Sexual Education In The United States

Triasco

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I was unsure where exactly to put this, but feel free to move this where necessary.

I'm in college and working on a project regarding sexual education in the U.S.. Frankly, I'm surprised it took so long for me to think about asking questions regarding it here.



I suppose my questions are:



Who has the responsibility to teach about sex, sexuality and relationships? Is it fair to have schools teach about it in case the other method fails?



How did you learn about the above? Do you think this was a healthy way to learn about it? What pros and cons would you describe for the method?



What would be your concerns for a comprehensive but flexible sex , sexuality, and relationship education curriculum offered from age 11 or so and onward through high school, with basics to understand sexual harassment and assault taught as early as 6?



If you're not from or weren't raised in the U.S., how did you learn about sex, sexuality, and relationships? If your school taught it, how did they structure it?



Of course, feel free to reply with something related but not answering directly any of the questions. Thank you for reading and, hopefully, replying.
 

spaj8987

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Who has the responsibility to teach about sex, sexuality and relationships? Everyone i should think. Not just talking sex ed either. I think it's up to all of us to teach and correct either other.

Is it fair to have schools teach about it in case the other method fails? I think so yeah.

How did you learn about the above? Mostly from porn, some from friends, some from personal experience and the rest from the internet. I only learn a small amount from school.


What would be your concerns for a comprehensive but flexible sex , sexuality, and relationship education curriculum offered from age 11 or so and onward through high school, with basics to understand sexual harassment and assault taught as early as 6? Religion, sexism and ignorance spilling into it.
 
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Trevor

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Who has the responsibility to teach about sex, sexuality and relationships? Is it fair to have schools teach about it in case the other method fails?

-First and foremost the parents. I think so because for some strange reason many parents don't talk to their kids about sex.



How did you learn about the above? Do you think this was a healthy way to learn about it? What pros and cons would you describe for the method?

-I learned about it from other teens, a porn magazine that someone had tossed out along the road by our farm, and a 50 something year old friend of my dad's who used to take me hunting and fishing. He told me how stuff worked, and warned me to use a condom so I wouldn't knock a girl up. He probably did this because he knew my dad was a religious prude, and wouldn't. LOL My school didn't have sex ed. but I grew up in rural Virginia, (i.e. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson country) in the 80s.



What would be your concerns for a comprehensive but flexible sex , sexuality, and relationship education curriculum offered from age 11 or so and onward through high school, with basics to understand sexual harassment and assault taught as early as 6?

-I am older (47) and didn't even know what sex or homosexuality was until I was a teen. Not sure kids as young as six would understand



If you're not from or weren't raised in the U.S., how did you learn about sex, sexuality, and relationships? If your school taught it, how did they structure it?

I was raised in the US.
 
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satyr

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No one really.
I mean, we're sexual beings. I figure things out subconsciously. Started jacking off before 9, and new what genitals were cause they made me feel in a certain way.
Only thing i found out later in life were the many labels society puts. Till then i just thought people just had sex mostly with the opposite sex, but often swinging to the other team. Was shocked when i made the connection of what's gay/straight. Knew i was somewhere in between.
Things made more sense in my child mind.
 

HorseHung40's

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I would like to thank you for posting this.

Let me begin by saying that I was born in the USA, specifically in northern Indiana. Luckily I had parents that saw it as their duty to educate my brothers and me about sex and sexuality in a way that was free from religious doctrine and its ignorance.

In the place where I spent my childhood, there were enough holy rollers who thought that sex, other than for procreation was sinful. That idiotic thinking was passed onto their children, who, interestingly, either towed the party line, or, rejected it wholesale and became promiscuous.

There were also those immigrant parents, who objected to the teaching of sex, sexuality and sexual abuse, and, started their objections with their usual refrain: In my country it is so much better than here. My parents, brothers and I would tell them to go back to their country, if they did not like America.

The school board did a poor job of preparing the kids for sex and sexuality, hobbled in great part by parents, who thought naively that sexually ignorant children and teens don't have sex. The teaching was done by teachers, who themselves were sexually repressed, and, filled the lessons with stupid euphemisms instead of correct terminology.

Programs, such as Dr. Ruth, provided a valuable source of information to person unfortunate enough to have not other source of reliable information.

My parents felt strongly that it was their job to teach my brothers and me about sex, sexuality and sexual abuse from an early age. I only see "pros" to this approach and no "cons". I have done the same with my sons.

My only concern would be that the parents and schools are informed about sex, sexuality and sexual abuse, and, can communicate the messages to the / their kids in an effective manner, free of bias or stereotypes.