Should masturbation be added to highschool health/sex textbooks and be covereed in class at least superficially?

Contributor: callsignhusker callsignhusker
I've been thinking about this for awhile... Under the Clinton administration the surgeon general actually advocated for this kind of inclusive education. She was female too which is neat.
Answers (private voting - your screen name will NOT appear in the results):
Yes
250  (90%)
No
14  (5%)
Maybe
6  (2%)
Undecided
7  (3%)
Total votes: 277
Poll is closed
03/06/2011
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Contributor: Eden C. Eden C.
Well, I don't think any huge amount of detail is required as most teenagers I know are already well aware of the techniques, but of course, it's worth a mention.
03/06/2011
Contributor: PiratePrincess PiratePrincess
It should be mentioned, especially the female aspect so that more girls know it is acceptable to masturbate and be more open about it.
03/06/2011
Contributor: Solar Ray Solar Ray
It's certainly a form of sexual stimulation and arguably the safest so why not educate kids that it's a natural act.
03/06/2011
Contributor: Waterfall Waterfall
I think it should be mentioned. Especially because there are so many people who do not think it is "ok" to do. I think if it was at least talked about then this could fix the misconceptions.
03/06/2011
Contributor: ~LaUr3n~ ~LaUr3n~
Yes and it is. It was in all of mine anyways.
03/06/2011
Contributor: markeagleone markeagleone
Quote:
Originally posted by callsignhusker
I've been thinking about this for awhile... Under the Clinton administration the surgeon general actually advocated for this kind of inclusive education. She was female too which is neat.
This subject is a touchy one. I think going this far could and would have a lot of people in an uproar. It goes above and beyond what government has a right to due. Teaching such a thing would surely violate moral(church) members and also parents rights. I have raised kids, and if they had questions, I was always open to them. But I can tell you, if some teacher decided to take that from me and push it down my childs mouth, hell would come to earth. I understand birth control, ect.,but that is a private, intimate aspect about the child. I don't mind the teaching of the human body, preventions of unwanted pregnancy, but the thought of such a thing removes parents right, rights of the childs religion and represents that the government is willing to infringe on individuals right.
03/06/2011
Contributor: ninaspinkturtle ninaspinkturtle
Quote:
Originally posted by callsignhusker
I've been thinking about this for awhile... Under the Clinton administration the surgeon general actually advocated for this kind of inclusive education. She was female too which is neat.
i guess it depends on how much detail they go into
03/12/2011
Contributor: aBeastlyLittleThing aBeastlyLittleThing
Quote:
Originally posted by callsignhusker
I've been thinking about this for awhile... Under the Clinton administration the surgeon general actually advocated for this kind of inclusive education. She was female too which is neat.
yes yes yes! it should at least be mentioned if they have a BS Abstinence ONLY program!
03/13/2011
Contributor: callsignhusker callsignhusker
Quote:
Originally posted by aBeastlyLittleThing
yes yes yes! it should at least be mentioned if they have a BS Abstinence ONLY program!
Yeah so true, I agree.
03/14/2011
Contributor: Sweet-Justice Sweet-Justice
Yes. Its only a natural function and adding it doesn't necessarily mean that have to participate in that particular activity.
03/17/2011
Contributor: jfree jfree
Coming from abstinence-only education: yes, I think it should be. Yeah, I don't think it should go into really graphic detail (like techniques or anything; just the basic gist of what masturbation is,) but it should be worth mentioning what it is, what are its benefits, etc.

But with it being abstinence-only education, that whole noise should just stop.
03/20/2011
Contributor: tigerkate tigerkate
I think it is a good idea.

At least, please let there be some discussion about what is okay and what could be dangerous-- like using a carrot if you are female. Not a good thing, you can really hurt yourself.

Or, I was reading the other day (oh the joys of searching random things on google), and I found a post on a forum where a 16 year old male was saying his penis was itching and burning and flaking skin was falling off his entire genital area.

He mentioned that he was masturbating while using a facial acne wash for lube.

....

Just little things I'd hope we could educate people about. Safety concerns.
03/23/2011
Contributor: Collodion Collodion
Quote:
Originally posted by PiratePrincess
It should be mentioned, especially the female aspect so that more girls know it is acceptable to masturbate and be more open about it.
Good point - especially needed when kids are being "educated" with an abstinence-only program.

Had I realized the use of a good wank earlier, I would have had quite a bit less unpleasant and only half-wanted teenage sex...
03/23/2011
Contributor: Envy Envy
It should be discussed since it IS part of sexuality. I mean, I didn't know what i was doing and held off on masturbating until 21 cause I didn't know what i was doing, how to do it, etc. Found out I can only use vibes, go figure.

However, I do think it's needed, to despell the terrible myths about masturbation that make people afraid or ashamed of it.
03/23/2011
Contributor: Ansley Ansley
RE: Surgeon General during Clinton Admin - she also got fired for it, too.

It should definitely be covered in textbooks starting in the sixth grade. I have a nephew who just turned thirteen. I suspect his behavioral problems are because his parents refuse to teach him anything about sex and he is too afraid to ask them. (My sister has a tendency to shame anything related to sex.) If the kid knew how to get himself off and understood it was healthy to do so, he might be a totally different person (behavior wise).
03/23/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
I used to work with autistic kids. When they reached adolescence, they were taught (by a same sex teacher) actual masturbation techniques, because some of the kids would get so rowdy with it, they'd hurt themselves.

I'd have no problem with that being taught in the public schools. But, people are SO prudish. EVERYBODY does it, yet "suggesting it" to teens as maybe a way to relieve tension and put off PIV sex for a while is looked on as wrong.

Believe or not, an article in Cosmo (about sex toys, no less) taught me how to figure it out when I was about 13 or 14. The article also have basic "hand skills" which were, then to me, more acceptable than buying a vibrator. (I didn't even get one until I had had several children many years later. But, I knew what to DO about my own body needs.)
03/23/2011
Contributor: BadgersRose BadgersRose
I do think it should be discussed openly and make sure the emphasize that it is perfectly natural and not something dirty to be ashamed of. Just that there is a time and place for these things.
04/04/2011
Contributor: NarcissisticLust NarcissisticLust
Yes! Absolutely 100%. If students know their bodies and can pleasure themselves, I feel teen pregnancy and STD statistics would be lower. Our country needs comprehensive sex education, NOT abstinence. We can teach abstinence, but people will have sex if they want to have sex and honestly, what health teacher could have persuaded you?
04/09/2011
Contributor: Janis Janis
I don't think it needs to be gone into with the extent that STI's and contraception should be, but the students should be told that it is safe, natural, and nothing to be ashamed of.
04/09/2011
Contributor: K101 K101
No! I don't like the idea. It's not thathard to figure out masturbation. Kids don't need a damn manual! Lol. I think it should not be discuseed in the classrooms. I don't even know that it should be discussed in the home very often. I mean masturbation is not something that's important enough to be in the schools. I mean we all figured it out on our own, why can't they? I could understand parents mentioning masturbation and answering any questions, but I don't like the idea of someone else teaching my kids about certain things. A simple sex ed teaching about bodies and the changes is fine, STD'S is fine to be taught at school because kids need to hear about them as much as possible. I know when I was a kid and heard about STD'S I cringed every time. It was a constant reminder to me to be responsible and careful with my body. Now masturbation is just not the same.
04/14/2011
Contributor: K101 K101
I thought I'd add that I don't think kids need to be taught how to get off. That comes naturally.
04/14/2011
Contributor: K101 K101
Quote:
Originally posted by markeagleone
This subject is a touchy one. I think going this far could and would have a lot of people in an uproar. It goes above and beyond what government has a right to due. Teaching such a thing would surely violate moral(church) members and also parents ... more
I totally agree! I would feel the same way. I'm very particular about what I want mine to hear.
04/14/2011
Contributor: namelesschaos namelesschaos
Quote:
Originally posted by markeagleone
This subject is a touchy one. I think going this far could and would have a lot of people in an uproar. It goes above and beyond what government has a right to due. Teaching such a thing would surely violate moral(church) members and also parents ... more
No, just no.



The notion of "rights" in this post has nothing in common with what your "rights" actually are. Public schools can not bow to every idiosyncratic belief a parent or group of parents may hold. You have no more right to not have your child taught about masturbation then other parents have a right to not have their children taught about "the human body, preventions of unwanted pregnancy" or evolution in biology class, or the civil rights movement. The same rules that govern what you’re personally ok with govern what you’re not ok with. There is nothing in the Constitution that gives you the rights to not have your child be given factual information about a common practice (sexual or otherwise) in a public school, indeed our rights are set up to protect that. To say that one topic is so special that the teaching of it constitutes a violation of multiple rights makes a mockery of what our rights and the notion of public education actually are.



Ironically, this post demonstrates why masturbation should be taught. It is pure sex negativity that allows one to with a straight face say that the teaching of other controversial topic is OK but somehow teaching of the topic of masturbation it is not only bad idea or an idea you disagree with but a violation of your rights.



Lastly, this is based on the false belief that sexuality is fundamentally private, it is not. Sexual acts may be done in private but sexuality has been constructed by society since the dawn of time. The government already has their hands deeply invested in your child private sex life. Abstinence only which consists of the government prescribing a particulate sexual lifestyle that your child is expected to follow for years and taken to its logical conclusion possibly decades (what if they don't get married till they are 40?) or life (what if they are never married?) is a perfect example. Teaching masturbation compared to what they are already doing is shoving far less down their throats.



Even this which is stupid and unlike teaching masturbation which would only teach information prescribes a lifestyle and prescribes it as the exception of the federal government isn't a violation of your rights (at least not technically, the spirit of the law on the other hand is debatable). Funny how so many people jump on the giving of information being a violation of rights, and yet don't do the same when schools directly prescribe a lifestyle (and indirectly erase others). Once again it only sex negative anti-masturbation bias that allows this to make any sense
04/14/2011
Contributor: namelesschaos namelesschaos
Quote:
Originally posted by K101
I thought I'd add that I don't think kids need to be taught how to get off. That comes naturally.
Male kids perhaps, but a great deal of women do in fact need to be taught how to get off. Pick up any basic textbook of human sexuality and it'll tell you for many women getting off is learned behavior. The phrase it comes naturally is greatly overused, one of the multiple reason many women need to learn to get off has to do with society negative view of female sexuality. nature did not encode you with a "how to masturbate successfully manual" but society does often give women a "how to be ashamed of and avoid touching your genitals" manual.
04/14/2011
Contributor: Andromeda Andromeda
I think there would be a huge backlash if masturbation formally got added to any curriculum.
04/15/2011
Contributor: Bunnycups Bunnycups
There are kids in high school who can't even read. America spends more money on education than any other country and has the lowest test scores. Masturbation should not be taught in schools.
04/15/2011
Contributor: toxie m toxie m
A recall a brief mention of it when I was in grade 9 health. Not very sure what was said or how much.. honestly, the only thing I remember from that class was the anxiety and embarrassment of everyone passing around the single wooden model penis so we could one-by-one, as everyone else watched, roll a condom down onto it.
04/15/2011
Contributor: namelesschaos namelesschaos
Quote:
Originally posted by Bunnycups
There are kids in high school who can't even read. America spends more money on education than any other country and has the lowest test scores. Masturbation should not be taught in schools.
Red herring. Not teaching masturbation isn't going to improve literacy rates. Not teaching masturbation isn't going to reduce money spent on education or increase test scores. Bring them up is irreverent, all not teaching masturbation would accomplish is add "and are more ignorant about there bodies then other countries to the list of thing wrong with this countries" to the list of grievances.
04/15/2011
Contributor: Andromeda Andromeda
Yes but I think what bunnycups was trying to say is that in her opinion there are bigger things to worry about as far as the education system goes.
04/15/2011