Should 11 year olds be made to learn?

Question

A couple have after fostering 28 children been rejected because they will not teach new ones about homosexuals. They are good Christians and the fostered kids have all done well in life. I am a christian and have homosexual friends but why should children have to be taught about it that young?. Is it any wonder we have the problems with some kids, we do not let them be children anymore.

SusieD . I have no problem with you teaching your child anything. Its a freedom we have enjoyed for many years in the UK. My problem is that this couple can no longer foster if they against their religion do not teach about homosexuality. Will we now force muslims to do the same. I do not think so.

Sagal79. The social workers and the council PC monitors. I have no problem with homosexuals and agree with the Italian where do you stop.

Barry C. Your comments are viable. However exepting your view, I am sure they would love to care for more children and bring them up as they have to be well rounded grown ups. they cannot because of this one stumbling block. How is it 28 children were OK to live there now they are black listed?

Answer 1

You've hit the nail right on the head. I'm getting on a bit in life and, as such, was not aware that homosexuality existed until I was about 14 or 15. Now some people might find that rather amusing but the fact remains that I was far better equipped to deal with this situation than I would have been at the age of eleven.

I can't help feeling that to accept that this form of lifestyle, conveniently leads to same sex couples also fostering children. I'm sorry, but I can't get my head round this. I'm not anti gay, but the obvious facts are that a child needs a mother and a father for a normal up-bringing.

Answer 2

I am sure there is more to this story then meets the eyes.

My guess as a statistician and bf of a psychologist who deals with foster kids, is that if they have fostered 28 kids, then they have had at least a couple who are gay, or at least not 100% straight.

Kids that end up in foster homes are in a bad spot - they have already suffered, maybe been abused, maybe even sexually, and that is heavily correlated with certain precocious sexual and other social behaviors.

Those kids, now adults, may very well have gone back to talk to the agency about their experiences with the parents, in the house. Since, as you say, they are now respected adults, their opinions were likely listened to very closely.

It sounds like the foster parents are not willing to keep the kid's mental health development first and foremost, as the program requires. That is their right of course, but it doesn't mean the program has to use them either.

That may be bad news, but the good news is this: I am sure there are lots of pregnant teens around your area who would love to have those parents adopt their babies rather then have an abortion!

Answer 3

I think we consider things differently when we have grown with them as a part of our life - and teaching things in childhood makes handling them as an adult seem perfectly natural.

My children have been brought up around same-sex couples as well as hetero couples. I never really knew what I would say when they started asking questions. My gay friends were awesome about my concerns and played things cool when my kids were around. One day my daughter who was about 11 or 12 says to me "Are Uncle D. and Uncle Z. married?" Oh boy here it comes right - I simply answered, "why would you ask that?" Point blank she looked at me and said "it's one bedroom apartment and neither of them has a girlfriend so I guessed they were gay."

End of story - no long details, no nothing. My daughter accepted alternative life styles, and today at 20 she is much better equipped to deal with almost any situation that presents itself to her. Kids need to learn that not everyone is just like them and that's okay!

And before some religious zealot pops in - telling kids about homosexuality does NOT make them "turn" gay! It does how ever turn them into well rounded, tolerant adults.

So yeah - I think that kids DO need to be taught about homosexuality. We fear what we don't know.

Answer 4

Children need to start learning about sexuality young. The learning should come in shifts. At 2 or 3, they need to be learning about and naming private areas at least so that they can identify sexual abuse if it happens or starts to happen.

Children need to know what is going to happen to their bodies before puberty, and young adolescents need to be taught about sex, abstinence, STDs, date rape, protection, pregnancy (including what can and can't get you pregnant), dangers of sex and oral sex, and the like before their hormones go nuts. They also should know where their parents or foster parents stand on such issues--(ie, if you are pro-abstinence). Keeping children ignorant does not keep them safe.

As for homosexuality, I don't recall being formally taught about it. 11 year olds should have a pretty good idea of how babies are made and when they are being exploited, though they probably shouldn't have the whole picture yet. I agree that 11 year olds probably shouldn't get much more than "Some men like to date men, and some women like to date women," but they absolutely should not still be ignorant.

Honestly, it sounds to me like the parents in question have done more than simply kept an explanation of homosexual behavior from the kids. Either they are witholding sexual education from the children, or they are giving some indication that they are intolerant of gay people. Either one would prevent them from getting foster children.

Answer 5

Political correctness gone mad! Why does it have to be taught? Do we teach children about people who enjoy sexually abusing animals, or sadomasochists, or nymphomaniacs? It is utterly rediculous. Children will find out about such things in their own good time. If they ask questions then that is the time to give them simple honest answers, not to force the information on them. Mind you, I'd be surprised if an eleven year old didn't already know what homosexualty was.

Answer 6

My question about this is who is making them teach their kids about homosexuals? Is it the agency who is placing the children? Is it the school that they go to? This is very intriguing...

Answer 7

They don't have to be taught all the gruesome biological details, simply that two men or women might like each other enough to want to live together. Not a big deal, surely?

Answer 8

If you put 10 homosexual boys on one island, and 10 heterosexual boys and girls on the other island(equally-5-5), which group will live the longest?. Who will survive? But most importantly, Who will help to carry on the Human Race?.
Children don't need to learn something as complicated as sexual experience at that age, only people who wish to exploit advantages over them, can wish for anything better. My child will learn routine, structure and discipline until they can make up their own minds thank-you very much!.
Stuff the PC brigade, where will they be when the Economy collapses?. What non-job post will you fill then?.

Answer 9

unfortunatly in this politicaly correct world of ours, our children MUST have all the crap of the world shoved at them at an early age so that they are able to make an informed choice about their sexuality before they are old enough to practice it.
this is so that the sexual minoritys can have a fair share of the youth of today.
what the government and lawmakers in this country seem to have forgot is that as children (even in my day) we are fully aware of what is going on in the world, and have no need to be force fed the leftie crap that is foisted onto this country from brussells, just so that we can all be nice citizens and welcome all races and all denominations and also all the sexual deviants of the world into our lives with open arms.

Answer 10

They will learn about it eventually, regardless of what their parents think about it. You can't wrap your children in cotton wool forever.