another thought..EZMONEY, I love your posts. There should be more dads like you!

Thanks CHICKY......but I don't know if the world could handle another WHACKED DAD!!

Signed, Me!

Also the FACTS of sex ... how you get pregnant, dispersing the myths, etc. should be a standard part of BIOLOGY. We make sex into this big shrouded mystery or forbidden zone when it should be taught matter of factly. All animals have sex. The biological facts of "insert tab a into slot b" (*grin*) shouldn't be shameful. They're simple, clean, biological science.

Treat it as such, answer questions honestly, and quit making it a huge taboo subject.

.

Wow. What an interesting thread.

I am a Christian.

I am a parent of teenagers.

And, I am a teacher of middle schoolers.

I think most previous posts made very good points, however, I tend to agree most with jillybean...teach the facts. The fact is that having sex can mess with you physically as well as emotionally.

The responsibility of teaching is the responsibility of the parent - not the school. However, look around and you will see there are many, many parents not doing their job. I actually had a student ask, rather comment, on the fact that after her Quinceanera it was okay to have sex. She would be ready then. It was at that moment that I realized that our kids were not necessarily irresponsible (although many are!) but many are simply uninformed.

The schools MUST step in and help. Did I talk to my kids about sex? Of course.. Not a sit-down birds and bees lesson but I gave them what they could handle at the time. Constantly. I don't try to overload them and try to make them feel like they could come to me with whatever question they had (and, boy, did they!) Do I appreciate the school backing me up? Of course. If I didn't want them to go through the school program I would simply opt out but, honestly, they need to hear it from someone else, too. Do I feel like I have taught them from a high-moral opionion? Of course...but, I am Christian not an idiot. I made mistakes and my kids will make mistakes. My prayer here is that my kids don't make the same ones... Especially when it comes to sex. That is something that will never go away. Never.

Incidently, the middle school that I teach at has at least one student pregnant every year. A 7th grader just had a baby a month ago...The problem in my community is not necessarily the 'safe sex' talk, but that they don't do it soon enough! (puberty in 5th, sex in 7th and 9th...sigh)



How sad is that....?

Tonia, I agree with you 100%. And, you are one brave lady for teaching middle school
I teach special ed. pre-k. We probably have a lot in common....

Personally, I think students have a right to know about how their bodies work, and should get a comprehensive sexual health education. If they're not given accurate information in the classroom, they'll get inaccurate information outside of class. Denying kids real information about sex only harms them. The teen pregnancy rates and STD transmissions in "abstinence-only" schools are a testament to that.

Although I think an important part of sex education is making sure students understand the risks and how to prevent them, I'm not comfortable with value judgments like "abstinence until marriage" being imposed on kids. Teachers are neither pastors nor parents (at least to the kids in their classrooms) and shouldn't try to play that role. My suggestion would be to stick the facts.

I agree DRINA and the simple fact is that if kids are having sex before marraige...oops!....ok throw the Christian thing out for now...having sex before you are mature enough...then absinence is the only "right thing" to teach someone in school... until they are mature enough....probably around 21 or so...then they are on their own!

My wife teaches 6th grade...my son teaches high school ...so does my daughter in law....so many sad stories.....

I just became a GOD ~ Grandfather!!!..........yes!!!!

My Goddaughter just texted me a picture of my God-grandson!!

Thanks, chickybird, and, you are probably right when you say we have a lot in common any tips on how to get them to be quiet for ... say....three minutes? lol

Well, play-do works wonders. As does shaving cream.
of course, "dropping" a handful of confetti on the floor and asking them to help you pick it up the most effective! It's also considered a "fine motor exercise".

Pre-k rocks!

i think as a parent i would want the school to teach all the ins and outs about sex .. but i dont know if they should push the abstanace .. they should mention it but they have to remember by the time they do sex ed alot of those kids have probably already had sex and you dont need teens feeling any worse about them selves if they have already done it.. They say the kids are experimenting younger and younger these day .. They should put a huge deal of stds and pregnancy and the use of condoms.. they should really push condoms .. and i think the condoms should be easy to access for the kids .. since they find them embarrasing to buy at the store lol..
Parents should talk to the kids just before pubity about the whole thing and make it known that the kids can talk about it freely with them. Teens that are well informed sometimes make better choices..

Take me for instance i was like 14 ( he was 19)when i first had sex and that was b4 we even had sex ed at school.. ( no discusion at all from my parents )and then i was pregnant at 19 with my son.. I was not ready to have a kid at 19 i was still a kid myself. .. ok its not as bad as it sounds .. lol when i was 14 i met my husband.. before i met him i hadnt even kissed a boy lol.. But i was almost 15 by the time i had sex and back then i already loved him and here we are im now 27 with two kids . we got married in 2000 when i was pregnant with number 1 . lol we bought a unit when i was 16 and then bought a house when i was 18 becuase the unit was small and cramped and depressing .. lol .. a few months after buying our house i was pregnant. But i had no idea what i had got myself into lol .. Cameron had colic for 8 months lol .. but he was a super toddler .. once he got past the colic It was great and my pnd went away ..
Dont get me wrong i dont regret having my kids at all i just wish i had been a bit older and alot more ready to cope with my son.. My daughter has been sick most of her life and i cope better with her then i did with him.. except for the fact im ans emotional eater of course.. lol which is how i ended up on thias board weighing 288.8 lol ..

Kids need to know everything about sex.. even the nasty stuff like stds.. etc .. abstanance should be mentioned but not pushed to the point where the teens feel dirty or wrong .. lol

I agree with this in part, but who gets to decide when students are old enough for sex? 21 seems like a pretty arbitrary number. A savvy high schooler could easily respond that plenty of people have sex before 21 without any adverse consequences. And considering that each person and his and her own developmental trajectory, I don't think it would be reasonable to tell kids "no sex until 21." And I'm sure someone will ask, If kids aren't ready for sex before age 21, does that mean they're not ready for marriage either? My mom was married at 19 and she my dad are still going strong more than 35 years later.

I'm also a little weary about how abstinence is "taught." What does that mean, really? And what impact does that have on teens' sexual behavior? I guess I don't know what it means to teach abstinence. If sexual health is taught in a comprehensive format, then kids will also learn that no sex = no STDs or pregnancy.

Of course, I'm neither a teacher nor a parent, so my view might not hold that much weight. But I think a lot of parents and teachers would agree that preaching abstinence in place of comprehensive sex education is just not a good idea.

My two cents.

Thought I'd weigh in here. I am a nurse on a postpartum floor and I get to see one of the the direct results of teen sex. The youngest I have taken care of was 12. One 13 year old girl said she had never had a period before getting pregnant and didn't know what to do with a pad. Between us nurses and the social workers on my floor, we have a lot of education to do with young girls. Many of them don't understand the biology of their own bodies. I agree that the more education that can be done, whether it is in the home or in the school, the better. You can talk all day about abstinence, but in the end, if you don't understand some basics about human reproduction, it doesn't do much good.