Do you think that teaching children about sex in some way harms them, and if so, how?

[msc545]

[AgentG111]

No, give them all the correct information so they understand it and allow them to process and discuss with you. Hiding things and forbidding is why things have become wild.

[AngryCarl3]

Not at all. Children can't fly a plane but that doesn't mean they can't understand aviation in theory.

[msc545]

Very well said. Thank you. You expressed a very striking and important concept.

[AngryCarl3]

Thanks for MHO!

[goaded]

Sex education is important. Sex training on the other hand...

Seriously, age appropriate sex and relationship education is a good idea and not harmful. Start with empathy and relationships, being good friends, while they're still young.

You know, things like “social-emotional learning,” which Republicans renamed to critical race theory so they could ban it.

Apparently, helping students understand and regulate their emotions, cooperate with classmates and be more empathetic is a bad thing.

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-granbury-isd-school-board-courtney-gore

Sex education keeps teen pregnancies down, which everyone but Fox News thinks is a good thing.

"We still have 3.6 million births a year. But the problem is teens and young adults from ages 15 to 19."

https://www.comicsands.com/fox-siegel-teen-pregnancy

If they want people to have more kids, earlier, perhaps make it affordable, by increasing wages?

[msc545]

you have not really answered the question.

[goaded]

It will not harm children, if done sensibly. I thought that was covered by "it's important".

[msc545]

What is your definition of sensibly?

[goaded]

Whatever is scientifically shown to achieve the greatest good, I suppose. I'd leave it to the professionals (who take into account the views of stakeholders, but won't let the extremes dictate to them).

www.bioeg.de/.../

thesexhistory.com/germany-s-leadership-in-sex-education-since-1970-how-a-broken-past-built-the-world-s-most-effective-model

[msc545]

You need to define what you mean by the word "good" in this context.

[goaded]

Fewer rapes, teenage pregnancies, STIs.

[Anonymous]

In Middle School and Highschool health class taught me some important things like how to recognize rape, abuse, and different types of sexual assault or harm that can negatively impact the opposite gender.
Learning these truths and scenarios alongside by female peers helped bring much needed perspective. Now when people say misinformed notions, I can help educate and protect others that deal with this stuff from men and women. Because it isn’t just women who get abused like this, it also can impact men too.

I don’t think educating the youth these ‘offensive’ topics harms them, but I believe it can strengthen them. Imagine they are too shy to talk about an adult abuse situation they know about or are actively going through, too afraid to speak up but the school talks about what is illegal about it, who gets punished, the avenues to protect yourself and seek justice truly helps the student body not negatively harms them.

[MrChinaski]

Well it is harmful when Catholic priests teach it...

Seriously though. They are going to learn somehow. Some degree of information in schools seems useful, though there's no need for it to be explicit. I mean, what they really need to know:

Sex is a normal thing you will probably want to do some time and that's fine. Be aware:

- Pregnancy, consequences, prevention.

- STIs, consequences, prevention.

- Emotional impact of physical intimacy.

Respect other people's choices.

Class dismissed.

[MrChinaski]

Also, it depends what you mean by 'children'. This is relevant for adolescents, say 13 or so.

[msc545]

What is wrong with explicit knowledge? I mean, we develop explicit knowledge about how our teeth work, how our hands work, how the rest of our bodies work. Why not sex?

[MrChinaski]

I just don't think it needs to be in a school environment. Parents should be open to those conversations.

[msc545]

What is wrong with having it in any school environment? We teach biology and many other things in a school environment. Why not sex? I don't think parents can generally be deemed to have the knowledge or intelligence to teach sex in a way that is effective and appropriate to the subjects. Teachers, on the other hand, are professionals who are trained to convey knowledge to others. That is their profession. I would hope that teachers can teach sex as well as they can teach geography or biology or other topics.

[MrChinaski]

Well to start with, I don't know about the US, but the curriculum here is a Christmas tree that everyone has hung their own bauble on leaving very little time for the Rs, teachers are overworked, many already teach well outside their area of expertise and there is strong evidence that they do poorly, and in a system that is barely patched up with brown paper and vinegar you want them to take on an extra role?

Pragmatically, parents are going to have a different view on how much detail they want their children to know when, if at all ever. Schools should provide a social safety net of basic information.

[msc545]

I'm not sure that age is a good metric. I would argue that physical and psychological development are better metrics, although assessing those can be difficult.

[msc545]

I am keeping in mind that, in warmer climates like where I live, women usually menstruate at very early ages, sometimes approaching 8 or 9 years. Boys develop secondary sex characteristics at young ages too, sometimes at 8 or 9 years of age. I am not sure that the development of those characteristics is a good predictor of psychological development in women, but at least in boys it can be. All of this is very complex and something that psychologists spend a great deal of time talking and arguing about and also experimenting with.

[MrChinaski]

It turns out the strongest contraceptive has been the iphone. One in three 20 year olds have never been on a date. Birth rates are plummeting.

[MrChinaski]

I don't disagree with your biological point. But average age at first sex is like 17 and has been drifting higher not lower.

Some kids can do calculus at 13. I did. Some kids never will. The education system isn't remotely funded to meet children at their individual level of need.

[msc545]

I hear what you say about teachers being overworked. This is why I am in favor of specialist teachers, like a biology teacher or an English teacher, or that sort of thing, just like we have in college. That may not be possible from an economic standpoint, but perhaps if we here in the U. S. stop spending literally a trillion dollars plus per year on weapons, we can have a better education system. Hope springs eternal in this regard.

In regard to the views of parents, I believe that parents need to be educated on what is good for their children. They certainly are not experts on this by any means. I also understand that there are some parents that are just simply going to object to explicit education and for that sort of thing. If we don't make the explicit education mandatory, I suppose parents can educate their children at home with, I don't know, fish or chickens or something. When their daughters turn up pregnant at age 10 and their sons get some little girl pregnant at age 8 or 9, perhaps they will change their minds regarding this issue.

[slatyb]

It does not. Children used to frequently see animals copulating, It was normal. This notion of innocence is an invention. Innocence is just a euphemism for ignorance. If a child is old enough to ask, they are old enough to know.

[msc545]

I think depending on children to ask appropriate questions is a bad strategy because they frequently do not, or if they do, the questions they ask are off topic enough as to not be identifiable. Children need to be taught to ask questions as well.

[slatyb]

I completely agree -- children's curiousity and independent thought should be encouraged. Then they won't be afraid to ask questions.

[Spencer10]

It depends on what you teach them... teach them to be guiltily about sex and that sex is dirty will def be harmful.

[msc545]

So teaching them that sex is a normal function and it's the way that we reproduce would be okay with you?

[Spencer10]

At the appropriate age yes.

[msc545]

I see. So you think there is an appropriate age for this? If so, what is that age?

[Spencer10]

Hmmm... no expert but my gut tells me before puberty. at some point. Prepare them for what is about to happen.

[msc545]

@Jessica405 questions can be formulated long before they are actually asked. Those questions can torment people long before they are asked. it is better to anticipate such questions.

[msc545]

The thing is that sexual urges can begin as early as 8 or 9 years old and as late as 14 or 15. Anticipating it, as you suggest, would be a very difficult task. What might be a better strategy in your opinion?

[Jessica405]

I was always taught to be curios and to ask questions about any subject as soon as I had thought of them. Questions about anatomy were no different.

[msc545]

@Jessica405 I don't think the burden of asking questions should necessarily be placed on a child. I think that parents have a duty to instruct a child appropriately about bodily functions, including sexual functions. This is part of what being a person is all about.

[Jessica405]

There is a huge difference between "burden" and natural inquisitivness. If only more kids asked questions on any subject, we might have improved learning.

[msc545]

@Jessica405 people need to be taught to ask questions.

[Jessica405]

Exactly. Like I was.

[msc545]

@Jessica405 the term burden in this case is a rhetorical device and has no additional meaning past natural equivalence. in Equivalence, however, there is the implication that if the child doesn't ask the question, you should not volunteer the information, which I think is problematic.

[msc545]

To clarify, the last thing I said, I think that volunteering information is very important. Depending on a child to ask questions before you provide any information contains assumptions that are probably not usually met. Children tend to be shy.

[Sevenpointfive]

my older sister was 6 when she taught me at 4. you can teach it but it doesn't have any real meaning until the hormones kick in. it should be taught in 6th grade. a lot of girls have their first experience in 8th grade. guys not so much but some do. before then wouldn't harm them, but they aren't going to hold on to it. they might repeat the words for a month but they'll get over it. penis and vagina is the only thing they'll understand.

[Pterodon]

No not really. My sister and I were in elementary school and we knew and were curious about sex and pregnancy and our mother told us in great detail everything.

[beefcakebradybatson]

Is this 1926 or 2026 ?

[msc545]

Unfortunately, I think it's 1929.

[888theGreat]

The risks of sex

[msc545]

Sex has risks, absolutely, and those should be taught along with the joys.