Possible sexuality poll?

[Cataclysm]

When I was 8 my mom went to the library and checked out books about sex and let me read them.

OKAY YOU WIN.

[Servo]

Grade 5 (11-years-old) was when I first had "health education" (didn't just cover sex but also puberty, growing up etc.), with little lessons through out the rest of primary and high school, culminating to the point that we watched a video of a live underwater birth.

[anti-nonsense]

I was in grade 5 or 6 when we had a basic talk about puberty and some other stuff, I don't remember much about that, my parents got me a picture book when I was 6 or 7 that explained the basics of sex and babies, and a book that went into detail about periods and sex and stuff when I was 11.

[Vene]

While we're at it, I think we should also talk about Chromosome disorders, especially Turner's and Klinefelter's if we're talking about gender as well.

How about we wait until they know what a chromosome is first. But I do remember being taught about those in high school biology.

I didn't have anything until 6th grade. And then not very much after that.

Eh, it was enough for me.

SHIFT KEY IS SUPERIOR!

You don't have sex anyway, you won't admit your love of Harley, you are phobic of blowjobs, and you think your penis shoots lightning. You are a terrible example.

[TheL]

OK, I think I need to give the survey, as I have written it thus far, in its entirety.  Bear in mind that this is intended to do the following:

1. Get a feel for what the average person expects sex ed to teach.
2. Get feedback from teens on how much they actually want to know.
3. See how much age and religion tend to affect point 1.
4. Show that nobody actually wants to teach 5-year-olds "this is how you have gay sex."

This is not about the guidelines as they exist.  This is about what the person interviewed believes should and should not be among those guidelines.

The following are potential topics in sex education at various levels.  Indicate whether you feel each one should be:

Mandatory: All students in all schools MUST learn this topic. Parents and religious authorities are expected to teach students whether any particular act is moral or immoral; students are encouraged to ask them about this topic.
Optional--always available: Information on this topic MUST be available; however, students can opt-out of learning about this topic (or be opted-out by their parents) without any further pressure to learn it.
Optional--sometimes available: Individual schools decide whether to make information about this topic available.  No student is pressured to learn about this topic.
Not covered: Schools are not allowed to mention this topic in any way.  Students can ONLY learn about these topics from parents, religious authorities, or library/Internet research on their own.

Remember, this is about what you believe schools should provide information about, not about your moral stance on an issue, or about whether your local public schools do or do not provide this information.


A. Elementary School Level:

1. Babies are born from inside their mothers' bodies.
2. Babies are put into the mommy's body by a process called "mating" or "sex" which usually involves a man and a woman.  No further information about sex or what it entails is given.
3. If an adult tells you to take off your clothes in front of them, this is a bad thing and should be reported to a trusted adult right away.
4. If an adult tries to touch your private parts, this is a bad thing and should be reported to a trusted adult right away.
5. The biological mechanics of reproduction.
6. Different people are unique; you look just fine the way you are.
7. Some people have two mommies or two daddies.
8. Differences in primary sex characteristics (e.g. boys generally have a penis, girls generally have a vagina).
9. Difference in secondary sex characteristics (e.g. beards, breasts and the like).

B. Middle School Level:

1. Your body is undergoing changes as a result of puberty.  Here is a list of what these changes are, so that you know that what is happening to you is normal.
2. Different bodies are unique; the shape of your breasts and/or genitals is probably just fine the way it is.
3. The biological mechanics of reproduction.
4. What rape is, so that you can avoid committing rape.
5. What rape is, so that you can avoid being raped.
6. Human prenatal development.
7. How to have a healthy romantic relationship.
8. Pornography is a form of acting; real sex is not like pornography.

C. High School Level:

1. The biological mechanics of reproduction.
2. Types and failure rates of various birth-control methods, and what these failure rates mean.
3. How to use various birth-control methods.
4. How to access various contraceptives.
5. How to access abortion services.
6. Types of sexual intercourse, both same-sex and heterosexual.
7. What rape is, so that you can avoid committing rape.
8. What rape is, so that you can avoid being raped.
9. Sexual orientation and related issues. (e.g. same-sex marriage, adoption by gay couples)
10. Gender identity and related issues. (e.g. cross-dressing vs. transsexuality, intersex people, "genderqueer" people)
11. Abortion and related issues.
12. STDs and their transmission (this topic does not include methods of prevention).
13. Preventing the transmission of STDs.
14. Human prenatal development.
15. How to have a healthy romantic relationship.
16. Pornography is a form of acting; real sex is not like pornography.



Lastly, your current age:
- 10-13
- 14-17
- 18-25
- 26-35
- 36-45
- 46-55
- 56 or older

And your religious leanings:
- Roman Catholic/Eastern Orthodox/Greek Orthodox
- Evangelical Christian
- Charistmatic Christian (e.g. Pentecostal, Church of God)
- Unitarian Universalist
- Other Christian
- Orthodox Jewish
- Reform Jewish
- Muslim
- Buddhist
- Hindu
- Traditional Native American tribal
- Reconstructionist Pagan (e.g., Hellenismos, Heathenism)
- Neopagan (e.g. Wicca, Druidry)
- Atheist
- Agnostic
- Other

What kind of sex education did you have at school?
- Abstinence-only
- Comprehensive
- Other/not sure
- Sex wasn't even mentioned

Did/do your parents talk to you about sex during your teens?
- Yes, sex and dating relationships have been discussed
- Yes, sex has been discussed, but not relationship dynamics
- No, only dating relationships were discussed
- Sex and dating were not discussed in my home at all

[RavynousHunter]

Add me to the list of the folks whose parents taught them the basics of sex: where babies come from, how they get there, etc.  I think, in the ideal society, it should be the parents who do sex education...they (should) know their kids, they know what they respond best to.  However, since we don't live anywhere near an ideal society, its up to the schools to provide comprehensive sex education including relationships, sex, reproduction, contraception, protection, (in the later grades) abortion, STDs, and yes, abstinence.

I think I'll quote Joycelyn Elders (Surgeon General under Clinton, was fired for basically saying we should tell kids that its okay to masturbate) here: "I'm against abstinence programs because I really consider "abstinence only" child abuse."

[TenfoldMaquette]

I think kids should get a comprehensive, factual education on sex. My own education was slip-shod at best; I didn't know I had a vagina until I started bleeding out of it around age eleven, after which my mom shoved a poorly illustrated book on female anatomy into my hands and took me lingerie shopping. So, yeah, if we can have kids avoid that kind of mess, I'm all for it.