let's talk about sex, baby.

[enamoured]

Okay, so here is that poll I've been saying I was going to post.

Backstory: for my English class, we have to do a research paper and find out about any given issue and pick a side, and write a persuasive article. My topic? Comprehensive sex education. So if you all would be so kind, could you please fill out this survey for me? I want to get about 40-50 people total, so spreading the word would be really nice too, okay? Cool.

[Poll #582941]

Comments

[foxxcub.livejournal.com]

Dude, Sex Ed was just an excuse to get out of gym class. :P

My mom is what influenced me on my decisions about sex, heh.

[luxlis.livejournal.com]

Our sex ed class was really more of a 'Health' class that we took concurrent with our P.E. class. I think we did a large unit on sex ed, however, and covered contraceptives and birth control as well as STDS pretty comprehensively.

I think the reason it didn't influence my decisions on sex was because it wasn't exactly new information. I mean, we were in 7th and 8th grade at the time we took the class and had pretty well already learned all of the information covered in the class from reading teen magazines.

[mmmmgreen.livejournal.com]

I would fill it out, but I never actually had a sex education class... how sad is that?!!?!?!?

[elessar.livejournal.com]

Sex Ed was part of our Health class I believe. I got more sex education in college than I did anywhere else. From the sex lady on Oxygen ^_^

[precioustears.livejournal.com]

Since my first experience with sex ed was in 5th grade, we weren't really allowed to ask questions about birth control, abortion, STDs, and the such. It was more of learning the body parts and about your period. When I got into middle school, they focused more on abstinence only education, which I think is why in my county the teenage pregnancy rate sky rocketed in high school. We had no form of sexual education in high school. It wasn't even mentioned in our PE/Health class.

Sue on Talk Sex is probably the best resource for sex eduation. I <3 that woman!

[kituralb.livejournal.com]

I'm going to reiterate what someone else said. I didn't have a formal sex ed class, or any sort of public school sanctioned course. Everything I learned before I started having sex, I learned from sources such as 17 and young women's magazines like that. Sex wasn't even really mentioned until my junior year human anatomy and physiology class, and even then, we only touched on it in a general way, as a means to reproduce. And I was still informed and able to make the decision to have sex. It is sad that sex ed isn't a required part of the curriculum in public schools. We might avoid many of the problems plaguing teenage sexuality today.

*hops down off of the soapbox and uses her Billie Joe "masturbation" icon*

[woo2step.livejournal.com]

I didn't have a sex ed class at all, I don't think. Only the most general of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" type of unit in health back in junior high, but sex wasn't discussed at all. However, my Human Biology class will be going over the clinical aspects soon, so I will have my first experience with something resembling sex ed soon - and I'm in college. Nrgh.

[apologiesqueen.livejournal.com]

I, too, had sex education (they called it "family life") starting in fourth grade. The girls and boys were separated, and for the girls, it was mostly about our periods, body parts, and puberty. I think we had it every year after that. From sixth through tenth grades (after which we no longer took gym), it was part of our health units, and if I recall, there were some co-ed lessons and some single-sex lessons.

As we got older, they got more into sex-related topics. I think we could ask questions, but I don't really recall people asking very many. And I don't think they really taught us about homosexuality.

[cattikins.livejournal.com]

I didn't really have a formal sex ed class, but we did a sex ed unit in my high school health class, I think. It was shitty.

[particle-person.livejournal.com]

One thing that might have been a good idea to ask about is what state people are in. I bet there's a lot of regional variation in sex ed.

[euterpe.livejournal.com]

I'm 22 and I've never had a formal sex ed class, either.

We had a one day presentation about puberty in sixth grade, but there was no mention of sex. It was about our body changes and was split up by gender. In fact they did quite a bit to shield us from learning about the other sex. We weren't allowed to swap booklets with members of the other sex, and we didn't talk about it again at all afterward. I even remember when we had a movie day and watched "My Girl." They fast forwarded through the part where Vada gets her period. They made it seem quite taboo.

I think I remember talking about STDS in health in middle school, but that about covers my sex education.

There was sort of a sex education class in High School, they called it "relationships" or something like that, but it was an elective and I never took it. From what I heard about it, you were allowed to ask questions and it was pretty decent. I think it focused mainly on teen pregnancy though.

Not sure that it did much good, considering we had so many teens at school who were pregnant or had kids that we had a daycare at the school.

[hannahlulubelle.livejournal.com]

I had a sex ed unit in the eighth grade. But at the time I lived in Utah. And there they are big on waiting for marriage. So I really didn't learn all that I could have. But when I took my sex ed book home to talk to my mom about it (what we were supposed to be doing in the class) I learned a lot more, even if it was a little embarrassing at age thirteen. I think it would have been better if I had it when I was like a freshman or a sophomore. But by then some people are already having sex so I can kinda see the point of having it when they did.

[heroics.livejournal.com]

I remember in seventh grade our Health teacher telling us the 3 things we were, under no circumstances, allowed to discuss: abortion, masturbation, and homosexuality. We all thought that was sort of crazy, but looking back I realize how truly sad sex education in this country is. Basically all we did was look at pictures of male and female anatomy, but as far as I recall I don't even remember hearing "That goes there." (One can assume that by age 13 kids know that, right?) Only warnings of how sex gives you herpes and A.I.D.S, and you shouldn't do it.

[sparkleplenty03.livejournal.com]

I actually thought that the penis would just magically "fit in" the woman, and that it didn't have to be guided or anything, up until I was 16.

[magp.livejournal.com]

I think we did a stanard sex-ed thing in 5th grade. But there wasn't any talk about stds or condoms or anything; just "Here's how the biological process works."

[sparkleplenty03.livejournal.com]

We had health class in eleventh grade, and it really was just a sex ed class. Only lasted a semester, thank goodness. I was naive at the time, and my first sight of a adult penis was one covered with some sort of STD. Kinda scarred me for a while. (I wouldn't even touch my boyfriend's dick several years later.) For a project, we had to make posters of STDs and STIs and show pictures of the affected regions and display them in the hallway. Then when we did our pregnancy bit, the teacher had us strap on these pregnant bellies, and walk up and down stairs and pick up things with them and whatnot. I barely weighed 100 pounds at the time, and when I started to walk down the stairs, the weight of the belly pulled me down and I fell down a flight of about 20 stairs. For falling, I received a low grade on that project. I hated that teacher with a passion.

[sdragon.livejournal.com]

Quiz looks good (got here from thequestionclub). Maybe you could add a question about parental involvement (how permission was obtained, parental resistance, etc), because that is a factor affecting sex ed in many schools.

[upandabove.livejournal.com]

I had Sex Ed, but it was mostly pointless as I knew all of that stuff (plus a hell of a lot more) from the people around me anyway.

[littlecreep.livejournal.com]

When I got my sex ed talk I think I was 15, and it was done by my art teacher. She wasn't the art teacher for that course, but you know. She really didn't like doing the class because she wasn't allowed to say the word "gay" or anything like that and she wasn't really allowed to say the names of STD's but she did do this exersise with us to show us how easily they spread, that was really kool.

We had to watch a video, and learn how to put on condoms. We got the cucumbers because there wasn't enough fake willies to go around the classes.

If I was still in my Catholic school we would have been taught abstinence, and it would have been done by our RE teacher. We did have a discussion about adortion once, and he did tell us how you make children, but there was a strong emphasis that making babies was the only reason you have sex and that you MUST be married.

[pinstripepirate.livejournal.com]

I had sex ed starting in 6th grade and pretty much every year except for 10th- driver's ed, and 11th- first aid. I'm 17 and a senior, and I haven't had health yet. We pretty much could ask any questions that we had, but that doesn't mean we did. I don't think anyone asked questions about homosexuality, condoms or contraceptives, abortion, or oral sex. We were taught a lot about STDs, though, and I remember in 7th grade we learned what abstinence was. They told us it was the only guaranteed way of not getting pregnant or an STD, but it wasn't like it was the ONLY thing we could do.

[fraises.livejournal.com]

We started sex ed in fourth grade. In fourth grade, it was a girls only thing, and they mostly talked about the female reproductive system. Every year from then until ninth grade we had sex ed--I remember that grade eight was about aids and stds, and seventh grade was pregnancy, i believe. Ninth grade sex ed was part of our phys ed class--we we got to put condoms on bananas and passed around different methods of birth control so we would get to see up close what they look like and all that. Tenth grade sex ed was pretty much the same thing from what I remember, though I think that there was greater focus on pregnancy (like talking about how it actually happens, the hormones involved, and a detailed breakdown of the whole nine months...I believe postpartum topics were also discussed).

I thought that my school's sex ed programs were awesome.

[dzuunmod.livejournal.com]

By 'other', I mean we were allowed to ask everything. There was a question box in class that we put questions into that would serve to start discussions.

And everyone was *forced* to write at least one question so that there'd be no stigma attached to it.

[poofusgirl.livejournal.com]

For the third to last question - Other than the boxes I ticked off I can't remember what else we learned about. It was many many years ago. lol And for the third question from the top I had sex education classes in both 8th and 10th grade, but I chose the 8th grade answer since that was the first year.

[liziam.livejournal.com]

I learned almost everything from the internet.

[madscience.livejournal.com]

I am so grateful for the Internet.

[arisha.livejournal.com]

I put that I had sex ed in fourth grade because I didn't know how else to put it. In fourth grade I had a basic introduction to puberty, just a one-time thing, and before it happened the parents were informed and allowed to request that their child work on something else while the rest of the class learned about puberty. I don't know why you would pull your child out of a class like that, but I suppose they must have had their reasons. Only about three children didn't attend though. Then I switch schools and in fifth grade had another class that was about puberty but also about the body in general. There was an anonymous question box where you could ask whatever you wanted and the nurse would answer. Then I switched schools again and got the puberty talk again, this time a bit more in-depth. Like, we actually saw pictures of a uterus this time. :p

In middle school we had a class called "Family Life," and there were all different parts to it. Dealing with stress, what to do if a friend is being abused, some drug talks, and sex. I remember there was quite a bit about abstinence being the only sure protection. I don't recall anything else being brought up.

In high school, once a year a nurse came in to give a different talk about sex. I remember one was all about condoms, one was all about the pill and the morning after pill ... I don't recall abortion or oral sex ever being mentioned explicitly. Looking back on it, I can see that they were trying to give us a good education, but I don't know if it was enough. I graduated high school without knowing what a clitoris is (yes, I'm a tad on the naive side ;) ), but at the same time I don't know if I would have wanted to learn that in a room half filled with boys. The condom class was embarrassing enough as it is ... :P

So ... yeah. Good luck with your project. :)

[tortola.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to tell you thanks for posting this. I know that it's for your project, but it's really interesting to read everyone's comments and see each person's input. :)

[starlitsiren.livejournal.com]

Mine was a part of my health class. It was mostly 'these are the parts. this is menstruation. this is how sperm and eggs are made. this is what happens when they get together.'...they didn't really go into detail about *how* they get together, and we had one day devoted to putting condoms on wooden phalluses... phalli... wooden penis models... and then maybe a day and change devoted to going over the other forms of birth control. one day of the boys and girls being separated to watch videos of testicular/breast self exams. there were definitely quite a few days devoted to reasons abstinence is best, roleplaying situations in which abstinence was chosen, and that activity where you have a car with a circle or an x or nothing on it, and then start writing your name on cards... all the Xs were HIV positive, and everyone who wrote their name on an x card were now infected unless they had a circle(condom)... and everyone they had written on... and everyone they had written on.

[starlitsiren.livejournal.com]

aaaand whenever we had questions, only the really stupid kids would ask questions. like if a bread wrapper could be used as a condom. question sessions were not frequent.
i think the single most intelligent question that was asked in that class was someone asking 'okay, there's anal sex, vaginal sex, what about the other hole?'... to which the answer was no, that hole is tiny.

[mbmargarita.livejournal.com]

Here from TQC - I just want to clarify that in 5th grade I had like "puberty ed" one day, but I didn't have sex ed until health classes in like 6th and 7th grade. I'd say it was somewhere between abstinence-only and comprehensive-- there were definitely a lot of topics they weren't allowed to cover, and I'm sure abstinence was emphasized.

You should have also asked where people are from/were living when they had their education.

(Yes, I reposted this comment just to change my icon.)

[mmepompadour.livejournal.com]

I chose the high school one, because it was the one that let people ask questions about all of those topics. But I received sex education in 7th and 5th grades, too.

Despite three separate education sessions and the ability to ask questions of my rather open teacher in 11th grade, I still realized how ignorant I was when I reached human sexuality class in college. Frankly, most people there were worse off. They had very little of even the BASIC knowledge of safe sex or of human physiology, and the WERE practicing.

I also noticed most people who had more knowledge were less promiscuous, and when they DID have sex were more responsible.

[roc441.livejournal.com]

We had the whole puberty talk in fifth grade, the classes were mixed sex, although they did do one session where we split up so we could ask questions. They did talk about sex, and briefly mentioned birth control.

I got it again in a private school in eigth grade, I remember we talked mainly about std's, and everytime we tried to bring up condoms or birthcontrol we were reminded that "abstinence is the only 100% effective method" So I guess it was abstinence only.

Then I had the same thing in a ninth grade health class when I was back in public school. In retrospect I think the teacher really wanted to say something positive about birthcontrol and condoms but couldn't.

I think every useful thing I learned about sexual health came from vaginapagina

[waderapspoorly.livejournal.com]

When I had sex ed, I lived in Texas. Sex ed was "abstinence only" and "AIDS AIDS AIDS YOU WILL DIEEEEEE".

I was lucky that my parents and older sisters were so open about sex. And also I had Judy Blume books.

[lyevil.livejournal.com]

I had sex ed every year in middle school. I don't remember learning much except for "sex makes babies" and of course I learned about STDs.
We had the oppurtunity to ask questions, but as middle schoolers, we were all too embarrassed to ask.
Everything else I needed to learn about sex I learned from the media.
Oh, and at my school they mostly focus on abstinence, they don't hand out condoms...in fact, a kid got suspended for ten days for throwing condoms off the stage at prom fair.
I don't think anyone at school is less promiscuous because of sex ed, but I do think most of attempt safe sex.

[inlonging.livejournal.com]

My "other" for the discussion question is that I did not have a teacher in a sex ed class. I learned from reading materials without a teacher.

Also, I feel I was influenced by what I learned, although probably a lot more from my belief in God.

[cme2694.livejournal.com]

You should have a box for those of us that *never* had a formal sex ed class.

[madscience.livejournal.com]

I went to Christian schools K-12. My earliest sex ed was in 4th grade, and involved hamsters. We talked a little about STDs in Health & Safety class in 9th grade. Other than that, it was abstinence, abstinence, abstinence.

Unfortuately, my religious education did influence my thinking about sex. I didn't try to get laid until I was 22.

[starsprinkles.livejournal.com]

I never took an actual sex ed class, we just had two "talks" (one in 5th grade, one in I think 7th) where they split up the boys and girls of the whole grade and put us all in a room to talk about stuff (including watching videos and all that). But actually most of both of those were less about sex and more about all the fun times we were having with our changing bodies. I think the 7th grade one was sponsored by Always or something because we got these goodie bags full of pad and tampon samples.

In 11th grade bio we did a unit on reproduction and that included a bit of sex ed. I remember one day when we could basically ask anything, though the teacher didn't answer all of them. I think he was a little uncomfortable with the whole unit, heh.

That was all public school in Florida, btw.