Originally Posted by ladydoc

You mean like home school them? That's fine. You think kids are not going to talk about what they were told in those public school classes? Of course they will. I am a realist. That is what will happen. You want them to hear it from an educator or on the street? You could certainly prepare them for the class and inject whatever religious or personal sentiments you have about the issue. BUT biology is biology and sexual plumbing is what it is. FACTS are what I want kids to learn. Morality is up to the parents.

We were taught he basics of human physiology when I was in school, but that's not was Dplong and the others are discussing. I have no problem with the school sticking with the science. After that, they're out of bounds.

Richie: (and I'm really glad this is staying civil) With your opinion parental rights, how should that be affected by kids who think things like:

1) You can't get pregnant the first time
2) You can't get pregnant "doing it standing up"
3) You can get pregnant by kissing.

...or.. one of my favorites, and an otherwise intelligent peer of mine actually thought this back in 1979:

4) Urinating and taking a bath afterwards is an effective form of birth control.

It is *astounding* the kinds of misinformation that is out there.

Originally Posted by djplong

Richie: (and I'm really glad this is staying civil) With your opinion parental rights, how should that be affected by kids who think things like:

1) You can't get pregnant the first time
2) You can't get pregnant "doing it standing up"
3) You can get pregnant by kissing.

...or.. one of my favorites, and an otherwise intelligent peer of mine actually thought this back in 1979:

4) Urinating and taking a bath afterwards is an effective form of birth control.

It is *astounding* the kinds of misinformation that is out there.

I heard most of those things when I was a kid and survived it pretty well. (of course, as a male, the info wasn't as critical)

The basic health courses we had when I was young covered most of that pretty well, in the sense that the causes and effects of reproduction were in the curriculum, but of course what your friends said carried a lot of weight also.

Teachers should ask for questions and answer them with the child's age in mind. If the question seems a little sophisticated for the age of the child, a teacher should delve into that a little more privately and maybe bring the parents into the conversation if warranted.

Teacher's need to stick to the age appropriate science. (I hope we don't have to get into a long analysis of what that means. It should be common sensical)

Good posting, Richie. I agree with you.

On the part where you say that the teacher would ask if students had questions that were not covered in the basic health class, I also agree that if the questions seemed too advanced for a child that age, that the teacher should go into it privately. It may mean that child is sexually active and needs counseling from someone they are comfortable speaking with if the parent is not available or approachable.

Originally Posted by RichieLion

I heard most of those things when I was a kid and survived it pretty well. (of course, as a male, the info wasn't as critical)

The basic health courses we had when I was young covered most of that pretty well, in the sense that the causes and effects of reproduction were in the curriculum, but of course what your friends said carried a lot of weight also.

Teachers should ask for questions and answer them with the child's age in mind. If the question seems a little sophisticated for the age of the child, a teacher should delve into that a little more privately and maybe bring the parents into the conversation if warranted.

Teacher's need to stick to the age appropriate science. (I hope we don't have to get into a long analysis of what that means. It should be common sensical)

Your post says a lot. Some I agree with.. But "..as a male the info wasn't as critical"?!?!? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and ask you to explain that because that's one of the problems we have with teen pregnancy - the guys thinking it's not really as mcuh THEIR problem as it is a FEMALE's problem.

Now, I had "health" classes in NYC in the 5th grade and we knew all the TECHNICAL stuff about reproduction - but EVERY kid in the class (from when we talked about it later) had the same question.. "What are the man and woman doing during all this?"

Now, about asking question, I have no argument with you there.. This is part of what I was asking about earlier for you to clarify your stand on 'parental rights'. There are those in the 'parental rights' group who don't want such subjects even *mentioned*.

Originally Posted by djplong

Your post says a lot. Some I agree with.. But "..as a male the info wasn't as critical"?!?!? I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and ask you to explain that because that's one of the problems we have with teen pregnancy - the guys thinking it's not really as mcuh THEIR problem as it is a FEMALE's problem.

Now, I had "health" classes in NYC in the 5th grade and we knew all the TECHNICAL stuff about reproduction - but EVERY kid in the class (from when we talked about it later) had the same question.. "What are the man and woman doing during all this?"

Now, about asking question, I have no argument with you there.. This is part of what I was asking about earlier for you to clarify your stand on 'parental rights'. There are those in the 'parental rights' group who don't want such subjects even *mentioned*.

"as a male.......": I only meant in the end, acting on any misinformation has a more palpable meaning to a female, ultimately.

"asking questions": I don't think the school should take on human sexuality in anything more than in a scientific application. I was referring to questions initiated by the student. The teacher will have to deal with that in a responsible and age appropriate way as I indicated in an above posting. This applies to your hypothetical 5th graders.

I assure you, Richie, we were not "hypothetical" 5th graders. It was my 5th grade class at P.S. 55 on Staten Island in New York City.

But I do appreciate the clarification. Thanks.

For what it's worth, none of us had the guts to ask the teacher the questions we had. We knew enough to pass the tests and that was the end of it. Of course, I'm only speaking for the guys in the class - not a lot of gender co-mingling there.