CDZ Sex Education

[phoenyx]

I wonder...

• Do people who received lousy sex education actually realize that was the case? If so, how many?
• Shouldn't there be some sort of certification requirement for sex? I mean really...Doctors, lawyers, CPAs, engineers, even hairdressers, along with a host of other professions require one to demonstrate they have some required level of understanding about the discipline before they are permitted to practice it.....just saying....nobody ever was irrevocably affected (or harmed) by a bad hairdo. [This is something of a tongue-in-cheek comment/question; however, its theme of the importance of young people's being well informed about sex and sexuality is not part of the satire.]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

For a long time, I've felt that this would be a good idea myself. While engaging in sexual intercourse usually isn't as dangerous as driving for those who've never learned how, I certainly believe there are enough similarities to warrant the same idea of certification before engaging. I'm even wondering if perhaps at least a moderate course in parenting might be included (some people really don't know enough to be parents; I can see how certification could help here). I also think some basics on how to form healthy romantic relationships would be good.

 

[Pilate]

They need 12 years to teach a child what me and my friends figured out in maybe 2-3 with expertise coming after 5 years? What are they doing, training the next generation of porn stars?

Sigh -.- Why not check out the slide show and find out?

I had a look and much of it is stuff that you'll never realistically need to know.

Could you give me an example?

"In Grade 5, students will identify the parts of the reproductive system, and describe how the human body changes during puberty. They will expand their vocabulary with words like cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, endometrium, and clitoris, as well as scrotum, urethra, testicles, prostate gland, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens." -Slide 5

I can't really think of how this stuff is going to help students practice safe sex, I'm referring in particular to the vocab part.

Might help them when they go to the doctor though.

I dunno man, I understand your point but personally I am very skeptical that anyone uses those big fancy terms at the doctors. But that's just me.

 

[320 Years of History]

I wonder...

• Do people who received lousy sex education actually realize that was the case? If so, how many?
• Shouldn't there be some sort of certification requirement for sex? I mean really...Doctors, lawyers, CPAs, engineers, even hairdressers, along with a host of other professions require one to demonstrate they have some required level of understanding about the discipline before they are permitted to practice it.....just saying....nobody ever was irrevocably affected (or harmed) by a bad hairdo. [This is something of a tongue-in-cheek comment/question; however, its theme of the importance of young people's being well informed about sex and sexuality is not part of the satire.]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

For a long time, I've felt that this would be a good idea myself. While engaging in sexual intercourse usually isn't as dangerous as driving for those who've never learned how, I certainly believe there are enough similarities to warrant the same idea of certification before engaging. I'm even wondering if perhaps at least a moderate course in parenting might be included (some people really don't know enough to be parents; I can see how certification could help here). I also think some basics on how to form healthy romantic relationships would be good.

Red:
Frankly, that's more needed than is sex education. Having raised three kids, I can assure you that how to be a good parent isn't something that is obvious. There are "rules" of a sort for how to be a good parent, and one can discover them as one goes about the task of being a parent. The problem is that by the time one does "get it," it may be to late to correct one's mistakes.


Blue:
Aim high; it can't hurt. For my part, I'd be content with folks learning how to develop and maintain healthy interpersonal relationships period. Healthy romantic ones strike me as a goal worth seeking, but let's take this idea one step at a time. LOL

 

[Pilate]

I dunno, I think the events are more important than the dates per-say. The dates are just thrown in so you can kinda file everything. But really, when was the last time you stopped yourself from getting it on because of "endometrium and cervix stuff." Maybe happened, but I doubt anyone called it that. After all, the back room of a club and a science lab are a world apart.

I'm pretty sure sex ed generally isn't about "getting it on", laugh . It's about understanding how we reproduce, why, when to do it, and how to avoid doing it. I also think it'd be great if they could talk to teens about romantic relationships in general. There's so much more to them then whether or not to have sex.

I don't think teaching kids about romance really is a public health issue. It would be crossing the line into "wasteful spending town" for me.

Personally, I think it would be a very good thing for schools to highlight the positive aspects of sexual relationships, as well as to emphasize that relationships don't need to involve sex, especially at a young age. There is also the need to avoid what has been called "rape culture". Wikipedia introduces the term like this:
**In feminist theory, rape culture is a setting in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality.[1][2]The sociology of rape culture is studied academically by feminists. There is disagreement over what defines rape culture and as to whether any given societies meet the criteria to exhibit rape culture.[3]

Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by some forms of sexual violence, or some combination of these.[4] The notion of rape culture has been used to describe and explain behavior within social groups, including prison rape, and in conflict areas where war rape is used aspsychological warfare. Entire societies have been alleged to be rape cultures.[3][5][6][7][8]

Evidence suggests that rape culture is correlated with other social factors and behaviors. Rape myths, victim blaming, and trivialization of rape have been found to be positively correlated with racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, classism, religious intolerance, and other forms ofdiscrimination.[9][10]**

Source: Rape culture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Something that I think most people would agree should be avoided before it begins in the younger generations...

But rape is not pervasive nor normalized

That remains a matter of debate...
We Can't Admit America's Rape Culture Is As Pervasive As India's - The Establishment

nor trees red lightly in any western country I can think of.

That phrase doesn't make sense to me. Could you explain it?

If you don't believe me you can go out and try your hand at it.

What is it you think I don't believe and what is it I can try my hand at?

And the purpose of the class isn't really to highlight positives or to promote fringe groups' ideas, the purpose should merely be to improve the public's health and safety and drive down the costs associated with providing care for those who make poor decisions. Besides, you can't really teach love and all that jazz. Such a deep and powerful emotional concept is discovered on one's own.

To be honest, I think it'd make more sense to call sex ed sexual relationship education. The mechanics of human reproduction, while certainly interesting, is only a subset of a march larger subject, that of how people interact sexually with each other. Most people would agree that sexual interactions should be between 2 consenting individuals, but there are still those in the U.S. who don't even think that consent is always required, let alone enthusiastic consent, even within the legal profession. Take the following example...
Oklahoma court: oral sex is not rape if victim is unconscious from drinking

Trees red was a typo of "treated." Thanks iPhone. Anyway, the case you cited was a tragic miscarriage of justice ethically but legally the correct decision was made due to the fact that the wording of the law was simply put...awful.

 

[phoenyx]

Sigh -.- Why not check out the slide show and find out?

I had a look and much of it is stuff that you'll never realistically need to know.

Could you give me an example?

"In Grade 5, students will identify the parts of the reproductive system, and describe how the human body changes during puberty. They will expand their vocabulary with words like cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, endometrium, and clitoris, as well as scrotum, urethra, testicles, prostate gland, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens." -Slide 5

I can't really think of how this stuff is going to help students practice safe sex, I'm referring in particular to the vocab part.

Might help them when they go to the doctor though.

I dunno man, I understand your point but personally I am very skeptical that anyone uses those big fancy terms at the doctors. But that's just me.

I think a lot of those words don't really have any other common reference points. People also get issues with body parts in that region, and I imagine that I'm not the only person who finds it uncomfortable to talk about those areas- this is a societal thing, learned when we were young. To quote Yoda, "you must unlearn what you have learned". Or do the next best thing and teach the next generation differently .

 

[frigidweirdo]

Sigh -.- Why not check out the slide show and find out?

I had a look and much of it is stuff that you'll never realistically need to know.

Could you give me an example?

"In Grade 5, students will identify the parts of the reproductive system, and describe how the human body changes during puberty. They will expand their vocabulary with words like cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, endometrium, and clitoris, as well as scrotum, urethra, testicles, prostate gland, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens." -Slide 5

I can't really think of how this stuff is going to help students practice safe sex, I'm referring in particular to the vocab part.

Might help them when they go to the doctor though.

I dunno man, I understand your point but personally I am very skeptical that anyone uses those big fancy terms at the doctors. But that's just me.

Could be because doctors know their patients don't understand, maybe if they understood by being educated, then they would.

 

[320 Years of History]

Sigh -.- Why not check out the slide show and find out?

I had a look and much of it is stuff that you'll never realistically need to know.

Could you give me an example?

"In Grade 5, students will identify the parts of the reproductive system, and describe how the human body changes during puberty. They will expand their vocabulary with words like cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, endometrium, and clitoris, as well as scrotum, urethra, testicles, prostate gland, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens." -Slide 5

I can't really think of how this stuff is going to help students practice safe sex, I'm referring in particular to the vocab part.

Might help them when they go to the doctor though.

I dunno man, I understand your point but personally I am very skeptical that anyone uses those big fancy terms at the doctors. But that's just me.

Trust me, doctors do try to educate their patients, particularly in this era of consultative medical practice where doctors (whenever possible) provide options and leave the choice up to the patient.

BTW, some people do use those terms when it's their "big fancy term" that's not working right or will be operated on. Folks may not know or recall them from school, but once they do, they use them.

 

[phoenyx]

I'm pretty sure sex ed generally isn't about "getting it on", laugh . It's about understanding how we reproduce, why, when to do it, and how to avoid doing it. I also think it'd be great if they could talk to teens about romantic relationships in general. There's so much more to them then whether or not to have sex.

I don't think teaching kids about romance really is a public health issue. It would be crossing the line into "wasteful spending town" for me.

Personally, I think it would be a very good thing for schools to highlight the positive aspects of sexual relationships, as well as to emphasize that relationships don't need to involve sex, especially at a young age. There is also the need to avoid what has been called "rape culture". Wikipedia introduces the term like this:
**In feminist theory, rape culture is a setting in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality.[1][2]The sociology of rape culture is studied academically by feminists. There is disagreement over what defines rape culture and as to whether any given societies meet the criteria to exhibit rape culture.[3]

Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by some forms of sexual violence, or some combination of these.[4] The notion of rape culture has been used to describe and explain behavior within social groups, including prison rape, and in conflict areas where war rape is used aspsychological warfare. Entire societies have been alleged to be rape cultures.[3][5][6][7][8]

Evidence suggests that rape culture is correlated with other social factors and behaviors. Rape myths, victim blaming, and trivialization of rape have been found to be positively correlated with racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, classism, religious intolerance, and other forms ofdiscrimination.[9][10]**

Source: Rape culture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Something that I think most people would agree should be avoided before it begins in the younger generations...

But rape is not pervasive nor normalized

That remains a matter of debate...
We Can't Admit America's Rape Culture Is As Pervasive As India's - The Establishment

nor trees red lightly in any western country I can think of.

That phrase doesn't make sense to me. Could you explain it?

If you don't believe me you can go out and try your hand at it.

What is it you think I don't believe and what is it I can try my hand at?

And the purpose of the class isn't really to highlight positives or to promote fringe groups' ideas, the purpose should merely be to improve the public's health and safety and drive down the costs associated with providing care for those who make poor decisions. Besides, you can't really teach love and all that jazz. Such a deep and powerful emotional concept is discovered on one's own.

To be honest, I think it'd make more sense to call sex ed sexual relationship education. The mechanics of human reproduction, while certainly interesting, is only a subset of a march larger subject, that of how people interact sexually with each other. Most people would agree that sexual interactions should be between 2 consenting individuals, but there are still those in the U.S. who don't even think that consent is always required, let alone enthusiastic consent, even within the legal profession. Take the following example...
Oklahoma court: oral sex is not rape if victim is unconscious from drinking

Trees red was a typo of "treated." Thanks iPhone. Anyway, the case you cited was a tragic miscarriage of justice ethically but legally the correct decision was made due to the fact that the wording of the law was simply put...awful.

You're actually making my point for me. The article does as well. Quoting:
**
But several legal experts declined to fault the appeals court, saying instead that the ruling should be a wake-up call for legislators to update Oklahoma’s laws.

Michelle Anderson, the dean of the CUNY School of Law who has written extensively about rape law, called the ruling “appropriate” but the law “archaic”.

“This is a call for the legislature to change the statute, which is entirely out of step with what other states have done in this area and what Oklahoma should do,” she said. “It creates a huge loophole for sexual abuse that makes no sense.”

Jennifer Gentile Long, who leads a group, AEquitas, that guides prosecutors in sexual and domestic violence cases, agreed. She said the Oklahoma law was an example of a gulf that still exists in some places between the law and evolving notions around consent and sexual agency.

Oklahoma has a separate rape statute that protects victims who were too intoxicated to consent to vaginal or anal intercourse, Long noted. But “there are still gaps in the ways laws are written that allow some cases to fall through the cracks,” she said. “This case” – because it did not involve vaginal rape but an oral violation – “seems to be one of them”.**

The problem would seem that most people in Oklahoma seem unaware of the laws concerning sexual consent when it comes to oral violation. This is truly tragic, but would not be the case if the educational system was at the vanguard of teaching its youngsters concerning the way the system works, forcing politicians to deal with such archaic laws.

 

[Pilate]

I don't think teaching kids about romance really is a public health issue. It would be crossing the line into "wasteful spending town" for me.

Personally, I think it would be a very good thing for schools to highlight the positive aspects of sexual relationships, as well as to emphasize that relationships don't need to involve sex, especially at a young age. There is also the need to avoid what has been called "rape culture". Wikipedia introduces the term like this:
**In feminist theory, rape culture is a setting in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality.[1][2]The sociology of rape culture is studied academically by feminists. There is disagreement over what defines rape culture and as to whether any given societies meet the criteria to exhibit rape culture.[3]

Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by some forms of sexual violence, or some combination of these.[4] The notion of rape culture has been used to describe and explain behavior within social groups, including prison rape, and in conflict areas where war rape is used aspsychological warfare. Entire societies have been alleged to be rape cultures.[3][5][6][7][8]

Evidence suggests that rape culture is correlated with other social factors and behaviors. Rape myths, victim blaming, and trivialization of rape have been found to be positively correlated with racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, classism, religious intolerance, and other forms ofdiscrimination.[9][10]**

Source: Rape culture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Something that I think most people would agree should be avoided before it begins in the younger generations...

But rape is not pervasive nor normalized

That remains a matter of debate...
We Can't Admit America's Rape Culture Is As Pervasive As India's - The Establishment

nor trees red lightly in any western country I can think of.

That phrase doesn't make sense to me. Could you explain it?

If you don't believe me you can go out and try your hand at it.

What is it you think I don't believe and what is it I can try my hand at?

And the purpose of the class isn't really to highlight positives or to promote fringe groups' ideas, the purpose should merely be to improve the public's health and safety and drive down the costs associated with providing care for those who make poor decisions. Besides, you can't really teach love and all that jazz. Such a deep and powerful emotional concept is discovered on one's own.

To be honest, I think it'd make more sense to call sex ed sexual relationship education. The mechanics of human reproduction, while certainly interesting, is only a subset of a march larger subject, that of how people interact sexually with each other. Most people would agree that sexual interactions should be between 2 consenting individuals, but there are still those in the U.S. who don't even think that consent is always required, let alone enthusiastic consent, even within the legal profession. Take the following example...
Oklahoma court: oral sex is not rape if victim is unconscious from drinking

Trees red was a typo of "treated." Thanks iPhone. Anyway, the case you cited was a tragic miscarriage of justice ethically but legally the correct decision was made due to the fact that the wording of the law was simply put...awful.

You're actually making my point for me. The article does as well. Quoting:
**
But several legal experts declined to fault the appeals court, saying instead that the ruling should be a wake-up call for legislators to update Oklahoma’s laws.

Michelle Anderson, the dean of the CUNY School of Law who has written extensively about rape law, called the ruling “appropriate” but the law “archaic”.

“This is a call for the legislature to change the statute, which is entirely out of step with what other states have done in this area and what Oklahoma should do,” she said. “It creates a huge loophole for sexual abuse that makes no sense.”

Jennifer Gentile Long, who leads a group, AEquitas, that guides prosecutors in sexual and domestic violence cases, agreed. She said the Oklahoma law was an example of a gulf that still exists in some places between the law and evolving notions around consent and sexual agency.

Oklahoma has a separate rape statute that protects victims who were too intoxicated to consent to vaginal or anal intercourse, Long noted. But “there are still gaps in the ways laws are written that allow some cases to fall through the cracks,” she said. “This case” – because it did not involve vaginal rape but an oral violation – “seems to be one of them”.**

The problem would seem that most people in Oklahoma seem unaware of the laws concerning sexual consent when it comes to oral violation. This is truly tragic, but would not be the case if the educational system was at the vanguard of teaching its youngsters concerning the way the system works, forcing politicians to deal with such archaic laws.

Time to whip out a quote. "God gave man two heads. A big one and a little one but only enough blood to use one of the heads at any given moment." That kid wouldn't have cared about what he had learned, at least not at that point in time.

 

[320 Years of History]

As long as we are on this topic of sex education....

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any posts expressly addressing the types of things that kids and adults need to understand well before engaging in sexual activity. One thing that comes to mind is HPV.

• Males and females can get it.
• HPV can cause warts in places nobody wants to see a wart.
• HPV can cause cancer.
• HPV is highly contagious and sexually transmittable as well as non-sexually.

For more about HPV, read this:

• Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
• HPV and Cancer

Now while learning about things like HPV and other diseases that are sexually transmittable, scaring the be-Jesus out of kids with that sort of information isn't the most important message delivered by teaching them about those afflictions. The most important message that every person needs to learn about sex is the message about taking full ownership and personal responsibility for one's own safety and enjoyment.

• It's one's responsibility to know one's own health situation.
• It's one's responsibility not to spread one's own diseases to others.
• It's one's responsibility to scrutinize the people with whom one will have sex and/or take precautions to make sure one neither is at risk due to another's irresponsibility nor puts others at risk by being irresponsible oneself.
• It's one's responsibility to understand that one must do those things and if one cannot do them sufficiently, one should instead refrain from participating in the activity. (Think of this as the sexual application of the saying, "It's not cool to not know what you are talking about." It's not cool to do something voluntarily when you don't know what you are doing.)
• It's one's responsibility not to impregnate a woman when one is unprepared to handle the consequences of that pregnancy. (Yes, that applies to adults as well. It means that even as an adult, if one has no business having a third child, one should not do that which making a third child a very real possibility.)
• It's one's responsibility not to become pregnant if one is unprepared to handle the consequences of that pregnancy. (Yes, that applies to adults as well. It means that even as an adult, if one has no business having a third child, one should not do that which making a third child a very real possibility.)

Readers of this post can surely glean that IMO the most important thing that sex ed can teach is not about how the reproductive system works, or how to have good, enjoyable or safe sex or even the range of activities that are sex. The most important thing kids/people need to learn is how and where to find the strength and courage to be personally responsible about whatever sexual activity in which they engage. Once young people truly get that message, they will do just fine with all the rest of what has to do with sex.

 

[phoenyx]

As long as we are on this topic of sex education....

I'm surprised that I haven't seen any posts expressly addressing the types of things that kids and adults need to understand well before engaging in sexual activity. One thing that comes to mind is HPV.

• Males and females can get it.
• HPV can cause warts in places nobody wants to see a wart.
• HPV can cause cancer.
• HPV is highly contagious and sexually transmittable as well as non-sexually.

For more about HPV, read this:

• Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
• HPV and Cancer

Now while learning about things like HPV and other diseases that are sexually transmittable, scaring the be-Jesus out of kids with that sort of information isn't the most important message delivered by teaching them about those afflictions. The most important message that every person needs to learn about sex is the message about taking full ownership and personal responsibility for one's own safety and enjoyment.

• It's one's responsibility to know one's own health situation.
• It's one's responsibility not to spread one's own diseases to others.
• It's one's responsibility to scrutinize the people with whom one will have sex and/or take precautions to make sure one neither is at risk due to another's irresponsibility nor puts others at risk by being irresponsible oneself.
• It's one's responsibility to understand that one must do those things and if one cannot do them sufficiently, one should instead refrain from participating in the activity. (Think of this as the sexual application of the saying, "It's not cool to not know what you are talking about." It's not cool to do something voluntarily when you don't know what you are doing.)
• It's one's responsibility not to impregnate a woman when one is unprepared to handle the consequences of that pregnancy. (Yes, that applies to adults as well. It means that even as an adult, if one has no business having a third child, one should not do that which making a third child a very real possibility.)
• It's one's responsibility not to become pregnant if one is unprepared to handle the consequences of that pregnancy. (Yes, that applies to adults as well. It means that even as an adult, if one has no business having a third child, one should not do that which making a third child a very real possibility.)

Readers of this post can surely glean that IMO the most important thing that sex ed can teach is not about how the reproductive system works, or how to have good, enjoyable or safe sex or even the range of activities that are sex. The most important thing kids/people need to learn is how and where to find the strength and courage to be personally responsible about whatever sexual activity in which they engage. Once young people truly get that message, they will do just fine with all the rest of what has to do with sex.

I think you make good points. However, I think there are some counterpoints to be made to some of them:
It's not easy for minors to know their own health situation. This weakens the second, third and fourth points. I think that it -should- be easy for them to know their health situation. Anonymous clinics where they can simply find out the health situation would be good. Going to your 5th point, I agree that male minors of child bearing age should be responsible enough to not get a female pregnant. Unfortunately, in many states, there is abstinence only education, with predictable consequences...

**
Abstinence education: There's almost no getting around it. States with abstinence-only education have the highest rates of teen pregnancies.

In 2008, the Washington Post reported on a University of Washington study which found that teenagers who received comprehensive sex education were 60% less likely to get pregnant than someone who received abstinence-only education. A 2007 federal report found that abstinence-only programs have had "no impacts on rates of sexual abstinence," reported ThinkProgress.

In a 2011 study published in the journal PLOS One, researchers found a similar correlation between a state's commitment to abstinence education and pregnancy rates.**

Source: The States With the Highest Teenage Birth Rates Have One Thing in Common

 

[jwoodie]

Under a Clinton Presidency, children in public schools will be encouraged to Question their sexual identity and experiment with alternative life styles. This will lead to to a great increase in private school enrollment.