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A question about teaching abstinence in schools.

Zebulon

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A quick question to discuss, if you'd like.

If abstinence teaching is all based on scientific principles (i.e. avoiding pregnancy, avoiding STDs, etc) with (they insist) no moral bias involved, why don't they teach masturbation in those classes? Don't they think it would help with the whole abstinance thing if they offered a viable outlet for the hormones? It's been proven that it's not physically harmful and all... so why don't they teach it?

Just curious about opinions... you'd be amazed at the number of educators who wouldn't touch this with a 10 foot pole.
 
...well not to be a smart alec about this but..I think most teens already know about masturbation. Or perhaps I'm missing your point...but...I don't think I did.
 
V.I. Lenin said:
...well not to be a smart alec about this but..I think most teens already know about masturbation. Or perhaps I'm missing your point...but...I don't think I did.

No, that works into my point. Most teens know about it, but it's never actually "taught" to them. I'm not talking about HOW to do it (though there are courses for adults, primarily women, who benefit greatly from them), I'm talking about debunking the myths, putting a positive spin on it, that sort of thing.

If teens "know" about masturbation, don't they also "know" about abstinance? Why teach THAT, then? Why the preference, if not a moral one? And what's a moral preference doing in a public school?
 
Now come on guys everyone knows that abstainance doesn't work. The pregnancy rate among virgin girls only rises when they are educated in that way.
 
Zebulon said:
... why don't they teach masturbation in those classes?
Mercy mostly.

Could you imagine the person(s) who taught your sex-ed class teaching about masturbation?
 
Zebulon said:
... why don't they teach masturbation in those classes?

I'd be a tenured professor in about 20 minutes...
 
Simon W. Moon said:
Could you imagine the person(s) who taught your sex-ed class teaching about masturbation?

I can, because she did. She was talking about "mastication" as part of the digestive system, and a bunch of people laughed. She said "I said mastication, not masturbation" and the whole class went up. She though it such an interesting reaction that she totally changed up, and for the rest of the day, THAT'S what she talked about. One of the most interesting, eduactional classes I've ever had.

Busta... doesn't that fall under the category of abstinence? From a health standpoint it should, yes? It bypasses all the dangers of sex that they bandy about...
 
asmith555 said:
Now come on guys everyone knows that abstainance doesn't work. The pregnancy rate among virgin girls only rises when they are educated in that way.

But we all know the Christians love pregnant virgins. ;)
 
Busta said:
But Mom, we really weren't having sex. We were just doing our masturbation homework together.........

:rofl

But I'd like to know if they really teach you abstinence in school. In our schools they prefer teaching the boys and girls about safer sex because they aren't silly enough to believe teaching abstinence will help.
 
I think that they should be taught about abstinence. I just don't think that only info about abstaining is sufficient.
 
nope said:
:rofl

But I'd like to know if they really teach you abstinence in school. In our schools they prefer teaching the boys and girls about safer sex because they aren't silly enough to believe teaching abstinence will help.

Well, let me think.....................ouch...........................ouch.........................
No. No school of mine ever taut abstinence. Some did try to teach a solid sex ed. coarse, but I already knew allot from the porno movie I found on top of the V.C.R. when I was 5.
 
nope said:
:rofl

"But I'd like to know if they really teach you abstinence in school."

Not "taught", but "teach"? As in currently? My graduating class was '97.

"In our schools they prefer teaching the boys and girls about safer sex....."

Knowledge of contraception is well and good. However, schools should *focus on "the consequences of", not "safer".

"....because they aren't silly enough to believe teaching abstinence will help"

Hmm.....schools can place whatever they like in their curriculum, but if the student does not wish to learn about, or follow the real life lessons of, abstaining, she will likely experience the consequences.
It is absurd to think that what a student learns is based on what the school wants to teach.
What a student learns is based on the students interests.
If a student wishes to learn about abstinence, nothing will stop her.
Even beyond sex ed., if a student has no interest in learning about something, she will not.
Your education is in YOUR hands and no one else's.
 
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Busta said:
What a student learns is based on the students interests.
If a student wishes to learn about abstinence, nothing will stop her.
Even beyond sex ed., if a student has no interest in learning about something, she will not.
Your education is in YOUR hands and no one else's.

That all depends on what sort of school we are talking about. I'm just in high school, and I believe that until I graduated from grade school I had almost no control over what I learned. I simply accepted everything that my teachers taught me as fact. However, now that I am in high school I find myself rejecting certain information.

I was taught to remain abstinent, but I went to a Catholic grade school, so that's no surprise. As for public high schools, I think that they should be taught everything regarding abstinence, including the dangers of sex, how to have "safe sex," and why its a good idea to remain abstinent. That way nobody is forced to believe anything and everyone is free to make their own choices based on all the information.

If we are talking about grade schools, abstinence should definitely be taught. Teach them strict abstinence when they are young, and then teach them alternatives when they grow up. If they are like me, most of them will stick with what they've been taught all along.
 
Busta said:
Well, let me think.....................ouch...........................ouch.........................
No. No school of mine ever taut abstinence. Some did try to teach a solid sex ed. coarse, but I already knew allot from the porno movie I found on top of the V.C.R. when I was 5.

In which they never use contraception. You obviously picked it up well.
 
..."I already knew allot from the porno movie I found on top of the V.C.R. when I was 5."

vergiss said:
In which they never use contraception. You obviously picked it up well.

LOL
You got that right Sista...........there wouldn't have been any need for contraception if I wasn't any good at it........thank you!
 
In the High School (Gymnasium) curriculum, abstinence should always be the primary focus, but the whole drawer of safer-sex modus operandi should also be... ahem... covered.

Just curious as to your views here... should sex education end at the boundary of abstinence and pregnancy prevention, or should it cross that judicious line to educate students on somewhat more taboo topics such as the morning after pill and Dr. Abortion? In other words, is the current sex-education syllabus robust enough just as it is... or is it in reality an arbitrary and impotent compromise to political correctness?


 
Children should be taught about the consequences of their actions.
Perhaps more importantly, children should be taught to accept the consequences of their actions.
These 2 lessons are the core of personal responsibility and personal accountability.

With these 2 lessons as the focus, I would have no argument agents any age appropriate sexual information that the Parents choose to afford their child.

The Parents must be in informed control.
It is the Parent, not the school, who is responsible for, and accountable to, the educational needs of the child.
 
I remember my english teacher when I was eight. She was about 24 & very attractive. I remember the first time I asked her how to spell a word, she leaned over my desk & wrote it in my notebook, at which point I could see her black bra. :2razz:
For some strange reason after that I found myself asking her to check my spelling more often. To think I was only nine !
I wish she had given me sexual education. She would have had my undivided attention during the practicals :lol:
Seriously though..
I think all sex education should be comprehensive. For warned is for armed as regards pregnancy & STD's & the need for fidelity in a relationship if it is to endure.
I also wish they taught one how to mend a tap or apply for a mortgage or how to rescusitate someone or first aid etc... useful things like that rather than the bulk of school education which seems really to be quite useless :roll:
 
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robin said:
I remember my english teacher when I was eight. She was about 24 & very attractive. I remember the first time I asked her how to spell a word, she leaned over my desk & wrote it in my notebook, at which point I could see her black bra. :2razz:
For some strange reason after that I found myself asking her to check my spelling more often. To think I was only nine !
I wish she had given me sexual education. She would have had my undivided attention during the practicals :lol:
Seriously though..
I think all sex education should be comprehensive. For warned is for armed as regards pregnancy & STD's & the need for fidelity in a relationship if it is to endure.
I also wish they taught one how to mend a tap or apply for a mortgage or how to rescusitate someone or first aid etc... useful things like that rather than the bulk of school education which seems really to be quite useless :roll:

I could not agree with you more.
 
robin said:
I remember my english teacher when I was eight. She was about 24 & very attractive. I remember the first time I asked her how to spell a word, she leaned over my desk & wrote it in my notebook, at which point I could see her black bra. :2razz:
For some strange reason after that I found myself asking her to check my spelling more often. To think I was only nine !
I wish she had given me sexual education. She would have had my undivided attention during the practicals :lol:
Seriously though..
I think all sex education should be comprehensive. For warned is for armed as regards pregnancy & STD's & the need for fidelity in a relationship if it is to endure.
I also wish they taught one how to mend a tap or apply for a mortgage or how to rescusitate someone or first aid etc... useful things like that rather than the bulk of school education which seems really to be quite useless :roll:


I half-agree and half disagree. I'm assuming that you don't mean that you would want to change the curriculum for eight-year-olds, even though that is the way that it looks. I think that the grade shool curriculum should stay the exact same. But I agree that as soon as high school arrives, math is pointless and english is no longer needed. I would keep history and science, but the others should all be optional.

As for the sex-ed thing, I stick with my argument in post 15, where I said that students should be given all the information so that they can make their own decisions.
 
I met the 1994 Federal and California State educational requirements for high school graduation 15 minutes into my freshman year. Instead of handing me my first class schedule, they should have handed me a Diploma. This comming from a low C student. I imagine that the A and B students met the High school graduation requirements in 6th or 7th grade.

My personal experience has shown me that the sole purpose of the modern Highschool is to collect taxes from the surrounding Neighborhood and Government.

Highschool, as it exists today, serves absolutely no practical or useful purpose to the student.

The average student knows basic English, Reading & Writing, Math and History by the end of 8th grade. I say that we remove the concept of 'Highschool' from our collective conscience and give "9th graders" a year or 2 of Vo-Tec. and then send them on their way. After 2-4 years of working they could afford their own collage education and attend collage at the same age they do now.

On top of that, the bulk of Vo-Tec. training is creditable toward collage. Add to the existing Vo-Tec. credits the number of years the student has been working in their chosen field and they're half way to a Bachelor's degree around the same time that they would normally be issued their Freshman Collage schedule.
 
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I pressume high school in the states is for 16 to 18 year olds. If so I agree. At 16 unless someone is going to be an academic or follow a career that needs more academia... doctor, scientist, solicitor etc then its time to learn vocational skills of use to an employer.
As for 8 year olds & sex education... Shame the only thing I learned from my English teacher was that black bras are sexy :)
 
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Ya, Highschool is for 12 to 19 year olds. I was 15 when I entered, so I was set to graduate when I was 19. However, I knew some Seniors who were 16. That miens that they started when they were 12.

United States Education is pretty F.U.B.A.R. What we need is a nice healthy dose of reality.
 
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