If you read the actual Ontario curriculum you will discover that "sex ed" for six-year-olds consists of promoting good hygiene and body care, and introducing/reinforcing the use of correct terminology in identifying body parts, and ensuring that they are spoken of respectfully.
From C 1.3 in the curriculum:
Teacher prompt: "We talk about all body parts with respect. Why is it important to know about your own body, and use correct names for the parts of your body?"
Student: "All parts of my body are a part of me, and I need to know how to take care of and talk about my own body. If I’m hurt or need help, and I know the right words, other people will know what I’m talking about."
That's just good, practical information and empowerment that we should be providing our kids at home from an early age.
I never said I disagreed with it, just that it "seems" young. As in, something can "seem" one way if taken out of context.
I am certainly not against teaching 6 year olds about body parts. I think the sad part is that it has gotten to the point that parents are relying on teachers to teach them everything. It would be ideal if the parents were the ones teaching these things to their kids, but alas most parents don't bother and kids end up learning from alternative sources.
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I never said I disagreed with it, just that it "seems" young. As in, something can "seem" one way if taken out of context.
I am certainly not against teaching 6 year olds about body parts. I think the sad part is that it has gotten to the point that parents are relying on teachers to teach them everything. It would be ideal if the parents were the ones teaching these things to their kids, but alas most parents don't bother and kids end up learning from alternative sources.
Why do you think it is better to learn about your body from your parent than an professional educator?
Do you have this belief about mathematics and literature too, or only things that make you feel icky?
The ignorance being exposed by some of these protest groups is astounding to me.
IMO the more you talk to your kids about sex in the home, in school, the more it empowers more of them to make good decisions, when hitting puberty and their teen years. I have never shied away from talking to my kids about sex, constantly reinforcing the idea that they can come to me or their Dad about anything, no question is off limits, there is nothing shameful or embarrassing about it. LOL - my son still says the pictures they showed his health class of veneral diseases scared him away more than anything.
I was determined to be the opposite of my parents, this never happened in my home growing up and it was terrible. I was so naive.
Why do you think it is better to learn about your body from your parent than an professional educator?
Do you have this belief about mathematics and literature too, or only things that make you feel icky?
It doesn't make me feel icky at all. Not sure how you jumped to that conclusion. Like I said, I support the curriculum.
But I still think parents should be the primary educator on things like hygiene and sex. The fact they tend not to be is a good reason to bring it into schools I suppose.
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But I still think parents should be the primary educator on things like hygiene and sex. The fact they tend not to be is a good reason to bring it into schools I suppose.
Except there are too many ####ty parents to rely on. Just look at these protest groups for example.
I read about this a little while ago. I would have had no issues with my kids taking this class. Mind you, my kids would have already known the correct terminology because we taught them this stuff early on, along with the whole inappropriate touching part. Part of that was due to the fact that I was molested at 6, so we have always been very careful to teach them things right from the get go. The other part was that my parents were a pair of tin foil-ists, and yanked us out of health class because 'they would teach us that stuff at home' and then proceeded to do exactly nothing in the way of teaching. I was the only one who managed to get a few health classes snuck in, before getting yanked out, because omgzsexedtheskyisfalling.
It doesn't make me feel icky at all. Not sure how you jumped to that conclusion. Like I said, I support the curriculum.
But I still think parents should be the primary educator on things like hygiene and sex. The fact they tend not to be is a good reason to bring it into schools I suppose.
OK. I'm sorry I jumped to that conclusion. In all honesty, that is the only rationale I can conceive for your opinion.
You still haven't answered my primary question. Why do you think that it is better for parents to teach about this topic instead of a professional educator?
OK. I'm sorry I jumped to that conclusion. In all honesty, that is the only rationale I can conceive for your opinion.
You still haven't answered my primary question. Why do you think that it is better for parents to teach about this topic instead of a professional educator?
Mainly because I think parents need to be real with their kids on that level at that age. When the kids get older and need to talk about something personal, they should feel like their parents can be there for them without it being weird or awkward. The parents should be breaking the ice.
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Mainly because I think parents need to real with their kids on that level at that age. When the kids get older and need to talk about something personal, they should feel like their parents can be there for them without it being weird or awkward. The parents should be breaking the ice.
Do you believe that a parent's relationship with a child is weaker on a topic if the topic is breached with another adult first?
Do you believe that this is true with something like personal finance? This is a topic that can be very personal. Discussing it is weird and awkward for many people. It is also an area were quite a few people can get themselves into trouble out of ignorance. I also think that this is an area that our education system can do a better job.
I believe that education comes in many forms and the more angles and sources are examined on any topic gives a better understanding of the topic. Having things taught in school sometimes opens the door to have healthy discussions at home. Also, even a well meaning parent may forget to mention an important aspect that a professional educator working with an approved curriculum will teach.
I actually believe that saying that there are some topics are not to be discussed with people that you are supposed to otherwise trust is unhealthy.
I never said I disagreed with it, just that it "seems" young. As in, something can "seem" one way if taken out of context.
I never meant to suggest from my response that I thought you disagreed with it, only to provide some needed clarification about what constitutes sexual education at various levels of child development.
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Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I am certainly not against teaching 6 year olds about body parts. I think the sad part is that it has gotten to the point that parents are relying on teachers to teach them everything. It would be ideal if the parents were the ones teaching these things to their kids...
Why do you think this is sad? And why do you think it is ideal for parents to teach their kids about sex? I received virtually no instruction nor support from my parents on the subject, and I honestly think I am much, MUCH better off for it. My parents are antiquated and prudish. They are sexist and naive. They come by these traits honestly as products of an era and from within a sub culture in which sex was eschewed and intentionally pushed aside from any forum of discussion. Sex was a completely private matter, and the less that was ever spoken of it, the better.
Don't get me wrong, here: I think my parents are terrific, and I appreciate very much that they did their best. But the fact of the matter is for them—for all parents—there were lots of things that they were just not very good at.
The world has changed. Parenting is not like it was even 20 years ago.
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Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
...but alas most parents don't bother and kids end up learning from alternative sources.
Because most parents don't bother? Or because most parents are unsure about how to teach quite a number of things effectively?
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Awesome how some of the protest is about teaching kids about anal sex, you know because god forbid gay kids get sex ed.
Whoa whoa whoa. It's a well known fact that there are no gay kids. Kids only become gay after at least one of the following:
- Witnessing a Pride parade.
- Gay marriage is passed into law in your country/state
- Listening to an entire Elton John album.
- Seeing a Michael Fassbender movie for the first time.
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Three's Company was my sex education. Entertaining and uplifting and the whole idea that Jack might get to sleep with both of them at the same time on top of it all.
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Do you believe that a parent's relationship with a child is weaker on a topic if the topic is breached with another adult first?
Do you believe that this is true with something like personal finance? This is a topic that can be very personal. Discussing it is weird and awkward for many people. It is also an area were quite a few people can get themselves into trouble out of ignorance. I also think that this is an area that our education system can do a better job.
I'm all for sex education in school. But I also think there's a role to play for parents. Sex is more than a biological act. It happens in a social and emotional context. And people have different values and attitudes surrounding that context.
Personal finance is a good analogy. There are some fundamental principles of finance that everyone can and should learn. But values surrounding finance vary with culture and with family, and will be personal. Some people are not at all comfortable with debt in any form, and others cheerfully leverage debt to try to increase property and income. Values about money (as opposed to the nuts and bolts of finance) are probably something people are going to want to teach as a family.
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I'm all for sex education in school. But I also think there's a role to play for parents. Sex is more than a biological act. It happens in a social and emotional context. And people have different values and attitudes surrounding that context.
Personal finance is a good analogy. There are some fundamental principles of finance that everyone can and should learn. But values surrounding finance vary with culture and with family, and will be personal. Some people are not at all comfortable with debt in any form, and others cheerfully leverage debt to try to increase property and income. Values about money (as opposed to the nuts and bolts of finance) are probably something people are going to want to teach as a family.
I don't think sex ed (for me anyway) ever went into much of the emotional/spiritual/cultural side of sex. It pretty well stayed in the realm of, "this is your body, this is what it does, this is what can happen physically". The most we got into the emotional side of things was "dont make fun of people for experiencing these things (wet dreams, boners, period, etc..).
But honestly, I think it's a good thing to go through the potential emotional impacts of having sex (whether young or older) and how different cultures view those things. Getting your families view is great, but the only way to be sensitive about the views of others is if you actually know about them.
The Muslim community in Ontario at least are doing themselves no favors in regards to their image with the Canadian public when they spearhead ignorant protests like these. We get enough news from the US bible belt about how backwards their sex education system is that there is no way we would ever move to a more conservative "sex is evil" approach, so all the protestors are doing is hurting themselves by looking like an angry, uneducated religious mob
It's not just Muslims. Catholics, especially Catholics from Latin America and developing countries like the Philippines, tend to be pretty conservative about this stuff as well.
I don't agree with their beliefs, but I doubt they care what you or I think of them. And it's easy to say school boards should just ignore these parents as ignorant rubes. But parents these days have options when it comes to schools. Maybe they'll send their kids to charter religious schools if they feel strongly enough. Then there's no integration at all.
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