Sex lessons for 10-year-olds? (1 Viewer)

[Rafy]

AMA seeks sex lessons for 10-year-olds

EXPLICIT sex education could be compulsory for children as young as 10 under radical proposals to curb Australia's "alarmingly high" rate of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection.

The Australian Medical Association's state budget submission, obtained by The Sunday Age, urges that mandatory, comprehensive sex education be introduced into all state schools. Topics such as anal sex, mutual masturbation and date rape would be part of the curriculum, and terminology such as "f--k" and "blow job" would be used in classes. The AMA also wants graphic pictures of infections, such as herpes and genital warts, to be shown to warn pupils of the dangers of unprotected sex.

Opponents fear the classes could "traumatise" young children who are not emotionally equipped to understand explicit material.

However, the AMA says a frank approach is urgently needed as the incidence of chlamydia among 15 to 19-year-olds has doubled in five years. Gonorrhoea and syphilis are also on the rise and the AMA says 16 per cent of 16 to 19-year-old girls say they have had an unwanted pregnancy.
[...]

So when is an appropriate age to begin sex education? What content is appropriate?

 

[Rainie]

I began my sex education in year 6. The content that was taught were how babies were made, reproductive organs..and I think that was it. It only ran for about four lessons at the end of the year. But sex education should be taught at year 7 straight away instead of dragging part I, II, III across the junior high school years. Learn it once and learn it properly.

They should be taught about everything, not just sex in general.

 

[kevinx2]

I learnt sex through a dictionary. Year 5 methinks?

 

[KFunk]

In year 5/6 (I was 11, others would have been either 10 or 12) we had a cross-sectional, anatomically correct picture of a penis inside a vagina. We were taught about basic contraception as well as women's sanitary products. There were also STD warnings if I remember correctly.

It was all fairly straightforward, factual information. I think it was good to have something so frank.

 

[inasero]

We were given the spiel about the birds and the bees in Year 6, when I was 11. I think it's great to have sex ed covering topics such as contraception, as we can't deny the reality of teen sex, but I think it's taking it too far to include graphic images. Illustrations should suffice.

 

[breaking]

 

[Will Shakespear]

anything to stop teen/unplanned pregnancy can't be bad

 

[gibbo153]

Traumatise them into never having sex.

haha yes.

reminds me of when stewie becomes president of the world and makes sexual intercourse a crime punishable by death because its soooo gross

 

[katie tully]

10 is stupid.

I'm all for pictures of dick cheese, but not until the kids have a level of maturity that will allow them to distinguish between unsafe sex. When they're 10, all they're going to do is associate sex with bad shit and we'll have a generation of sexually repressed adults who are scared of sex because they got shown dick cheese when they were 10.

GG AMA

 

[katie tully]

And by stupid I mean, yeah they need to know what a penis is and a vagina, and how babies are made, but they don't need to be traumatized with graphic photos of STDs, not at 10 anyway.

Maybe 14-15, when most pubescent kids are seriously considering sex.

 

[gibbo153]

this coming from the same society that claims children under 10 don't know what a crime is

 

[dance2urownbeat]

i think it would be better to teach kids to not be embarrassed about buying condoms. instead of showing them graphic std's, figure out a way so kids can get condoms without the embarrassing over-the-counter interaction, which i'm sure deters more kids than one may realise.

 

[addikaye03]

"Topics such as anal sex, mutual masturbation and date rape".... to Ten Year Olds I think a simple fucking birds and the bees is more than enough information for a young mind to handle. I think there are pro/con to some other aspects, and i agree to ^^, buying condoms should be taught to be a normal thing, i mean i know ppl now ( at 18) who get all embarassed bout it!

 

[roar84eighty]

Agreed.

 

[Sarah182]

I think what we learned in Year 6 was fine, what a condom was and what it did.
10 year olds don't need to learn about anal sex or date rape... they are only kids.

I mean today we have all sorts of restrictions on movies that we can watch as well as what movies a teacher can show in class yet they are going to teach kids this sort of stuff? It's ridiculous.

 

[banco55]

How many of the teenage mothers are dumb enough not to have known that if you have sex without a condom (or some other form of contraception) you might get pregnant?

The medical profession/Government's answer to every health problem is "more education" and of course more taxpayer funded bullshit programs. They have to accept that there will always be a hardcore element that are stupid, irresponsible and just don't give a shit. Every year these clowns want more funding for anti-smoking "education" for example. You really think there is anyone over the age of 12 in Australia who doesn't know cigarettes are unhealthy?

Spend the tax dollars/use the class time for something more useful.

 

[addikaye03]

How many of the teenage mothers are dumb enough not to have known that if you have sex without a condom (or some other form of contraception) you might get pregnant?

The medical profession/Government's answer to every health problem is "more education" and of course more taxpayer funded bullshit programs. They have to accept that there will always be a hardcore element that are stupid, irresponsible and just don't give a shit. Every year these clowns want more funding for anti-smoking "education" for example. You really think there is anyone over the age of 12 in Australia who doesn't know cigarettes are unhealthy?

Spend the tax dollars/use the class time for something more useful.

very much agreed. By the sounds of it it's a ridiculous idea. I mean how many 10 yr olds need to be warned about the date rape drug! yes i can see it now.. Some little sleezy 10 yr old slips the drug into a little girls prima or something at school, and all the 10 yr old girls hitting the clubs and leaving their drink unattended will decrease. I say leave it till highschool!

 

[Triangulum]

By the sounds of it it's a ridiculous idea. I mean how many 10 yr olds need to be warned about the date rape drug!

notice that the article doesn't say that the 10-year-olds are going to be learning about date rape, mutual masturbation, pictures of chlamydia, etc. it says that those topics will be covered at some time during the comprehensive program which starts at age 10 and lasts throughout high school.

of course the article blurs this distinction in its introduction, because the Age is a sensationalistic rag - and obviously the wingnuts at 'parents victoria' and the 'australian childhood foundation' haven't bothered to inform themselves about the proposal before mouthing off - but the fact that the education would be age-appropriate is demonstrated by:

"In some circumstances the use of educational images will be appropriate, for example to show older teenagers the effects of sexually transmitted infections."

i really don't understand why the whole sex ed for kids thing is such an issue anyway. i learnt about STIs, different types of sex and that sort of thing when i was in year 3 from a pretty frank book that my parents got me, and incredibly i managed to escape from that traumatic experience without psychological scarring, or even a single unwanted baby.

 

[jb_nc]

"sex lessons"

wtf

 

[coopert]

Childhood is not the same as it used to be. They are being exposed to much more sexual matterial from advertisers, the media, and from society in general.

I think the more education they have the better, otherwise we will see even more teenage pregnancy on the rise. By parents and teachers simply putting their heads into the sand about everything, that will only create an environment where youth will not feel comfortable with discussing stuff freely.

And besides, most kids these days know where babies come from by like 10. They see it in movies, in their music, and in magazines. I think it's a worry if we let the only information about sexual health and behaviour come from external sources. It's much better for them to learn about it in schools rather than from the Pussycat Dolls for example.

Yes, teenagers will always experiment with sex; but I think that if they are educated about all of the risks it holds, that they will at least think twice, and hopefully be safe about it and use protection.