Teaching kids about homosexuality?

[Pah]

So then the question should be "How should homosexuality be aknowledged in sex ed"

and hey now! Sex isnt more important than Physics... how the hell would you do it w/o Physics

Geez, I don't know. But I sure know Physcis won't keep the human species going. I don't think the laws of momentum would help

 

[Majikthise]

Actually, you do not have to have a great knowledge of physics to use it in daily life, it just happens.So why teach it in schools?

 

[Melody]

Unfortunately, there are many parents who will not discuss sex with their children, which is why the schools took it on. In Michigan, if you do not want your child to take the class, you can sign a paper to waive the class. The child would then be required to do some type of paper on the subject...which means the parent would have to get involved and talk to their kid.

Sex education was never about "how to have sex" but rather to teach kids what is happening in their bodies when they go through puberty, what happens when they do have sex and some of the consequences. This should not be a course on sexual awareness. In which case, they can do so without bringing up the topic of homosexuality at all.

Discuss the biological facts on physical changes that occur during puberty.
Discuss how babies are made.
Discuss STD's.
Discuss the fact that abstinence is the *only* 100% effective method of not getting pregnant or getting an STD and that while condoms help, they're not a guarantee.


I asked my 12 year old this weekend about what he learned in his "Life Skills" class and it appears I need to go down to the school. They did talk about homosexuality and his teacher put forth her opinion that it was wrong. That if God had intended same sex relationships, they'd be able to procreate. *SIGH* Putting aside my own ambivalent feelings about this subject, it bothers me that this teacher is promoting her own bias when she should be staying neutral.

 

[Green Gaia]

Hey how about this: Teach them to respect and be loving towards all people, and when they come to you and ask about the two guys kissing at the mall, or the lesbian parents of a classmate, you say, "Yeah, respect and be loving towards them too."

?? Too crazy??

 

[jewscout]

This is one of those instances when it should be something the parents should be teaching their kids...not the school...and if the school teaches your children something about homosexuality you don't like...i say...that's what you get for not parenting!
:sarcastic

 

[Green Gaia]

This is one of those instances when it should be something the parents should be teaching their kids...not the school...and if the school teaches your children something about homosexuality you don't like...i say...that's what you get for not parenting!
:sarcastic

OR unbiasedly give them both sides of the issue and *GASP* let them decide for themselves.

 

[jewscout]

OR unbiasedly give them both sides of the issue and *GASP* let them decide for themselves.

because parents obviously don't know how to raise their children...the system has to...
i don't believe EVERY school system is in the country is going to have identical "unbiased" information on the issue...you actually think there aren't teachers who are going to support one side or the other and aren't going to conciouslly or unconciouslly transmit that opinion to the students?

personally that's an issue i would like to personally deal w/ when it comes to my children...not have a school raise my kid for me

 

[prairie_girl]

ooops, i meant IS more important. ok, that's what I get for trying to post intelligently late at night. Sorry!

 

[michel]

because parents obviously don't know how to raise their children...the system has to...
i don't believe EVERY school system is in the country is going to have identical "unbiased" information on the issue...you actually think there aren't teachers who are going to support one side or the other and aren't going to conciouslly or unconciouslly transmit that opinion to the students?

personally that's an issue i would like to personally deal w/ when it comes to my children...not have a school raise my kid for me

Whoa! Brave words, Jewscout - you have my hopes and prayers behind you. I think that by the time we humans have learned how to be good parents, our children are starting to be parents themselves. A perfect Parent ? doesn't exist - like there's no perfect human being.

 

[jewscout]

Whoa! Brave words, Jewscout - you have my hopes and prayers behind you. I think that by the time we humans have learned how to be good parents, our children are starting to be parents themselves.

and, no disrespect to you michel at all, i think this is the kind of thinking that shouldn't be in our minds. We can be good parents...the human race has been doing it for thousands of years...it's in us all you have to do is listen to your instincts. You don't need to have the system or television raise your kid for you...my mother was a single parent, worked 2 jobs at time to help us get by...and she was a great parent and role model who was there for us.
i don't think we need to learn to be good parents, we just need to BE parents that's what is called for.
i don't consider them brave words...just common sense in my eyes

 

[prairie_girl]

what about not teaching children about homosexuality specifically, but teaching a message of tolerance to all people, which schools already do, but including sexual orientation in that? Isn't that a valid and useful message?
I think that, if done appropriately, and respectfully to other peoples beliefs, education on homosexuality is useful. Especially if tolerance and acceptance are taught to a group of children one of whom is already starting to feel something for other little boys or girls that they think is unnatural. Gay youth have a startling high rate of suicide. I think that educators and parents alike need to be made aware of this, and act accordingly. A gay child is better than a dead child for most parents, even those who are staunchly against homosexuality.

 

[Exis]

"School is for education... not for moral dictation..."

Kind of like abstinence only education?

"and not for use of homosexual debate or opinion"

By this, do you mean the teacher's opinion of homosexuals, or a homosexual student/teacher?

1 - All moral leans in regard to homosexuality
2 - All debate or opinion (such as debate over opinions)

 

[rainbowchristianqld]

at should kids be taught about homosexuality when they are in school? (In the poll you can select more than one answer.)

Does anyone believe that schools should not teach anything about homosexuality? If so, why not?

I'm personally all for teaching about sex AND sexuality in schools. One of the best examples I've seen was a course run by a school in Australia (which unfortunately has now been scrapped.. thanx to an intollerant parent) - I've posted the article below.

In the lesson, Dealing With Difference, students at a western Sydney public high school were asked to imagine they were 13 and growing up heterosexual in an environment where everyone else was gay – their teacher, tennis coach, guidance counsellor and even their family.

A text in the lesson also asked them to consider what they would do if they were invited to the school dance by someone of the same sex.

The material then referred to "girls dancing with other girls and boys dancing with other boys, holding each other close".

"What will you do if your date starts snuggling up to you and tries to kiss you?" the students are asked.

"What if they find out about you [that you're heterosexual]. They might throw you out or even beat you up – just for a laugh.

"Some people say that it's a sin to be a heterosexual. How do you feel when you hear people in your church talking like this?"

The text is taken from A Guided Journey by US author Brian McNaught who is known as the "Godfather of gay sensitivity training".

It was used as a guide to a lesson developed at the high school as part of the Year 9 personal development, health and physical education program.

The content deals with discrimination, harassment and vilification, aimed partly at helping students to empathise with the experience of growing up gay, lesbian or bisexual.

But an outraged member of the community sent a letter of complaint to Federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson.

The community member, who did not wish to be identified, said the document appeared to be an "ideological mish-mash without much definite structure". "It is . . . very sad that our standards have fallen so low that we have resorted to brainwashing and social engineering as an excuse for education."

I learned about homosexuality from TV. There's nothing stopping kids from doing the same, they might know more than you think...

The only thing I saw about homosexuality on TV when I was growing up was bits of the Sydney Gay/Lesbian Mardi Gras - and to be honest - it actually quite scared me. Not the kind of thing an (in the closet) gay teenager wants to try to relate him self with. (Well, it wasn't for me)

Sex education should be about the biological factors of human sexuallity.Religion is certainly a topic in historical teaching but you can carry the topic too far.

Sex/Sexuality education should talk about everything on the biological side as well as the the risks etc..

Children in most schools are given the choice to partake in R.E. (Religious Education) as well - I would think that this would be sufficiant (plus the Parents input) in regards to developping the childs own opinion on "Morality" etc..

Hey how about this: Teach them to respect and be loving towards all people, and when they come to you and ask about the two guys kissing at the mall, or the lesbian parents of a classmate, you say, "Yeah, respect and be loving towards them too."

?? Too crazy??

I could not agree with you More!

As well as that - I think a good idea would be a "Parent Sex/Sexuality Education" Course of some description. A LOT of parents are obviously very intollerant towards different people... Getting them to attend might be another issue though.

 

[Neo-Logic]

Kids should be taught what homosexuality is, but not taught whether or not it's right or wrong. That should be left to the kid for when he or she becomes older and is up to them to decide. I would rather kids learn the definition of homosexuality from school than from elsewhere where the definition and word becomes skewed and becomes replaced with such words as ***.got and what have you.

 

[almifkhar]

i don't think kids should be taught about sex in school in the first place. i think parents should be the ones to teach their kids about sex. i think it also depends on how old the child is for young children don't need to know anything about sex for they are innocent and this innocese should be charished.

 

[Jaymes]

If I learned about sex only from my parents, I'd have no clue how 99.9% of my sexual organs worked. There's no reason we should only learn about sex from our parents any more than we should only learn about biology or chemistry from our parents.

 

[BUDDY]

Makes you wonder how in the hell people ever had kids before the public school system. People are idiots unless the government tells them how to think, feel and react to society.

I really think the school system should stay away from the homosexuality issue all together. Debates on social issues, which is what homosexuality has become today, do not belong in the classroom, IMHO.

 

[michel]

If I learned about sex only from my parents, I'd have no clue how 99.9% of my sexual organs worked. There's no reason we should only learn about sex from our parents any more than we should only learn about biology or chemistry from our parents.

hehe Same here! - apart from which the classroom environment, where you are surrounded by your peers is a good place to learn; I think that a lot of kids are totally 'put off' by the thought of their parents having sex - that doesn't help.

 

[Prima]

what about not teaching children about homosexuality specifically, but teaching a message of tolerance to all people, which schools already do, but including sexual orientation in that? Isn't that a valid and useful message?

Schools already do that? Good god, what schools are you going to? Schools here make a completely pathetic and useless attempt.


Schools should definitely be taught about homosexuality in school with sex ed. Misconceptions about how gays are more diseased and crap like that are pretty common among adults who aren't in the medical field. I don't think it should be taught as a 'special section' it should just be incorporated into sex ed.

Children in most schools are given the choice to partake in R.E. (Religious Education) as well

Really? Where? that's cool.

apart from which the classroom environment, where you are surrounded by your peers is a good place to learn; I think that a lot of kids are totally 'put off' by the thought of their parents having sex - that doesn't help

Indeed, cringing doesn't help your listening skills very well Besides, you can show a curiosity about gay sex health risks to a teacher without the person explaining going "OH MY GOD!!! I don't know and I don't want you to know, either!"

If I learned about sex only from my parents, I'd have no clue how 99.9% of my sexual organs worked. There's no reason we should only learn about sex from our parents any more than we should only learn about biology or chemistry from our parents.

A lot of adults are notoriously ignorant...there was an article in the news a few months ago about a couple who repeatedly went to the doctor for infertility, but in actuality they had never been taught about sex - they thought just sleeping next to each other would make the wife pregnant. That might sound stupid, but actually, it's very sad.

 

[Yerda]

they thought just sleeping next to each other would make the wife pregnant. That might sound stupid, but actually, it's very sad.

But bloody funny, have you a link for that comic article?