View Full Version : Lets talk about sex
did anyone watch this the other night with davina mccoll?
Ive just watched it and thought it was brilliant.
The points she brought up about sex education were spot on i think we should be teaching it to children as young as 5, the way that holland approaches it is totally the way we should be doing.
Just a shame that the minister of children didnt seem to think so, she just seemed like it would be too much hassel to set everything up and mnake sex ed compulsory.
What do you think?
I don't think as young as 5.. I think around 8 is a place to start but why can't we let them grow up. Is society so bad that we have to tell our children about sex???
during the interviews she was doing in holland she went and sat in some of the classes the primary school kids ie ages 5 to 11 were getting sex ed but it was mostly just teaching them about the difference in their bodies and talking about feelings and relationships. The stats show his works since holland have gone from having the highest teen pregnancy in europe to below 5%.
I don't know if I would like that or not.. Charley knows the difference between her body and her brothers.. I would not like to have the whole Sex ed thought to her at such a young age.. my god, to her a kiss is been practically married.. but if and when she asks a question sex related, I will answer it but I prefer her to enjoy her innocence for the moment
The people who did it were in our college asking our opinions for the show. And made us fill in questionnaires and things. I didnt watch it though.
Jessie Wallace
28-03-2007, 17:50
my 5 year old niece knows all about sex, and she got it all from her friends at school, so in this day and age, it would apear 5 isn't too young.
Pinkbanana
28-03-2007, 18:44
I think personally starting sex ed at 5 years old is too young. To be honest I have enough to fit in to the school day as it is. I think teaching children to read and write proficiently is more important at this point. If you bring in sex ed then some other part of the curriculum will have to be left out to make room for it.
If parents want to speak to their children about sex at such a young age in the home, then thats their choice. However, sex education in school for 5 year olds will cause problems, because for every parent who thinks its a good idea, you'll get another coming in to complain. Parents have to take responsibility, and a proactive role when it comes to educating their children about sex too. I think that sometimes too much is put upon teachers/school. There is only so much we can fit into the school day.
I think personally starting sex ed at 5 years old is too young. To be honest I have enough to fit in to the school day as it is. I think teaching children to read and write proficiently is more important at this point. If you bring in sex ed then some other part of the curriculum will have to be left out to make room for it.
If parents want to speak to their children about sex at such a young age in the home, then thats their choice. However, sex education in school for 5 year olds will cause problems, because for every parent who thinks its a good idea, you'll get another coming in to complain. Parents have to take responsibility, and a proactive role when it comes to educating their children about sex too. I think that sometimes too much is put upon teachers/school. There is only so much we can fit into the school day.
Let 5 year old's have their innocence and fun while they can. I wouldn't want my neice being taught about sex when she's five, it's too much for a child.
I agree with PB, if you put sex ed onto the curriculum what do you take off? Primary years are very important, learning to read, write, socialise etc. Surely at that age their education is more important than being taught about sex.
I personally wouldnt like connor ( who is 5) to be taught sex ed at the mo, at the moment he just thinks women swallow a seed and get pregnant. If it was introduced i think id ask to have him taken out of that class, yes he will find out anyway from his friends but id rather he was told just a bit later.
T
Sex Ed at 5?! You are joking me!!!
I'm sorry, but a child of 5 having feelings and relationships?!?! WTF!!!
Ci knows that boys have a willy and girls have something different, but thats as far as it goes. What happened to children having a childhood! Christ we send them away to school at 2 1/2 now (if they go to preschool), into a learning class at 4 1/2 and now, people are saying about teaching them Sex Ed at the same age :angry: I'm sorry, but that disgusts me personally! 1) teachers have enough on their plate, teaching children to write, read and add up as a lot of parents either don't have time (the majority) or can't be bothered and 2)isn't that far more important than teaching them about sex/relationships or whatever.
They wouldn't grasp an understanding to me - they are children and far too young to fully appreciate or understand what is being taught to them.
This sounds like it comes from the same book that my friend was reading saying about how as a father playing with your daughter, if you get sexually aroused you have to stop playing!!! WTF is the world turning into.
I'm horrified and personally pretty disgusted tbh.
Sex Ed at 5?! You are joking me!!!
They wouldn't grasp an understanding to me - they are children and far too young to fully appreciate or understand what is being taught to them.
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I'm horrified and personally pretty disgusted tbh.
Could you imagine them sat with blank faces!! Connor would be disgusted! He thinks a boy and girl kissing is gross imagine what he woud think if he knew all that goes on!!
nope there is planty of time for them to learn the birds and the bees, i dint learn at 5, god we didnt have sex ed till we were 13! Leave it till they are old enough to actually understand it
Pinkbanana
28-03-2007, 22:20
I agree wholeheartedly with JJ, Debs and JB.
Its really, really sad to think that the innocence of childhood is being stripped away. I as a teacher would be very unhappy teaching sex ed to 5/6 year olds.
As mentioned previously, there are more important and urgent things on the curriculum to cover at this age. Moreover, if parents want to talk about sex to their child, at this age, that’s their decision, but it shouldn’t be imposed upon all children.
I agree wholeheartedly with JJ, Debs and JB.
Its really, really sad to think that the innocence of childhood is being stripped away. I as a teacher would be very unhappy teaching sex ed to 5/6 year olds.
As mentioned previously, there are more important and urgent things on the curriculum to cover at this age. Moreover, if parents want to talk about sex to their child, at this age, that’s their decision, but it shouldn’t be imposed upon all children.
Exactly PB. Like you earlier said, what part of the curriculum would they drop to have Sex Ed instead of - Literacy?? Oh, we know what sex is, but we can't read to put the condoms on!! How bloody great would that be!!!
Children are children - let them keep their childhood and stop trying to rob them of it :angry:
Jessie Wallace
28-03-2007, 22:44
What do i do when Immy asks me then, she's 5, well 6 in May, and she was asking me about things on Saturday morning, and even knew what sex was, and was able to tell me all about it!! She told me the kids in her class talk about it in the play ground.
I really dont agree with this. I'm a leader at a youth group, and i help run the 7-11 year old section. They're all girls, and they all watch programmes like Big Brother, and Love Island. They all know and talk about sex, and that really makes me uncomfortable, as they're so young. They all have mobile phones and laptops, and find it histerical that i got my first mobile when i was 13, and my laptop in September. They get all these TV programmes and technology early.. they shouldn't be getting those things, let alone knowing about sex. They're young, they should be running around playing games, not learning and chatting about these kinds of things...
What do i do when Immy asks me then, she's 5, well 6 in May, and she was asking me about things on Saturday morning, and even knew what sex was, and was able to tell me all about it!! She told me the kids in her class talk about it in the play ground.
I'd personally tell her to ask her mum - or check with her mum what shes doing.
Its all personal choice, but I think this if FAR too young for these kinds of conversations. If Ciaran came home saying that these things were being discussed at school, I'd be going straight in there like a shot. When Ste was learning about sex ed, he already knew (Yr 6 this is, not reception or Yr 1), but I had to sign a permission slip stating I was happy with these discussions happening in the classroom. I wouldn't be signing one for this age, and I'd certainly have things to say if this was being discussed in the playground. I'm thinking about the consequences of knowing these things so young - when I was 13 and found out about sex, the immediate thing I had was curiosity - oo I wonder what its like.
These are my opinions, as a parent of an almost 5 year old and I for one would be making a lot of noise and protests if this was something that was brought in over here.
Jessie Wallace
28-03-2007, 23:19
My sister does know that Immy knows, but she knows now, and they talk about about it, there kids, you can't really stop them talking in the play ground. Kids now days know more about life than i do now!!
No you can't but you can discourage it.
Just because children in Ciarans class decide to show their willy's to people or swear, doesn't mean that Ciaran has to do it and he knows that and therefore doesn't do it.
If Ci came home from school telling me this kind of thing was being discussed in the playground then I'd be having words with the head teacher about it. Five year olds discussing sex in the playground isn't something, I feel, that should be going on! Stephen doesn't discuss sex in his school yard at 13+ so why the hell should I accept that Ciaran would/will be?! I certainly won't be. A child is a child - adult conversation should be kept away from them. Where are these children hearing about sex from in the first place - their parents?! Even worse! Why are parents discussing sex in front of their children in the first place? Yes honesty is the best policy but not at that age, not to do with sex...
IMO
What do i do when Immy asks me then, she's 5, well 6 in May, and she was asking me about things on Saturday morning, and even knew what sex was, and was able to tell me all about it!! She told me the kids in her class talk about it in the play ground.
I'd personally tell her to ask her mum - or check with her mum what shes doing.
Its all personal choice, but I think this if FAR too young for these kinds of conversations. If Ciaran came home saying that these things were being discussed at school, I'd be going straight in there like a shot. When Ste was learning about sex ed, he already knew (Yr 6 this is, not reception or Yr 1), but I had to sign a permission slip stating I was happy with these discussions happening in the classroom. I wouldn't be signing one for this age, and I'd certainly have things to say if this was being discussed in the playground. I'm thinking about the consequences of knowing these things so young - when I was 13 and found out about sex, the immediate thing I had was curiosity - oo I wonder what its like.
These are my opinions, as a parent of an almost 5 year old and I for one would be making a lot of noise and protests if this was something that was brought in over here.
Dave said the same last night, as soon as you hear about this sort of thing you wanna know what it is like, will we have kids experimenting at blooming 5!!!
Im with you jojo, id go mad if it was bought in and certainly wouldnt let connor be in the classrom. Connor is 5 and i just want him to stay my nice innocent little boy for a bit longer!
If he asks where babys come from, i say to where do you think they come from? and if he says how did that baby get in her tuimmy ( we had lots of questions when my sister was pregnant) i also said how do you think it did?? and he thought up his own things! Thats all he needs to know!
No you can't but you can discourage it.
Just because children in Ciarans class decide to show their willy's to people or swear, doesn't mean that Ciaran has to do it and he knows that and therefore doesn't do it.
If Ci came home from school telling me this kind of thing was being discussed in the playground then I'd be having words with the head teacher about it. Five year olds discussing sex in the playground isn't something, I feel, that should be going on! Stephen doesn't discuss sex in his school yard at 13+ so why the hell should I accept that Ciaran would/will be?! I certainly won't be. A child is a child - adult conversation should be kept away from them. Where are these children hearing about sex from in the first place - their parents?! Even worse! Why are parents discussing sex in front of their children in the first place? Yes honesty is the best policy but not at that age, not to do with sex...
IMO
When i worked in the holiday club and afterschool club we had kids from 5 to 12, id overhear conversations from the 6 year olds about sex and would say where did you hear that sort of thing"! MOst of the time it would be their older brothers or sisters, or older cousins etc only someetimes the parents which would horrify me!
If he asks where babys come from, i say to where do you think they come from? and if he says how did that baby get in her tuimmy ( we had lots of questions when my sister was pregnant) i also said how do you think it did?? and he thought up his own things! Thats all he needs to know!
I do the exact same thing with Charley .. latest from her is that you go to doctor and he plants a tiny baby leg in your belly and it grows from there.. that is what a 5 year old is suppose to be thinking..
This is ridiculous, at the age of five is just unecessary. Childhood is all about shileding kids from this kind of stuff until they are older enough to understand and handle such things. All they need to know at that age is that there is a difference between a boy and a girl, and babies come from mommy's tummy. I don't for one second believe a kid of that age could grasp or should grasp more than that. If I was a parent I wouldn't be comfortable having my kids learn stuff like that at that age. Reading, Writing, Maths only!
We had sex education in year 6, just before we went to big school, this is the right time if you ask me. In an Ideal world we would want kids to remain virgin's until the legal age of 16, and only loose it to someone they love, but in reality - this will not happen, there are little swines that are bed hopping at the age of 11. Blame it on the media, blame it on the influeence of friends, or bad parenting, but it happens, and so we should be teaching them at 10/11all about it, so if they choose to be doing it at least they are doing it safely and aware of the consequences.
Anyone who wants a five year old child to be taught in full ins and outs (no pun intended) of sex have to have something seriously wrong with them, imo.
If he asks where babys come from, i say to where do you think they come from? and if he says how did that baby get in her tuimmy ( we had lots of questions when my sister was pregnant) i also said how do you think it did?? and he thought up his own things! Thats all he needs to know!
I do the exact same thing with Charley .. latest from her is that you go to doctor and he plants a tiny baby leg in your belly and it grows from there.. that is what a 5 year old is suppose to be thinking..
awww thats a lovely way for her to think!
Connors is that ladies eat a seed and the seed grows in their tummys and then they come out through the belly button!!
I said about this to another mum at school today and she was horrified too. She said if they started teaching this at school, she'd take her child out from school.
I said about this to another mum at school today and she was horrified too. She said if they started teaching this at school, she'd take her child out from school.
I would take Charley out of the class and I am sure other parents would feel the same way
I said about this to another mum at school today and she was horrified too. She said if they started teaching this at school, she'd take her child out from school.
I would take Charley out of the class and I am sure other parents would feel the same way
I would aswell Shiv - I think this would be a non starter over here tbh
pookie1968uk
30-03-2007, 16:41
teaching 5 year olds about sex is ridiculous. let them have their childhoods for goodness sake. my daughter is 12 and has been doing contraception etc at school but at 5 no one needs to know. my nieces are nearly 6 and certainly dont need to know yet, and they havent heard anything at school either so not all 5 year olds are talking about it in the playground!
Chloe O'brien
30-03-2007, 21:33
At Marley's school the children discuss their bodies and how they feel. The lesson is called feeling yes and feeling no. Marley knows where babies come from as I showed her my pregancy book so she knows they're not found under the cabbages. She is also begining to get consious about her body as if she is getting undressed in her room she closes the door and says she needs some private time, whether before she would strip anywhere. I think children should start being taught about sex from around the age of 8 or 9. I can't imagine Marley understanding lesson about sex when she was five, she was clueless she could never remember what she did in class when you asked her on the way home. I fparents want to teach their children early then it's up to them, but children grow up so quickly these days that less and less of them are enjoying their childhood and their innocence.
DaVeyWaVey
30-03-2007, 23:01
My little sister is 5 and to be honest, i would be quite horrified if she started learning about sex at her age! She's only learning to spell, read, write, tell the time, do simple maths etc and that's what i expect every 5 year old to be doing. Teaching a 5 year old sex is way, way too young! Teaching it from Year 6 upwards is more suitable.
I think 5 is too young. We did sex ed at 10/11 and at the time, I didn't see the point in it being taught so young, even though your parents had to sign a consent slip. At younger than that the children seem to think it is cool to have lessons about sex, and I remember having younger kids coming up to me asking, "What did they teach you in sex ed?" With the kids getting mobiles and such earlier as Abi said, now I see the point in it being taught before secondary school.
di marco
14-07-2007, 21:06
its way too early to be teaching kids about sex at the age of 5. we first had sex ed near the end of year 6 (which we needed a consent form signed for, and although my mum signed it i think she thought i was too young) but i think with kids growing up quicker nowadays i think it does need to start being taught in year 6. i think before then the majority of kids wont even be thinking about having sex so dont really need to know about it. however saying that, my mum works at a junior school and came home the other day saying that a girl in year 4 had been saying that her boyfriend had raped her! shes 8/9 years old! whether its true or not i dont know, but at that age kids shouldnt be thinking about having/actually having sex. but obviously kids are growing up quicker cos of how society is now, maybe in 10 years time we will have to start teaching kids about sex at the age of 5 but i really hope not
Ironic that they want to raise the voting age but teach sex education much earlier.
We have one of the highest young single mother rates in Europe. We need to find a solution that isn't detrimental to the child but sends out a firm message that being a single parent doesn't automatically guarantee you financial and housing security.
Safe sex was all about how to put on a condom etc. Nothing about the responsibilities that come with having a child nor the social impact. Other counties that have far more liberal sex laws than ours have less teenage pregnancies.
Chloe O'brien
15-07-2007, 01:31
I think as part of the sylabus when they get to high school they are given a virutal baby to look after like they do in other countires. That way if will give them an insight on what its like to look after a child, not all babies are little angels who only wake every four hours to be fed then go back to sleep. Also inviting school-girl mums into the lesson to give them first hand experience on what it is like to bring up a child when your still one yourself. At the local high-school near where I live they have a on-site creche as there is a high number of school girl mums who attend. They are given free childcare places so they can continue their education. One of the UK biggest problem is to bury it's head in the sand and pretend that something isn't happening rather than address the issue,which is happening with teenage pregnancies. If they ignore it they think it will go away but it won't.
I think as part of the sylabus when they get to high school they are given a virutal baby to look after like they do in other countires. That way if will give them an insight on what its like to look after a child, not all babies are little angels who only wake every four hours to be fed then go back to sleep.
They do that at my school as part of an ASDAN course (its a vocational thing for those who aren't likely to get any GCSEs). But its only for the lowest ability in years ten and eleven which I think is wrong. It didn't stop some of them getting pregnant either :rolleyes:
di marco
15-07-2007, 19:11
I think as part of the sylabus when they get to high school they are given a virutal baby to look after like they do in other countires. That way if will give them an insight on what its like to look after a child, not all babies are little angels who only wake every four hours to be fed then go back to sleep.
i think thats a really good idea. i would have liked to have had one of those to see what its like cos although i know its hard work and so not planning on having a kid any time soon, i dont think people telling you how hard it is really illustrates what its like. my school were thinking about doing it for year 10 kids but it was just too much money to hire the dolls for everyone so there was no way the school could afford it
CrazyLea
16-07-2007, 00:47
We had one of them doll things, but only one in the school, so only two people in the class got to take it home. But it doesn't work. One of the people in my class who took it home is now pregnant, is 18, so don't know if that's the age we were debating....
StarsOfCCTV
04-09-2007, 00:13
I think it's a good idea, too be honest in my school the sex education was a few video's in year 7 and 9 and a talk in year 10 about contraception..that was it (a girl - 16 - from my year got pregnant, so I don't think it worked!)
Practically all I know is learnt from my sister, parents and of course TV!!!
I think 5 is too young, and im not saying they wont undersatnd all, however they are taught it or what information is given, but i just think its too much. I think I remember been taught about it in Year 4, or year 3, that my earliest memory of it, so i was either 8 or 9ish
this came up with my daughter (who is 5) last night when watching EE.. she asked why Ian was upset about Lucy's boyfriend. I just explain that you are not allowed to have a boyfriend if you are under 16 and he is over 16.. it is the law.. she seemed to accept that but I don't think she would have understood if I told her about sex at that age
this came up with my daughter (who is 5) last night when watching EE.. she asked why Ian was upset about Lucy's boyfriend. I just explain that you are not allowed to have a boyfriend if you are under 16 and he is over 16.. it is the law.. she seemed to accept that but I don't think she would have understood if I told her about sex at that age
Thats what I mean, I dont see the pint in reaching sex education at that young age, because they are not really going to understand everything, so it would be better to teach at a age wherer children are going to understand it better.
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