Writer's Block: School days
Mar. 27th, 2011 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
megajessness[Error: unknown template qotd]
Yes, yes I do. However, I do not think that should be the first time kids are introduced to the idea of sex and what it entails. That should always start in the home. A parent's voice is stronger than anyone else's for a child. No matter how much a student may like their teacher, there's always gonna be that doubt. How much did they stretch? Did they leave anything out important because of embarrassment or bias? What if they wanted to know more detail?
In our society sex itself is an embarrassing subject. Hell, we don't even talk about our own genitals comfortably, or even about underwear. That being said, approaching the subject of sex in a public place, such as a school, still leaves the student with unanswered questions they're too embarrassed to ask.
Thus, what needs to happen first is the parents should always have "the talk" with their kids about sex first. Take myself, for example. I learned, in detail, about sex at seven years old. I was taken to the master bedroom alone, so my brother wouldn't overhear as he was only five at the time, and both my mother and father explained to me what happens when a couple has sex. I was even given detailed accounts of how an erection happens.
I wasn't disturbed by it. I was kind of surprised our bodies were capable of such a thing, but it also made perfect sense. Kids wonder from a very young age where they came from and how; that's why you get even toddlers asking "the question". I also accepted it as the absolute truth, because my parents were telling me, and they also told me it's important for me to know. In a biological sense, it's perfect for the parents to tell the child because they were the ones that went through the very act to bring their kid into the world. I think that's what really drives it home, for the child to know that this is how they came into the world. If a child first learns from someone else and they don't have any kids (that they know of), they're going to doubt regardless.
Now that I have that out of the way, continuing sex education should be reinforced in public schools. Not often, but enough, because as we all know and remember at a certain age we become more and more curious about it. I remember being eager to learn about it at only 10 years old.
At the end of my 5th grade year, I watched a video about puberty, sex, and reproduction. It was mandatory, every single class in 5th grade had to watch it. Then, I had a class for one six-week period in 6th grade about safe-sex education. That class mainly enforced use of condoms and informed about birth controls, STDs, pregnancy, etc. The subject is given less focus in high school, but it's still there if you take a Health class, which I did.
Now, all of this was fine, but I had one thing at home that I knew my peers didn't. I was given permission at 12 to read a little miniature book that was a sex guide, with photographs and diagrams. That's something that I think should be provided to students in middle and high school: resources. I understand schools can't have some books available because of their content, but that doesn't mean the teacher can't write down a few titles and recommend them.
If the students had more resources at their disposal, and the approval from either their parents or their teachers to look them up, I believe they'll make smarter choices and feel less pressure from their peers and our society as a whole.
Yes, yes I do. However, I do not think that should be the first time kids are introduced to the idea of sex and what it entails. That should always start in the home. A parent's voice is stronger than anyone else's for a child. No matter how much a student may like their teacher, there's always gonna be that doubt. How much did they stretch? Did they leave anything out important because of embarrassment or bias? What if they wanted to know more detail?
In our society sex itself is an embarrassing subject. Hell, we don't even talk about our own genitals comfortably, or even about underwear. That being said, approaching the subject of sex in a public place, such as a school, still leaves the student with unanswered questions they're too embarrassed to ask.
Thus, what needs to happen first is the parents should always have "the talk" with their kids about sex first. Take myself, for example. I learned, in detail, about sex at seven years old. I was taken to the master bedroom alone, so my brother wouldn't overhear as he was only five at the time, and both my mother and father explained to me what happens when a couple has sex. I was even given detailed accounts of how an erection happens.
I wasn't disturbed by it. I was kind of surprised our bodies were capable of such a thing, but it also made perfect sense. Kids wonder from a very young age where they came from and how; that's why you get even toddlers asking "the question". I also accepted it as the absolute truth, because my parents were telling me, and they also told me it's important for me to know. In a biological sense, it's perfect for the parents to tell the child because they were the ones that went through the very act to bring their kid into the world. I think that's what really drives it home, for the child to know that this is how they came into the world. If a child first learns from someone else and they don't have any kids (that they know of), they're going to doubt regardless.
Now that I have that out of the way, continuing sex education should be reinforced in public schools. Not often, but enough, because as we all know and remember at a certain age we become more and more curious about it. I remember being eager to learn about it at only 10 years old.
At the end of my 5th grade year, I watched a video about puberty, sex, and reproduction. It was mandatory, every single class in 5th grade had to watch it. Then, I had a class for one six-week period in 6th grade about safe-sex education. That class mainly enforced use of condoms and informed about birth controls, STDs, pregnancy, etc. The subject is given less focus in high school, but it's still there if you take a Health class, which I did.
Now, all of this was fine, but I had one thing at home that I knew my peers didn't. I was given permission at 12 to read a little miniature book that was a sex guide, with photographs and diagrams. That's something that I think should be provided to students in middle and high school: resources. I understand schools can't have some books available because of their content, but that doesn't mean the teacher can't write down a few titles and recommend them.
If the students had more resources at their disposal, and the approval from either their parents or their teachers to look them up, I believe they'll make smarter choices and feel less pressure from their peers and our society as a whole.
