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"School Surveys 7th-Graders on Oral Sex"
- Thread starter Skwim
- Start date
kai
ragamuffin
Jeez that's at that age where the boys will s****** and answer yes to everything
Levite
Higher and Higher
I can't say I'm surprised by the OP's article. Kids that young certainly have sex of various kinds. Not all of them, by any means, but far more than most people would want to accept, I think.
I myself was in 7th grade when I had oral for the first time, and in 8th when I lost my virginity. I'm not especially proud of that fact, and if I knew then what I know now, I'd probably have waited longer for the latter. But it happened-- it was relatively common in my area, and that was some time ago. And I don't regret the oral at all. It was a wonderful life experience.
I do think that the school overstepped its bounds by making the survey required and not optional-- that seems invasive to me, especially if they haven't notified parents first.
But it also doesn't do for us to get our Victorian knickers in a twist because our precious little lambkins might have been accidentally educated to the fact that their woo-woos could fit together. They know already. And that's not a particularly new phenomenon. Kids have always experimented with sex. They always will. Better a little decent sex education and calm non-judgmentalism than a flurry of condemnation and attempts to pretend youngsters are, or ought to be, pure as the driven snow until they turn eighteen.
I myself was in 7th grade when I had oral for the first time, and in 8th when I lost my virginity. I'm not especially proud of that fact, and if I knew then what I know now, I'd probably have waited longer for the latter. But it happened-- it was relatively common in my area, and that was some time ago. And I don't regret the oral at all. It was a wonderful life experience.
I do think that the school overstepped its bounds by making the survey required and not optional-- that seems invasive to me, especially if they haven't notified parents first.
But it also doesn't do for us to get our Victorian knickers in a twist because our precious little lambkins might have been accidentally educated to the fact that their woo-woos could fit together. They know already. And that's not a particularly new phenomenon. Kids have always experimented with sex. They always will. Better a little decent sex education and calm non-judgmentalism than a flurry of condemnation and attempts to pretend youngsters are, or ought to be, pure as the driven snow until they turn eighteen.
As a former teacher, I can verify this. I taught sex-ed to Grade 6 for several years. We had a question box, and yes, oral sex was one of the things kids questioned about. Not all, but some parents were just so Victorian hung up. They couldn't talk about it to the kids so the kids had to rely on their friends (a real accurate resource that is!) or the school. I answered the oral sex questions, and more. I figured if one kid wanted to know, then there were probably others.
Kids absolutely need this education, and schools and curricula writers need to know what kids know. The fact is they know a ton of stuff, and one of the very common misconceptions is that oral sex is safe. As far as I'm concerned the more education they have, the better. its saddening a few years later hearing pregnancy or disease stories from former students.
You do not have a right to ask children of that age sexual questions. I would be ready to have the school board and principle's head on a platter.
Yes, there are kids who do things like this at that age.
There are also children who are being robbed of their innocence by asking such things.
Yes, there are kids who do things like this at that age.
There are also children who are being robbed of their innocence by asking such things.
ninerbuff
godless wonder
??? Kids were having sex in the 70's when I was growing up! It just wasn't as "open" as it is now.no wonder kids are growing up so fast.
ninerbuff
godless wonder
Really? It's a wonder why many kids who get pregnant usually were misinformed because of parents that refuse to discuss sex with children at that age. 11 years old is not to young to make kids aware of how sex works.
They are robbed of their innocence by the kid on the playground who watches porn with his father. I understand that its sad, but I just don't know what the solution is. The parents whose values differ greatly than yours or mine are still going to do what they do, whether it be not supervising their kid at the computer, or just going along. Some people shift their kids to private schools in hopes from getting away from it, but that's just a shot in the dark. We had that in my school district, and I recall a family transferring their kids there to get away from the 'bad' kids. Little did they realise (they refused to believe) it was their kids making all the inappropriate comments at our school.
How far does innocence go? I knew kids that thought they were bleeding to death when they got their first periods because Mom didn't have the guts or common sense to explain it to them.
jarofthoughts
Empirical Curmudgeon
I don't really see the problem.
In Norway the pupils get their first (very clinical and very simplified) lessons in sex-ed in the fifth grade as part of their education about puberty.
This is of course expanded upon in the later grades with education about STDs, contraception and so on and so forth, although we place a strong emphasis on personal boundaries.
This survey was an anonymous survey as part of a larger study funded by the CDC for 7 and 8 graders, which means kids that are 12-14 years old, which means that they are right in the bracket where many have their sexual début.
This kind of information is vital to a community in which accurate information that can inform policy, education and funding is needed.
People need to stop thinking of the educational institutions as a static place in which one only educates a certain curriculum and start thinking of them as more of an ongoing process.
Teachers are professionals in a profession that requires a lot of adaptation and improvisation, and any good teacher will act as much as a researcher into what to present and how to present it in the most efficient manner.
They are not automatons that simply convey information.
This survey however, was not their, nor was it the schools idea.
It was a part of a larger study which is aimed at informing policy.
Again, education is a non-static process and in order to keep that process up to date we need data. And that data, believe it or not, has to come from the students.
Depending on exactly how the survey was performed (the article and the interview isn't very clear on that topic), I see no problem with this.
In Norway the pupils get their first (very clinical and very simplified) lessons in sex-ed in the fifth grade as part of their education about puberty.
This is of course expanded upon in the later grades with education about STDs, contraception and so on and so forth, although we place a strong emphasis on personal boundaries.
This survey was an anonymous survey as part of a larger study funded by the CDC for 7 and 8 graders, which means kids that are 12-14 years old, which means that they are right in the bracket where many have their sexual début.
This kind of information is vital to a community in which accurate information that can inform policy, education and funding is needed.
People need to stop thinking of the educational institutions as a static place in which one only educates a certain curriculum and start thinking of them as more of an ongoing process.
Teachers are professionals in a profession that requires a lot of adaptation and improvisation, and any good teacher will act as much as a researcher into what to present and how to present it in the most efficient manner.
They are not automatons that simply convey information.
This survey however, was not their, nor was it the schools idea.
It was a part of a larger study which is aimed at informing policy.
Again, education is a non-static process and in order to keep that process up to date we need data. And that data, believe it or not, has to come from the students.
Depending on exactly how the survey was performed (the article and the interview isn't very clear on that topic), I see no problem with this.
Mathematician
Reason, and reason again
Why not? Schools already survey students about bullying, drugs, peer pressure, etc. Why is sex so taboo in our society? Aren't we past Puritanism yet?
The very fact parents are outraged over something this trivial is a sign to me that schools need to be more involved in sex education. Kudos to the survey. I just wish my state of Texas wasn't so lenient on homeschoolers.
"Robbed of innocence" is a hyperbole. If a kid learns about murder or the Holocaust, he or she loses "innocence" too. I recall Obama backing a sex ed program that would have taught kindergartners types of inappropriate touching and what to do about it. People were outraged. In my opinion, those people upset are sick and deluded, not the educators.
Children are not, thankfully, the property of their parents.
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Yes, the unpleasant thoughts often occurred to me when parents refused permission, "What are they hiding?" In one case in our district, a child kept getting pregnant - eventually turned out to be her father was the father ... so yes its a signal.
Many Sages One Truth
Active Member
I see no problem. Kids fooled around in Middle School when I was a kid. I'm assuming they do now.
blackout
Violet.
I was totally unaware that they're surveying kids at schools.
What is the presentation of these surveys?
Do they tell the kids they have to participate in them?
Do they sit the kids down to take them,
without informing them that they do NOT have to participate
if they don't want to?
I don't care about the type of survey it is.
I just want my kids to know
they don't have to participate in ANY survey
if they don't want to.
Taking a survey cannot possibly have anything at all
to do with any class grade.
What is the presentation of these surveys?
Do they tell the kids they have to participate in them?
Do they sit the kids down to take them,
without informing them that they do NOT have to participate
if they don't want to?
I don't care about the type of survey it is.
I just want my kids to know
they don't have to participate in ANY survey
if they don't want to.
Taking a survey cannot possibly have anything at all
to do with any class grade.
jarofthoughts
Empirical Curmudgeon
Please read (re-read?) my post above.
blackout
Violet.
I have read your post again,
but still am unsure
whether the survey was presented as
optional, or manditory.
(not for the school, but for the students)
jarofthoughts
Empirical Curmudgeon
The point I was trying (and perhaps failing) to make was that some of the things we do at a school is not intended to help the education of the pupil currently sitting in the classroom, but rather to improve upon the whole process of education itself.
As I'm sure most educators will agree, education is almost as much about figuring out how to educate students as it is about educating students.
Thus, in their own small way, every teacher is also to a certain degree, scientists and researchers, and their subject of research is the metodology of education.
But in order to do that research we need data, which can be obtained through tests, observations, and sometimes, surveys.