Should human sexuality courses be reserved for college?

[Alceste]

Originally Posted by Dunemeister

If that were the whole picture, it would be.

Well, I suppose a Buddhist examination of the suffering of attachment could also be useful. []

[OutOfTime]

there you go, you guys had to bring religion into the matter. oh wait...never mind.

the avg teen is a sex expert nowadays huh? we have more hands on experience anyways

[LongGe123]

despite south park making fun of the idea in one of their hilarious episodes, I actually did start learning sex education from the age of 9, haha. In my school, thew first sex education classes were given to year 5 students, through educational videos - rivetting! haha

seriously though, it's important to BEGIN sex education at a young age, which does not mean you teach them all the graphic details or anything like that, but that you at least begin to lay a foundation for children on which to learn about the subject. I am really thankful for my education on the subject, since by the age of 15 or 16, we as a class could all sit around and discuss the matter in a perfectly mature way in a classroom environment. I don't see the big deal with starting the teaching at a young age because if you leave it too long, it just gets more and more difficult to do.

a long term course needs to be developed for all schools, starting with the basic foundation knowledge of the subject to be taught to children, building up to more advanced topics such as STDs, condom use, pregnancy and such for older students. The very idea that sex ed should be left until college is just ridiculous, and really is a terrible idea.

students should be able to be comfortable with discussing and learning about human sexuality WELL before they get to college age. Greater knowledge and awareness will lead to a reduction in the spread of STDs and a reduction in teen pregnancies, in my opinion.

in addition, and i suppose in response to that south park episode (funny as it is), i don't believe that education on the subject detracts from the meaning of sex. i think the dangers of no knowledge on the subject are far greater than the value of being naive and innocent. it's innocent and naive people who get eaten in the dog eat dog world. it's not like when sex happens people are going to start discussing those sex ed videos they saw when they were 11, and also, it's not like sex ed means that kids are going to start having sex - sex education can also very much include the idea of teaching children when is the right time to be thinking about it, under what circumstances/conditions etc.

here endeth the rant

[Guitar's Cry]

Originally Posted by OutOfTime

the avg teen is a sex expert nowadays huh? we have more hands on experience anyways

I still have to explain to some of my students why "pulling out" isn't a safe way to prevent pregnancy...

[gnomon]

Should classes on human sexuality be reserved for college or should they be taught at lower levels like high school or middle school?

Human sexuality should be taught approximately at the average age for the onset of puberty.

Why or why not?

Before stating why I should state what I mean about human sexuality. Basic biological development which includes hetero, homo and intersex. The latter has probably never been included in any sex ed course. It should be included because sexuality is more than just put this in that.

Should the classes be mandatory or electives?

Mandatory.

Remember, I'm talking about human sexuality. This would include gender issues as well. Not the Kama Sutra.

edit: And they should teach that abstinence only is a socially retarded.

[OutOfTime]

ice cream is the sex. teach them about ice cream.