it-like-it-is educator is going to say to their child. When a child is intelligent enough to form a question, in my opinion they are intelligent enough to get a truthful answer. If they ask a follow-up question, again, another truthful answer. Eventually, their personal development at the moment will reach the limit of their questions. Just be ready for the next round of questions. |
Tommy Byrd (Byrdman35)
New member
Username: Byrdman35
Post Number: 1
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 4:26 pm: | |
The way things are going these days. I think sex education should be taught at the 5th grade level.I know back at my school there are boys and girls in the sixth grade that are having sex and baby's are being brough into the world at a really young age. I know if these kids were taught at an young age they would make good decisions before they made a mistake that would change thier young lives.I mean you know what is going on in the high school, but even then kids are still getting pregnant. And if you do teach this to kids at a younger age I think the parents should be included too |
Estee Adery (Ejadery1)
Junior Member
Username: Ejadery1
Post Number: 2
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 5:56 pm: | |
Correct me if I am wrong, but I feel that students are "more advanced" than years ago. Therefore I agree that sex education should start around 4th-5th grade. I am currently student teaching at the elementary level, however I was at a middle school last semester. While at the middle school, I learned a great deal about my students, as they would confide in me. Many adolescence do not even realize that oral sex is considered "sex." If we as educators do not EDUCATE our students we will have some "baby daddies" running around. In the next couple months, when I begin to interview for teaching position in PE/Health, one of my primary questions will be regarding the PE and Health curriculum. I think Jennifer's comprehensive health curriculum would be worth implementing at the middle school level-- it seems all encompassing. However, depending on the district, will depend what and how I can educate. |
Nate V. Adams (Nadams)
New member
Username: Nadams
Post Number: 1
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Monday, March 13, 2006 - 1:53 pm: | |
What exactly do you think that the kids are ignorant of that will stop teen pregnancy? I don’t think that you can find many kids that know how to have sex but didn’t realize it could result in pregnancy. We do not live in a society that treats the subject as taboo. Condom awareness has never been higher. Sex “education” is being taught at ever younger ages yet the teen pregnancy rate isn’t declining – it’s increasing. Continuing to repeat the same activity and expecting different results is a definition of insanity. Freedom without Responsibility is dangerous, information without morals is proving disastrous. It’s not just what you know, it’s what difference does it make to you.
P.S. Didn’t Bill Clinton say oral sex wasn’t sex? That’s with an education. |
Jennifer Mitchell (Jmm763)
Junior Member
Username: Jmm763
Post Number: 3
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 9:01 am: | |
I believe that sex education courses should be started as early as 6th grade and be carried out through 12th grade. Students need information about sex in their early years that way they can make proper decisions in their teenage years. It is important to give them the information early so that they can be educated on the topics and be able to make the right decisions. |
Zachary Brower (Zsb1353)
Junior Member
Username: Zsb1353
Post Number: 2
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 03, 2006 - 1:12 pm: | |
I think sex education should start somewhere about the 5th or 6th grade and continued through 12th. Having been in high school not to long ago a lot of the things you are learning you have already experienced. It seems as though what is being tought is just review for some of the kids. I think it is better to help all of the students make an educated decision about sex in their life. If we wait too long then they have already decided what they are going to do without having all of the facts. |
Casey Erin Hall (Ceh8424)
Junior Member
Username: Ceh8424
Post Number: 3
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 03, 2006 - 1:17 pm: | |
I graduated high school in 2004. That was only two years ago but I remember hearing about sixth and seventh graders having sex and it amazed me. Unfortunately I believe that this trend of having sex at a young age is beginning to descend down to the smaller grades. I think a good time to begin teaching sexual education is fifth grade. Children at that age so easily influenced by older kids and what the media portrays. For this reason I believe it is imperative that young children are taught sex ed at and early age so that they are better prepared to handle the pressures that come along with growing up. |
Cale McConnell (Cmiggedymack)
Junior Member
Username: Cmiggedymack
Post Number: 3
Registered: 3-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 03, 2006 - 6:45 pm: | |
Yeah I agree with you that sex education needs to be taught at a younger age because lately it seems that in these times children will try just about anything and drugs and sex out there have definitely risen and things are beginning to get out of control. It probably has a lot to do with the television and the lack of parenting but we want our children to be safe and protect themselves at an early age with sex so I do think the 5th grade would be a good time to start. |
