Thursday, October 23, 2008
What's It All About
So they have announced that sex education should be compulsory. I do have some problem with this. It isn't a moral problem or anything. And it is possible that I am looking at this at too superficial a level. But, it seems to me, as sex education has increased so have the problems with teenage pregnancy etc. I am not sure that education helps. In fact I am convinced it doesn't. I think that all that is happening is that we are telling children what they can do at an earlier and earlier age. By telling them about it we are inviting them to experiment. The two things seems completely linked to me. We need to let our children be children. 7 year olds being taught about intercourse, this seems ridiculous. And don't say this is what they are exposed to already, at this age they aren't. But once school exposes them to it then of course they will want to know more about what the teachers taught them. We are making children grow up too quickly.
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5 comments:
I'm not sure it is the case. We already have the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe without compulsory sex education. My understanding is that pregnancy rates are lower in countries where there is more education about sex. I'm assuming here that there is a link between rates of pregnancy and rates of sexual activity - which seems reasonable.
I don't think 7-year-olds are that interested in having sex but I think there's benefits to the information coming reliably from adults before it comes unreliably from their friends. And I don't imagine it's going to be full-scale explanations at 7 - I imagine they'll bring it in gradually. I imagine it would be taught more in the context of where babies come from than in any way something which children might be expected to do - talking about things mummies and daddies do isn't likely to make children think they should g out and do it.
I admitted I might be too superficial, but I still believe that there is some truth in what I say. I disagree totlally about the fact that hearing that mummmy and daddy do it isn't likely to make children want to do it. Children want to do what grown ups do, they want to emulate. And humans as a race are spectacularly good at the "try it and see" logic process, often with consequeces that are between interesting and dangerous. Kind of, stick a finger in it to see if it bites. And, as I understand it, 7 years olds will be taught about intercourse, although you only get to learn about abortion when you get to 11.
There are other reasons, starved of love children look to what they can find. Wanting to escape teenagers see that councils will give them a home.
But I still think it wrong to steal our childrens childhood.
I think children pretend to do what adults do - they'll play at make-up and they'll play at famillies but I don't think it means they want to go and do it. Aged 7, boys are either disgusting or the people you play football with.
I think explaining a little about sex ruins people's lives less than getting pregnant at 15.
Know I don't comment often but...Sex Education is about SOOOOOO much more than how to have Sex. The basics of reproduction are already taught in the Science curriculum - eg you need an male and a female cow to make a calf - and human reproduction is taught very simply and certainly not in enogh detail to encourge experimentation.
sex Education is about everything from personal space, building enough self esteem to know that the phrase 'if you love me you will sleep with me' does not have to be accepted etc ... OK could go on for ages.
The other point is that there are many many 7 year olds in our country for whom school is the only place they will ever learn any of this. At least it will be honest, accurate and delivered in a caring way. - Sex Education is already taught in most schools - this is not new. AND schools have a duty to share with parents everything that they are going to tell their children .
You should comment more often, your comments are always welcome.
And I believe that the government do teachers a disservice because it isn't explained to parents in better detail. So parents ar left wondering what is being taught to their children and not understanding why.
But the reports said that intercourse will be taught at 7 years old, and that definitely isn't being covered in science at that age over here anyway (but bearing in mind my daughter has a vet as a father she does understand the need for a mummy and a daddy cow to get a calf).
Of course I believe that the teachers will be honest and caring. The teachers don't come in to question. It is the policy and whether it is a good one that I question. At 7 years old a child does not need to know how to deal with the sentence "if you love me you will sleep with me" unless it is put in their mind.
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