Night Strike wrote:PLAYER57832 wrote:BUT ... look at nightstrike's argument above. To him, simply talking about homosexuality in schools means it is being "promoted". That IS bigotry, not sense. and I shed no tears if that kind of nonsense is struck down and disallowed. We are all richer for less hatred.
I'm actually against all form of sexuality being taught in schools. Sexual matters should remain between the child and parent and should have nothing to do with school (except for counselors who the student seeks out when they need help).
OK, I am glad you clarified. I still disagree, but it is different than saying you are against only one type of conversation.
Night Strike wrote: A great rule of thumb I heard: things that a 40 year old man would get in trouble for saying to a pre-teen child in the park should not be taught in public schools. That obviously includes discussions of sexuality, not just homosexuality.
Except the things taught in school are not really things that a 40 year old man would get in trouble for saying to a child in a park. Folks just imagine that is what is being taught.
What is taught in school are "mechanics". The specific biology, for males and females. Typically, there are seperate classes with a movie for girls and boys, beginning around 9-10, that go into what happens in puberty for each, sometimes they go into the basic facts, sometimes that comes a year or two later. Sometimes the kids can ask questions, but they are usually limited to very specifics, such as which adult staff to see if there is a problem, where certain things might be found (for girls), etc. Anything that even broaches on morality is answered with "that you need to talk to your parents about". In CA, parents have to give permission for their kids to attend and they know the exact day and time, and it is expected that the parents will follow up. Often, they have a seminar for the parents in advance (they definitely to in high school, where the classes are more involved). That pretty much covers it through junior high, but it tends to be repeated every year.
Then, in high school, there is talk more specifically about not just the mechanics, but the development of a fetus, STDs, usually birth control is covered and often abortion. In my class we had a fair contingent of anti-abortion advocates in the class. The teacher pretty much just steered us back to the facts, but gently. That is, kids were allowed to express opinions, but it had to stay decorous. No shouting matches or anything close. Homosexuality may or may not be mentioned, along with condoms, birth control, etc. In CA, I believe these classes were mandatory for high schoolers, unless the parents had a specific religious exemption.
It was about as far from what is illegal to tell kids in the park as you can get and still stay on the subject.
Night Strike wrote:The current problems with the reasons why teaching homosexuality is being promoted in schools is to indoctrinate to the students that it is an acceptable lifestyle, even though many families (and most from religious backgrounds) will teach that it's not. It's another way the progressives are using the public schools to indoctrinate the students to ignore their parents and do whatever they want to do. Parents should be raising kids, not schools.
This is just plain wrong. EXCEPT that most schools, becuase of the high prevalence of suicide and specific problems with gay teens will give kids some places they can go if they have questions or need to talk about stuff with someone other than their parent. The thing is, at this age, kids are thinking for themselves and, the fact is that many kids are being failed by their parents. If the parent is doing a good job, no child will go to a stranger. They are not being "recruited" as you seem to believe. If they are, then it is something absolutely wrong and the people doing it need to go to jail. BUT, if you have not taught your son/daughter your values by the time they are in high school, enough that they won't engage in sex, etc..then they need to know how to at least not get pregnant, not contract a life threatening STD.
Basically, the question to ask parents is should going behind their back be a death sentence? If you answer "no", then you see why sex education, real education is important in the schools. No, schools are not about teaching religion. That IS the parent's job, but a school is about teaching facts. A child who thinks that you cannot get pregnant the first time may go ahead and try that "one time"..and, well, may wind up with a permanent result.
