What is sex ed like in the middle schools where you live?

[Danmel]

My daughter came home from school today and told me she learned all about contraception. And she did- condoms, female condoms, diaphragms, the pill. She was taught which help prevent the spread of STDs and which only help prevent conception. She was taught that abstinence is the only 100% sure way of avoiding conception, but that you can get STDs thru other sex acts. Her teacher even joked around a bit to cut the tension in the room. (She is in 8th grade and we live on Long Island).

I was perfectly fine with it- she needs to know this stuff and so do all the other kids (she obviously feels OK talking to me because she told me all tis stuff ) but not every kid has parents they can talk to.

What is it like where you are? Is it abstinence only? Can parents "opt out"?

[Modem Butterfly]

1. I am in Cobb County, GA

I hestitate to even ask.

[Warpy]

2. I'm afraid kids here in NM are getting the government

approved, wingnut authored pack of lies called abstinence education.

If you want to find out just how awful this is, pick up a copy of the February Harper's. They've excerpted part of the horseshit they're feeding these kids. It's worse than the crap we were taught in high school "hygiene" classes 40 years ago!

Anybody who has kids out there getting these classes needs to swallow their embarrassment and discomfort and let their kids know the school is lying to them, and set them straight. Otherwise, they're going to get disinformation from the school and misinformation from their peers and end up pregnant, infected, or dead.

[Betsy Ross]

4. Can they opt out of abstinence only classes? n/t

[Reverend_Smitty]

3. I went to a Catholic school...

for 7th and 8th grades so there wasn't much in the sex-ed department(but I already knew about sex etc...my mother is a very open person). In high school our sex education programs covered all of that stuff, birth control, STD's (they even had a guy from the department of health come out and give a lecture). I think they did this in 11th and 12th grades which is too late IMHO.

On edit: I went to school in New Jersey

[Selteri]

5. The teachers were afraid to answer questions

When I went through sex ed just a bit more than 15 years ago. I asked lots of questions and rather than look up the answers I was shoved aside.

In Private School, which I attended up to the 6th grade, did not discuss sex other than basically stating that every act lead to consequences and only told us three. Pregnant, Infectious or Dead.

On a semi related subject - In Public Schools they pushed DARE at me, throwing out things that I can honestly say are partially or completely a lie, including that Marijuana kills countless people - With no death ever attributed to Marijuana that isn't tained by poisons at 0 it is indeed countless.

In Private School I was shown horror films and ranted about how this stuff lead both down the path of sin and corruption and that it would also lead to Pregnancy, Disease and Death before going to hell. I even saw a really low budget 30s type film where some guy takes a puff from a joint, hallucinates he's a werewolf and proceeds to slaughter a party.

At present Toledo Ohio is Spewing Abstenance Edutainment for it's Public and many of it's private schools though, surprisingly, one Catholic High School is teaching normal sex ed, too bad it's too seniors so it's a bit late.

Common Sense, I find as I get older, is not online neither Common nor Sense; but, truly amazing when people react to seeing it applied as though it were some miraculious contrivance. Perhaps this explains the Bush Voter.

(Edit for spelling)