[graciegirl]

The youth that I know are doing a pretty good job. We lived close to our grandchildren growing up and were very involved in their lives.

One of the things that help is having a good family and talking, talking, talking and helping them to find something that they do well so they can shine and find confidence in themselves and don't "fall in love" to get the attention they need, but even with that, the sex urge is powerful and always has been.

This is veering from the issue of condoms.

I think we need to teach the ethics we believe in, and try to adapt to the sea change a little and first of all protect our children by teaching them about what to expect from themselves, and from others, when they become sexually active. There is no moral directions that I know of or any need for any in the programs that schools teach that are directed at understanding sexual behavior and changes. They are scientific facts about how our bodies act.

Children are aware of sexual feelings much younger than we are aware of them being aware if that makes sense.

One of the classes in high school that my grandchildren took involved a baby doll that if you didn't feed it or rock it or show it attention it cried. I don't know how they did it, but you didn't literally feed it or change it but it would make noise if you didn't give it the computer prompts that mimicked those actions. Each teen was given the doll for 24 hours. The interior computer showed if the "baby's" needs were met.

Our granddaughter slept so soundly that the baby cried so loud that everyone else in the house was kept awake. There was a huge lecture in the morning, I remember being told.

Our grandson was up all night with the baby.

The classes that I know of that are taught by the schools I know of have been excellent, but parents can opt them out.

A class on anything is only as good as the teacher. It is a very sensitive area and the schools that I know of understand and support parents exploring the subject matter and how it will be taught and by whom. We had great schools where I taught and they were where our children and grandchildren attended.

In my experience, the class had to have a note from parents to take it.

It is my opinion that someone needs to talk to a child about the subject of human reproduction and sexuality and if the parents want to do it themselves, I support them completely.

Whatever works for each family.