Category: Teen Topics
What has been your experience with sex education in the early years of high school? My peace jam group is doing this sex research education thingy, hard to explain, but just wondering. Has abstinance been the most reinforced precaution to the point where protection is overlooked?
And what are your views regarding teenagers handling sexual questions?
No no. When I was in high school, abstinence was looked down upon. Even the teachers said they knew everyone would experiment, and encouraged us to get protection. It could even be obtained in the school health clinic, and that was 14 years ago. The school nurse would also talk to impregnated girls about abortions, and if need be, help them to arrange them.
I was te weird one because I was for abstinence. I still am.
I guess it's been half and half, in my experience. Of course, they keep pumping the whole, "The safest thing is to not do it." But they did tell us about contraceptives and all that jazz. I guess professionals just have to accept that some kids are going to mess around no matter what they do, and some aren't, so it's best to give us all the facts.
As for kids asking questions, I'm all for it. My parents freaked out when I talked about sex as a kid, so, as aconsequence, I read practically everything I could get my hands on...I bet I know more about it than they do, rotfl. Just kidding!
Caitlin
Wow, really Jesse? Thats interesting, I've never heard of school districts looking down on abstinence. Did it lower or raise sexual problems? And Caitlin, I know what you mean about people trying to be all hush hush about sex...but it doesn't work like you said.
they always encouraged us to just use protection, and the more kids had the attitude of, "I'm gonna do it anyway," the worse it got. they didn't go into any explanation about protection methods, though, but simply informed us they were there.
I don't remember much. They had the health class in our junior high or high school (don't remember which), but I took it as a correspondance class so I don't really know how the school did it. Beyond that, most of what I learned about sex was because I decided to get text books and the like on my own initiative.
Brooke, my class wasn't so bad, but the following year, pregnancy rose considerably. I hear it's worse now, and you have to remember, I was raised in New England, the most liberal part of the country as a whole, and back then, sexuality was just opening up, so everyone was experimenting.
I don't remember taking any sex ed classes in school specifically, or at least I don't remember anything of it. But in high school, I took a class that encouraged abstenance at a Catholic school. I'm not sure whether it was part of my Catechism classes or whether I had or was just signed up for it. But I didn't mind and agreed with what we were learning anyway. I also took a sex ed class at Criss Cole, and although I did learn from it, the class didn't last long for me. The anatomy stuff was taught first, but when the lady mentioned about contraceptives and STD's, I told her that the contraceptives part wasn't important to me to learn because I didin't believe in that, so the class just ended after that completely (I mean for me of course).
The sex Education unit was part of my health class my freshman year of high school.
Didn't think of that one. *smile* Yeah, I had a unit on that also in my high school health class. The teacher didin't emphasize on it though, he just went thru it with us like any other chapter, I don't remember him talking much at all about it.
We were suppose to have one, (for those whose parents signed permission), but it never happened, and my mom even signed permission for it. From what I heard from other years that had it, it was all "it's a big no no...".
Wow. I went to school in New England too and we were definitely encouraged to practice abstenance. lol This girl in the 6th grade got pregnant and it was a shock to all of us in middle school. We couldn't imagine having a child at our age then. lol We always did calculations on how much a kid would cost us with the kind of income we'd be getting by working at McDonalds or something like it and it was not enough. lol They did teach us about birth controll and condoms but abstenance was definitely the way to go. lol We spent considerable time on STD's and I think a lot of my peers were disgusted by a lot of the pictures to be a bit more caucious when asked to have sex with a person they didn't know well. But we also did learn about free clinics too so students wouldn't be lost if they chose not to follow the abstenance rule. So overall, I think I had a pretty good education. I never asked questions in class though. haha If we had a question about something, we had to write it on a piece of paper and drop it in a box. I would have had to ask a friend to write the question down and that was too embarrassing. So I ended up taking out books from the library if I wanted to know something. Hope this helped. haha
Michelle
We were tought both safe sex and abstinence in health during high school. The only thing they did, which I think was wrong, was separating the girls and the boys for some of it. My mother is very supportive of me learning this kind of thing and once I hit college, I sort of became obsessed with looking up all sorts of safe sex things, from female condoms to dental damns to other forms of birth control, as well as sex toys. I had intercourse for the first time when I was 19 and used a male condom. I think it's very important for teens to feel comfortable with their bodies and to be unafraid. They need to be taught these forms of protection and also the consequences if they don't use them, such as stds. Michelle, I love that idea of calculating pregnancy and living costs. It can really open your eyes to reality. Anyway, Caitlin made a very valid point in post 3. However, I also think that masturbation, and maybe even adult toys, should be discussed as possible alternatives to sexual intercourse. The former definitely helped me until I was emotionally ready for more.
They can't discuss masturbation and sex toys in high school. The parents would go mental.
Well, the toys I can understand, since they're technically for people over 18. But masturbation is another thing. I think if it were promoted as a healthy and safe alternative to intercourse, plus as a stress-reliever in general, there would be alot less problems in the world. Of course, there should be a conscent form, as with the regular sex ed class, but for those open minded enough, it could be very enlightening. But I must admit it would be kind of interesting to teach, remaining clinical and finding ways to explain it without any inappropriateness.
Smile! Lol! Well I guess sex ed for me was really descriptive. I couldn’t believe it when I saw what they were going to show us in class. They had life size dolls. I was shocked and a little bit in barest. They showed the totally blind kids how to do missionary, and actually showed them how to have sex. And then at another school they did split the girls and guys up for showing how to put on a condom and then we switched places and did the guy stuff and the guys had to learn how to put a tampon in smile lol! I guess you can say I had a good experience.
sex ed was always halarious..i had sex ed in like junior high and they basically told us what kind of protection to use and stuff like that but of course after that they'd say "the only way to not get an STD or get pregnant is to not do it, so be wise" speach and such. but it was weird, we did the whole condom on a banana thing, the tampon thing lol and stuff i don't remember. our teacher was pure jokes though, haha that was the best part. As awkward as it was sometimes, (they kept the boys and girls together), it wasn't a bad experience.
I think schools should emulate what posts 16 and 17 were talking about. It'd make the subject less taboo and scary for people i think, and not have so many people learning from hearsay from what their friends tell them. I remember a couple friends of mine (girls actually) asking me about such things because they really hadn't been told much of anything. I'm sure that probably happens a good bit, having to talk to friends because people just aren't given much information. And how much information do you think people get from their friends that's wrong that way?
I too love the 16 and 17. Great ideas, especially cause both sexes had to learn what the opposite sex has to go through and do etc. I've been approached by a few people and asked to give information. Fortunately, I had the right answers, but I cringe at those who get things from people who don't. One of my friends told me that he grew up in the south, in Alabama. One of the girls in his class (I don't remember the grade, but I think it was high school) went crying to her mother and told her she thought she was pregnant. When the mother asked why, she said it was because she kissed a boy. My friend is in his early 50's, so it could be because of the times, but even so. I find that a bit frightening. This time, it was really innocent and a little funny, but it could go the other way. I also know of someone from today who's middle-school-aged daughter got propositioned by an older boy who asked her to perform oral sex on him. Fortunately, she was smart enough to go home and tell her mother and didn't do it. The boy was later found with a few younger girls in the basement. He had told them that this wasn't really sex and that they didn't have to worry about anything. So they probably thought they were safe from disease etc.
I'd recommend getting a book entitled The Complete Idiot's Guide To Amazing Sex by sari Locker. This is available through the National braille Press, but I'm not sure if you can find it as an e-book or not. That'll tell you everything you need to know. lol seriously, it's sitting on my bookshelf right now. I got it as a graduation present from a person who will remain anonymous.
Ooo, a sex book! Must have. *smile*
I think safe sex and protection should be taught. Tiffanitsa, I totally agree with u about masturbation being an alternative to sex. Sex ed in health was to say the least embarrassing as hell for me. At a camp at the blind school over the summer of my 8th grade year, they split the boys and girls up. Um... let's just sssay they showed the girls how to have sex with their hands. It was... really complicated to explain and it's a memory I'd rather forget. Lol.
I took sex ed in high school. I signed up for a class that talked about stuff like teen pregnancy, stds, and a lot of other toics. As an asignment theteacher madeus take home dolls tat actedlike real babes. You had to feed it cange, and everythin. Actually most people took thedoll whare youjust put thekey in it's bac and tued it. I tok the doll whare you had to eed change,ock, ad burp it. I feel that that doll gave yopu a bettr expeince and a better feelfo whatakig careof rea baby waslike.
LOL, that brings back bad memories. I spent 3 weeks; I think it was 3 weeks, my senior year at a school for the blind to learn computers. I normally went to public school...Anyways, while there I signed up for the doll. I was suppose to only have it 48 hours, but ended up having it 96...I was dead exausted afterward. Because I'd always wanted to be a mom my teacher set it on collicky and left it with me an extra 2 days, but it didn't change my mind as I already knew what taking care of babies was like...Younger siblings. Anyways, it was an experience never the less, and the thing about masterbation...I think it's a great idea. I think even the sex toys should be considered a great idea, but with today's society; at least in the US, it ain't going to happen. I personally think that each person should be tought the facts and so forth, and then be allowed to make their own decisions. We put to much focus on right; (abstenance, etc), and wrong; (sex before marriage, masterbation, etc), and not enough attention is given to helping someone make wise decisions. Also, I personally don't think there is a right or wrong with sex. I think what ever makes all participants feel good and hurts no one is fine...
The boys and girls were separated when we took sex education. The first, very elementary course, was given in Grade 6. Luckily, masturbation was mentioned in the book, though the teacher didn't get much into it in class. It was relieving to see it there, as I was discovering masturbation, and it validated my feelings about it, namely that it is safe and normal, so, as Tiffany stated, it was something that helped me for many years until the dawn of adulthood. It is a shame that it hadn't been presented to the others on here. Other than that, abstenance, and also safe sex, were given fair mention and voth valued in our courses. Sounds like I was the fortunate one here.
Wow! They actually mentioned masturbation in your book? Cool! As for the baby doll I think that's a wonderful idea, and should be done more often. My school actually had it too, but I didn't take the class for it. I thought the only ones they made were the ones with the keys. Guess you lern something new every day.
It was mentioned, and the class came just at the time I was starting to experiment. The book said, and I remember the quote, it is harmless unless carried to extremes. So away I went, often and proud, with the hands down in that region. Away I went and, in fact, away I still often go. LOL I never thought sex education courses would not mention that subject. I took that for granted, especially since teens are experimenting anyway with their bodies. It would be nice to validate masturbation for them.
*huge smile* Especially for women. It's not just a male thing, but I bet there are alot of teens who don't know that.
Yes, I bet there are. Until I got older and some female friends told me that they are heavy masturbators, I assumed it was mostly a male thing. It would be good for teen girls to know that they are not alone, which should be reassured in the school sex education programs.
you know? I always find it funny when people used to try to tell me that masturbation would make me blind. What else would they say if I was already blind? Anyway, the same story: The first thing we ever did was when we watched a film talking about it but then the problem with most documentaries and such enforce and overlook protection. I wonder why they don't explain the better side of sex instead of the darker side... and then everyone freaks out and is not willing to try it. Indeed there are many things that might go wrong... but the bottom line of it all is, if you are doing something, you gotta live with it. abortion? fine, but then you gotta live with it. Got pregnant? the same thing applies.
We went only over the body parts of it, and stds. That was it. I did the doll thing in Homec class in Middle school.