Why do we believe we need government sex ed at all?

Question

Doesn't it seem like parents are the ones with the least political agenda, and should be teaching their children about sex?

Won't we get the government out of our bedrooms when we get the government out of sex ed?

Could some adults treat this as a serious question?

Why do we assume educational bias is healthier than the parents who rear them?

Rainy (et al) who told you people that?

Coragryph, you are brilliant, but you are telling a MOTHER that the public school knows more about biology than I do. This question has NOTHING to do with politics, incidentally.

I am 40. We didn't have AIDS when they started teaching sex ed. I think mothers figured out how to have sex... Just saying. LOL Crazy world.

Answer 1

Honey, sex ed is a regular topic with my girls! I want them to hear it from ME...not some loser who will also urge my girls to get an abortion at the drop of a hat. Basic anatomy should be taught in schools. The birds and the bees need to be taught at home by LOVING parents.

Answer 2

I am in a good position to answer your question. I am a mother of 4 (18, 15, 11, and 5 years old right now) and I have taught sex education. Here's the problem with parents teaching sex education. They are embarrassed and the kids are embarrassed. The parents don't give enough information and the kids don't ask enough questions. Parents don't think their kids are sexually involved. They are wrong about 60% of the time!!!!! The BIGGEST thing wrong with that STDs especially HIV. Kids thrive on misinformation they get from their friends or significant others. The pull out method is a good form of birth control, you can't get pregnant the first time, you only get AIDS if you are gay, you can only get pregnant during your period, if your boyfriend punches you real hard in your stomach you'll lose the baby, no means maybe, and on and on. The thing is, we all want to think our chlidren understand sexual morality and will wait without being told point by point. My children know if they make a baby they will be responsible for that baby FOREVER. The oldest boy knows when a girl says no no matter when she says no, STOP. Do you think all kids are taught this? Do you hope the boy dating your daughter does?

Answer 3

If you actually think most parents are comfortable talking about sex with their kids, then this would be true. If government is meant to fund gym and health along with English, Math and Science, why not?

Plus, personally, I don't know if I'd be fine with some kid's parents methods of teaching (or not teaching as the case may be) when that child is in a relationship with my child. If the kids are all taught the same things, they at least have a better understanding of the consequences.

The problem is, the only type of sex ed currently acknowledged by the federal government (meaning states can't get federal money unless they comply) is abstinence only, which is proven to bee less effective than teaching kids about safe sex, pregnancy prevention and protection against STDs.

Answer 4

There are two types of sexual education -- the biology and the morality.

Parents are the only ones qualified to teach the morality -- whether sex is good or bad, when it should happen, etc. That's because moral issues are the purview of religion, and outside the scope of what the govt can teach.

The biology aspect is science -- objective facts. And those are within the scope of what govt-funded schools can teach. Parents always have the right to take their children out of class and not have them learn certain materials. For any reason.

But most school districts have debated the issue and decided that students should learn at least the biology involved. That's a school board decision that each community can make separately.

As far as "keeping the govt out of our bedrooms", that should apply across the board. It's unreasonably to legislate one area of social behavior (marriage) and then argue that the govt shouldn't be telling people about sex. But that's a different debate for a different question.

Answer 5

They obviously aren't educating their own children on the subject. It's being left up to movies, tv, and music in most cases. My aunt told me she's not going to talk to her children about sex til they're 16, my cousin is 14 and has had more partners then i have at 21.... Great plan, leave it up to the parents that truly think that their angelic kids don't know anything besides the mechanics of sex.

According to infoplease.com abortions in general have decreased significantly BUT the ages at which the average girl getting an abortion is much lower... in one state it jumps from the average age of 28 in 1988 to age 14 in 1996. Other states jumped from 25 & 26 to 16. Those 'knowledgeable & unbiased' parents you speak of must be of a new opinion "we don't have to tell our girl about protection, we'll just get her an abortion".

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005099.html


NOTE: I'm not saying that all kids and parents are this bad but a couple hundred thousand abortions per year of girls under 18 means theres something wrong with lack of information getting to children with parents that must have clouds over their eyes.

Answer 6

In a perfect world, your solution is the best. However, this world is not perfect and some parents are unwilling to talk about sex to their children. This means that the public school system gets to step up and deal with the issue. Quality sex education can decrease the spread of STD's and decrease the number of unwanted teen pregnancies. I personally think that the public school system should teach sex ed, but give parents the option of teaching their own children.

Answer 7

Your issue is more fundamental than your question.
Your phrase:
"Won't we get the government out of our bedrooms when we get the government out of sex ed?"
Should be reworded to:
"Won't we get the government out of our lives when we get the government out of ed?"
Sex ed is one of many issues where instead of asking "should the govt. be involved with sex ed in public schools?" or "should public schools have gun control?" or "should public schools be allowed to teach creation?" (and on the list goes)...
...many people today are instead asking the question, "Should we have public schools?"
They are answering with a resounding "NO" by home-schooling and private-schooling their kids. Regardless of the issue, publicly educated children are going to be educated along the dictum of the government's agenda. That's the case when it comes to history, math, political science, standardized testing, etc...
The only way to get the government's religion away from your kids is to not subject your kids to their indoctrination.
With our current generation of kids and young adults who can hardly read and can't think critically, yet remain very opinionated about controversial issues, our government indoctrination system can hardly be called education.
My short answer to your question is no, the govt. should not be involved in sex education. Just the same for the rest of the issues. However, unfortunately our society has conditioned us ever since 1933 (John Dewey, the father of modern education, and first signer of the Humanist Manifesto) to become more and more reliant upon the government for education. When you start talking about removing federal and even state jurisdiction from the education system, the establishment goes into a panicked frenzy trying to make you believe that our high literacy rate (a joke!) is dependent upon the public system.
To that, we say "hogwash!" With a great deal of charity, of course.
I was home-schooled. I'm currently an officer in the Army. My wonderful wife and I are currently homeschooling our children as well. I wouldn't trust the government with their brains or character for any amount of time, and I'm doing all I can to inspire other people to parent their own children as well.
Cheers!

Answer 8

I think that it would be best for the parents to teach them since the parents know how to talk to their kids better than some random sex ed teacher. BUT I know that there are some people, even people I know, that don't even want to think about talking to their kids about sex. So the only way they do learn about it is from friends and sex ed. And since friends aren't always the smartest people to take advice from, especially if their around the age of 12 (that's when we start getting sex ed) most other 12 year olds don't really know the facts about it. So I think it's important for those kids who don't get to hear it at home.

Answer 9

Parents are the logical choice to teach their children about sex. But with so many single family members constituting the American family today, the single parent has no energy or desire to teach their children about sex. And when they do teach their children about sex it is either the wrong approach or incomplete. Most children learn about sex from their peers which is the worst place to learn about sex. This problem is systematic and is part of the total breakdown of the American family. Disfunational families, single member families or NO family members at all, it is all part of the total break down of the American family. If American society wants to stop the breakdown of the American family, then the American society has to change its ways or else the detetoration of the American family will continue.

Answer 10

Well if the government doesnt step in at least a little bit certain parents will continue to teach abstience only... and kids will continue ignoring them, having sex, getting either pregnant, STDs or HIV. The scare tactics of showing what certain STDs do to their sexual organs at least would give them a moments pause to put on a condom.

Answer 11

If a child hears many views they can make up their own mind, you can't just go on your parents beliefs. Or, a parent may believe in abstinence and not give the child any options, a great way to end in an unwanted pregnancy. Some parents are just to embarrassed, and the child may not get any info at all. It is a good thing.