Do you believe "Misinformation" rules sex education?

Wait a second...you're telling me they LIED about all this stuff!! jeeze, and I thought all these teen pregnancy shows had something to do with what was in the water

I remember mine but of course it was a required class in high school and not middle school so when I moved senior yr to a new school, I had to take the course and it was stupid of things that I knew that my teacher was totally wrong about.

My sex ed was pretty basic, they had nurses come in - we went to a library and watched a film about the effects certain STD's have on the body, how they are contracted etc.

They didn't explain ovulation or sexual arousal in detail they handed us a pamphlet about something but I tossed it without reading. I don't think anyone asked questions about that stuff because most everyone understood basic concepts.

However, they didn't explain how to access contraceptives such as condoms and that's really something I think needs to be handled in school if they are going to do sex ed. Instead of assuming hormone ridden teenagers are going to keep it in their pants - they should understand how to keep themselves safe. Yes it's not technically a schools job, but with as many tight lipped and over bearing parents as there are they need to have someone they feel they can turn to or somewhere to learn basic methods of protection.

Lol @ the blowjob one.

I think sex ed in general just needs to be more inclusive and actually tell you what's up, instead of saying scare tactics/ having religion or the law in mind.

Yes, I do. I belive the system needs to be changed and revamped

I personally think that only sex education that should be taught is a fully comprehensive one that explains everything from the biological urges, the physical mechanics, the emotional aspects to the risks. Arm teens with all the honest and correct information to help them navigate through those early years of sexual exploration. Teens should be taught the truth, not myths. I myself have seen too many people and their sexual relationships destroyed by knowing only misleading information. Some of this information was actually taught to them, some they heard through the old rumor mill in the halls of middle and high school.

A few of the great gems I have heard from friends are:

Masturbation is wrong and you shouldn't do it. It leads to an unhealthy view of sex and possible later sexual problems.
That only true sex intercourse is sex (as in only penis in vagina is defined as a sexual relationship)
That you should wait until you are in love (dammit teens fall in and out of “love” all the time)
That sex is a private matter that shouldn't be discussed.

And I won't even get started on the myths they heard on how to keep from getting pregnant or getting an STD.

Now my mother is a nurse, so when I approached puberty she had my Dr. explain the basics and answer questions that I had. These talks with my Dr. continued well into my teen years. She did this because she felt that the possible embarrassment factor may result in me not asking serious questions about things that I was curious about, or her stuttering as she attempted to answer questions. The ending result was a positive one. I learned about every manner of birth control and their effectiveness. I learned about STD and how they are contracted and how I could limit myself from possible exposure but that only 100% full abstinence(Absolutely no sexual contact ) could guarantee that I wouldn't get pregnant or an STD.

My Dr. explained alternatives to PIV sexual activity. This included dry humping, grinding, mutual masturbation, oral sex, anal sex. He explained the risks(if any) associate with all those also. While I receiving these “lessons” a good friends step mother (who coincidentally is also a nurse) was explaining that we girls had the right to say stop and no. She explained that if a boy kept pushing using the old line “if you really loved me..” That we should always respond back “If you really loved me you would back off.” She also explained to us that if we were to embarrassed to take control of our health and safety by not only acquiring birth control and condoms but also being to afraid to let our Dr's know that we either were or thinking of becoming sexually active then we were not mature enough and ready to be doing said activities.

Another thing is my highschool actually had a comprehensive sex ed course that students (with parental permission of course) could take. My friend and I were both in this class. It lasted the whole school year and was broken down into sections that covered everything from hormonal changes and urges of adolescence, physical anatomy, sexual arousal to sexual health and safety. Lectures were given throughout the year from representatives from the Health Department and a local family planning clinic. These lectures were non biased and very in depth given the range of topics that they covered.

I am glad that I had these options available to me. The stuff that I was taught really came in handy when I was teenager.

Most of my sex ed was from Christian schools. . . now imagine the misinformation I received! We were taught, among other things, that if you have sex with someone who has HIV you will contract it 999 times out of 1000 even with a condom. Who came up with these things to scare us?

yes

Definitely need to be revamped! I'd like it if they taught about the importance consent (and what it looks like). That would be nice.

Even comprehensive sex ed is under informative. FFS, teach masturbation.

I never thought it was a good idea to have others teach your kid that stuff

things need to be revised

There is a document in Germany which will be sent via eMail and it claims to have real quotes from a sex ed test of class eight of a german school.

I translated some of them:

N:
If you are young and want to get destillated it's not a good idea. If you want to get a baby in later times it will be too late.

Janine:
Ovulation is day one of the period. The ovum goes from left to right.
Diaphragm is just for males.
Kolutus Inspiritus is not safe.

Robert:
During ovulation the ovum wanders from one ovarian into the other one

Nadine:
You swallow the contraceptive pill 10 minutes before having sex.

Thomas:
The ovulation is at day 14 until day 18 of the monthly cycle. That is the time you can not get pregnant.

You can find the complete document (german) here:

link

I think the system should be updated. I also think the school systems and parents should be more careful with whom they let into schools. Children are very impressionable at that age and relaying them false information isn't something we should be allowing in the school system. Sex education should be taught by someone who specialize in the area.

Yes, sexual education most certainly needs to be revamped. There's so much fear mongering and misinformation running rampant in Sex Ed. classes it's pathetic. I remember when I took a class for it in high school the only thing the teacher did was brandish fact sheets about STD's or rape and paint sex as something that was filthy and dangerous.

We didn't have sex ed until senior year of high school, which is a major issue. What we learned was all truthful and informative. Some of the teachers only talk about abstinence, but mine focused on more options of preventing pregnancy and STDs.

It depends on the school. My sex ed was useful and didn't put negative connotations with sex and masturbation like the class you mentioned.

I'm sorry to hear that you had to deal with that though. It sounds like it could be pretty damaging.

Yes, I do. I believe the system needs to be changed or updated so to speak

Ok... Today I read one of the most stupid questions ever:

Am I still a virgin if I had sex but no orgasm?

When I was a kid, I think it was pretty good....can't speak for the examples you listed...but that sounds poor if it's real.

Unlike other forms of information, I think there's an assumption that young adults can't just be presented the facts, you MUST spin them because you (as the adult) know better.

I went to public school and literally never had any sort of sex ed class, so aside from the mountains of evidence that current sex ed is lacking and needs a complete overhaul, I'd say yes based purely on that.
Additionally, sex ed needs to be made less heteronormative overall and having a class like that explore gender and trans* issues would be a great help.