SEX
Complicated yet fairly understandalbe.
Kids have sex to be cool, because they're pressured into it. Point blank.
Adults have sex for pleasure and because they feel a connection with that person, however this is not always the case.
Sex ed in school is a joke, unless taught by the right person. My sophmore year, we were required to take "health". Our teacher was amazing, he was extremly light hearted and understood our views on the topic of sex. He basically asked us why we had sex, and of course like any other typical high school, the class clown yelled out "CAUSE I LIKE TO FCUK". Needless to say, he didn't answer the question, just simply rephrased it, but that's besides the point.
Our teacher laughed and asked us again, however no one could give a legitimate reason, except one boy who as in a "serious" relationship. "Because it shows our effection towards one another in a physical way."
Our teacher replied, "Nearly groping one another isn't enough?"
Our teacher always asked us our opinions and made the class interesting. If someone were to fall asleep he/she would have to get up in front of the class nd explain his/her stance on premarital sex or some other topic of relatioin, mind you rarely did this occur.
Our teacher didn't give us boring sex ed videos on STDs or emotional trauma along with sex, but put our class in real life scenarios which is, in my opinion, what high school/ middle school students need to stay engaged within a sex ed class room.
For example, our teacher would point out a boy and a girl and ask them if they've ever felt lust for one another, just to get the embaressment out of the way. Everyone snickered and our teacher began with the setting of a dark mountain side with the bright moon, and al that romantic blah blah blah. "If you both had a romantic dinner on the beach, and went to eat ice cream, and then visited a planetarium and named a star after one another (ripped off from a Walk to Remember), would you feel physically attracted to one another, if everything went well and there was an emotional attraction already established?
The boy said yes and the girl thought about it and agreed.
"Would there be any 'play'," my teacher questioned.
They didn't answer so my teacher began lecturing on set ups for sexual activity and such. He also explained how women are in need of emotional comfort, whereas men are in need of physical comfort.
This class was always very interseting, whereas my Abstinence Between Strong Teens, Inc. volunteer organization was not.
Where i volunteered, sure they showed nauseating photos of the consequences of sex such as Herpes outbreaks and HPV symptoms, but it wasn't enough. In my organization, ceritifed individuals would visit local middle schools and show the same boring sex ed videos my parents probally watched. Did anyone get anyhting out of this presentation? No.
In order for children to learn about sex or abstinence, the instructor must put the students in real life situations, and/or assign projects that make the student attend a clinic meeting on STD's so they can see what's really out there. Bringing in someone whom has acquired an STD is not the only thing to do, most schools think that's the solution, nor are sex ed videos that just put everyone to sleep, including the teacher? NO NO NO! This isn't helping anyone by any means, except maybe to catch up on some sleep.
Any suggestions?
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I see what you are getting at: but I have to disagree because of my own experiences. Maybe the rest of the kids aren't getting anything out of those videos, but I have certainly thought twice about sex after seeing pictures of genitalia infected with STDs. When you see a picture, and never want to eat cauliflower again (If you get my drift), it tends to stick with you.
I saw the movie in 9th grade, and as a senior, I think about it everytime somebody mentions sex, or STDs.
I also think that there should be more "real life situations", but it's hard to change a kids mind once it's already made up. It would be like trying to convince you of the exact opposite of your beliefs. (Although not impossible, it's hard)
I always felt that as a responsible teacher who knows her values and the basic information about diseases and STDs, that Health class was a waste of time. I tried testing out, but since so many students were testing out the standard raised and the test became insanely difficult. Teacher do not even give out a criteria sheet or rubric of what we must know, all they do is throw a book at us.
In my school, Health class just means a bunch of projects about exploring your own feelings and learning how to treat one another, not to mention terrible videos of what I would consider inappropriate visuals.
I would encourage parents to talk to their children, as that is how I learned right from wrong.
Perhaps the movie RENT could have some impact on someone. :]
I do not think it is the teacher’s place to be preaching abstinence, or even talking to the students about their personal lives when not asked for advice. Sex education is an important part of school, but it should be limited to EDUCATION not opinions about sex. It is the teacher’s responsibility to teach the students about anatomy and how the body works, and to teach about how to have sex safely and responsibly. Abstinence may be taught as an option, but definitely valued higher than safe sex. People are going to have sex no matter what, and it is important that they understand all the implications that it entails.
It sounds like your teacher was one of the good ones. Thats the way i think classes..not just sex ed should be taught.
I can't remember which article but studies shows that abstinence programs did squat. It's either you don't have any feelings for it, or you're chasing anything attractive on two legs. What good does abstinence do when somebody decides to have sex and gets a STD? People are going to have sex regardless what other people think. They need information, I'm all for abstinence but it's more practical to teach people how sex is going to impact their lives if they decide to do it. Parents should teach their own kids about sex ,it's their job in the first place; while schools teach them the fundamentals of the human anatomy and its diseases and its treaments. Parents, schools are not the parents of your own children. Really more and more parents are getting more irresponsible when it comes to teaching their own children. How else can you explain what kids are doing now?
I always viewed the "sex ed" in my high school has too immature. No one paid attention because they treated us as if we were threee years old, so no one took it seriously.
I think it's hard to develop a standard when sex ed is not reqired and is even prohibited in some places.
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At my school, Sex ed was a unit we studied during health class, and I think it was done well. It was lighthearted, but serious enough to take to heart. We learned the technical stuff including anatomy, and as far as birth control, were taught the different methods, of course being told that if you chose abstinence, it is the cheapest, and protects you the most against stds and unwanted pregnancy, which is the truth. We talked about teenage pregnancy, as well as listenint to a young couple who had a baby. The father demonstrated how tired he was all the time, and the mother admitted that she went through severe post-partum depression. The teacher was of course aware that there were students in the class who did have sex. We had open disscussion on various topics like rape, teen sex and pregnancy, and drugs and alcohol.
The one thing that wasn't really talked about was the preassure to have sex and what emotions go along with it. I wish we would have touched on that.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711
It sounds like your school had a good program in place. The sad thing is that here in the bible belt, sex ed is practically nonexist and parents don't discuss it. Teens know so little about sex and its accompanying issues that they go into it blindly.
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