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You know, my school system couldnt stop talking about sex awareness, like safety and such. through the grades of 8th grade to 12th grade-we had 4 required coarses that had to deal with sex-awareness, sex-safety, etc. I got so bored of it. It was like taking the same coarse over and over again.

So, from my perspective, the message of sex-education is strong and sex-safety/awareness is stronger. And they are certainly not afraid to teach it.

As far as school shouldnt teach it and parents should-I dont think so. Some parents become very uncomfortable talking about it and sometimes the child is even more uncomfortable hearing the info come from their parents.

Originally posted by HighLordDave
@C Elegans:
Americans don't like to talk about sex. There is even controversy about whether sex ed should be taught in schools at all. The people who don't want to teach sex ed or contraception or venereal diseases are generally fundamentalist Christians who think that by not talking about it, kids won't do it. This is, of course, a big crock of hooey reserved for people who don't live in the real world. Plus, these folks don't want people to have abortions, so the kids who are having unprotected sex and are uninformed about its consequences are being left to raise children without any social net and a belief system that wants to teach only abstinence preaching at them.

Which is better, not talking about it or making a joke out of the important issue, you only have to look at British comedy to see how we behave around the issue of sex, a little joke here and there is all well and good but there is an ingrained repression about sex in this country so everyone just makes a joke out of it, either that or it is made tawdry.

On the subject of fundamentilist Christians, i heard a report on the radio ages ago about the Catholic church in Ireland, apparently they are having great problems with the female populace becoming pregnant. The problem lies in the absolute contradiction of their message, this is their message as it stands:

1) Go out and procreate
2) You mustn't have sex outside marriage
3) You can't use contraception
4) We abhor abortion

So anyone who want's to experiment a little before ending up in a relationship with someone who is wrong for them isn't allowed to because the rules prohibit it...sorry if it sounds like i am bashing the Catholics only, this isn't just their doctrine, but this is the only direct example i have.

2) You mustn't have sex outside marriage

Remember when this was a staple moral value in religeous behavior? It seems times have changed, eh?

It seems the original conversation is being steered toward sex, what else is new?

Back towards the topic, I went to a co-ed primary school and a boys-only secondary school. Sure, we had several girls schools nearby, and even in the senior years certain lessons were taken with girls from another school, but I still think that especially between the age of 10, when I started in a single-sex school, and about 14 when I started becoming seriously interested in girls, I lost quite a lot of the social skills for talking to members of the opposite sex...once there were no more girls around and I wasn't forced into contact, as a pre-teen boy who thinks that girls are pretty much icky I had little contact until much later. The fact that I didn't have a sister or any close friends who had sisters meant that I hardly had any contact with girls for those 4 years. If I had been in a co-ed school, I would have been unable to avoid girls and would have had to continue to develop the skills Apart from the 'male bonding' thing, which isn't as bad as it sounds in most cases , there aren't really that many arguments for single-sex schools - as for the concentration argument, teenagers don't concentrate full stop, whether they are trying to impress or not...

@Kameleon My points exactly. I think you just added on to my early comments and you can compare first hand because youve been in both types of schools. See, thats exactly what I thought. The seperation between sexes really lowers the chances of having the experience at relationships and meeting those of the opposite sex.

Originally posted by Tybaltus
Remember when this was a staple moral value in religeous behavior? It seems times have changed, eh?

You should look back for the Marriage Vs Partnership thread started by Link master Beldin, that covers a lot of that discussion, feel free to bump it (it is a long one though ) What i will say about that, in theory it is a perfect idea, the problem of course (with most things) is the people involved, the logical extreme of the idea can lead to people being stuck with the completely wrong partner and due to guilt they will not leave the marriage.

@Kam, you and me both son, i missed out on socialising with my age group, although i did instead spend my time with people upwards of 25 (all the way to 80) which made me a better person

As kam says, teenagers don't pay attention in class regardless of the sex of pupils involved, make the lesson interesting and they might, but the education board haven't quite cottoned onto that one yet

Yeah, Tybaltus, you're right, you did say it...

Originally posted by Tybaltus
I mean if I didnt go to a co-ed high school, I would have missed out on a lot of friends, and not to mention a couple of dates and the prom.

This was probably the sentence I agreed with most in anyone else's posts...

http://www.singlesexschools.org lays out the case for single sex schools.

Originally posted by PosterX
http://www.singlesexschools.org lays out the case for single sex schools.

I'm just going to bed, so this is briefly, but that site contains a lot of misinformation about girls and boys brains. The site claims that girls and boys brains differ greatly, and that because of this, learning styles differs greatly. This is a highly unscientific and unfounded statement, and they also use selective references as well as erranous interpretation of scientific data. For instance, the fact that the corpus callosum is thicker in the female than male brain, is not known to cause any functional differences. As a neuroscientist, I know the studies they are referring to, and I am quite disgusted by the way this website draw totally erranous conclusions from good studies. They show off their total ignorance in how the brain works and how learning works - what kind of site is that? I hope they are not in any way connected to or have an impact on, any education system seeing how misinformed they are.

Originally posted by HighLordDave


This was not my experience many years ago. In fact, after STD day, I think many people were willing to swear off sex for life. If there's one way to make people not want to be sexually active, it's to pass around pictures of genital warts.

I think kids are more apt to mock other kids who proclaim abstinence than teachers.

*hug* Yes, that may be your experience, in truth similar to mine as well.

I am relating the 'information' that has been passed to me by concerned people... It frustrates me mainly because my sister is a teacher and I don't think they understand the effort she gives to their children (the effort many teachers give)...


*sighs* Ah well, back to the topic subject.

Viv

I have gone to a co-ed school all my life. This stated, the female gender composes a goodly portion of my time. I am, by nature, a teenage male. Looking at linolium makes me want to have sex. Therefore, removing women from a school would do little to nothing to halt my interest in them. In fact, it would probably heighten it. Any time saved in the classroom by removing "distractions" would invariably be lost during my after school escapades. Interaction between genders is important, their only 1/2 the world. School is about so much more then academic learning.

The Linkmaster strikes again !

Originally posted by HighLordDave
<snip> if we fail to acknowledge the root cause of teenage pregnancy and STD infections: ignorance. And the best way to combat ignorance is through education.

Here we go - Information you want, information you get .

SIECUS Fact Sheet on Teen Pregnancy.

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

RECAPP - Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention - be sure to check out this statistic


No worries,

Beldin

I agree with Obs, I went to a co-ed school whilst a cousin of mine went to an all-girls private school. All social functions (such as proms) were done with a nearby boys school. And they both were the most obnoxious immature people that I had ever meant. The sexual tension was shocking to the point where supervision would be needed in the toilets, and this was often left to some poor employee of the establishment to stand in the toilets the entire night. This was a Catholic school too. Now compare this to the government school which I chosed to go to, and the maturity is just so impressive to behold.

Originally posted by Tamerlane
I agree with Obs, I went to a co-ed school whilst a cousin of mine went to an all-girls private school. All social functions (such as proms) were done with a nearby boys school. And they both were the most obnoxious immature people that I had ever meant. The sexual tension was shocking to the point where supervision would be needed in the toilets, and this was often left to some poor employee of the establishment to stand in the toilets the entire night. This was a Catholic school too. Now compare this to the government school which I chosed to go to, and the maturity is just so impressive to behold.

Yes - in a co-ed school you have to be mature to avoid embarrassment at least, in single sex schools all we did was sit around calling each other gay all day...

Originally posted by Kameleon


Yes - in a co-ed school you have to be mature to avoid embarrassment at least, in single sex schools all we did was sit around calling each other gay all day...

That's what a lot of guys did at my high school, even though it was co-ed...

Originally posted by Ode to a Grasshopper
That's what a lot of guys did at my high school, even though it was co-ed...

Why am I not surprised...

Originally posted by Ode to a Grasshopper
That's what a lot of guys did at my high school, even though it was co-ed...

Mybe it's one of those "male bonding" things - it happens to everyone at a certain age that no matter what you do someone in the class calls you "gay" , or is called "gay" by others....

Adolescent males are every bit as unbearable as adolescent girls. . .

Originally posted by Beldin
Mybe it's one of those "male bonding" things - it happens to everyone at a certain age that no matter what you do someone in the class calls you "gay" , or is called "gay" by others....

I recall this happening to an aquaintence of mine if High school, back then i wasn't as strong willed as i am now, i tended to flow with the social circle i happened to be in at the time.

He made enemies of someone and was then being called gay for a supposed incident that was just him accidently looking at some other guys posterier in gym class, he also liked to spend more time around women than men, and at that age most boys were just jealous of his contact with women. Anyway it followed him for the next 3 years, every bloke ostracised him, even me for a while, i still talked to him but everyone was always cold around him after that...not a nice situation...Beldin is definately right, sometimes it is in jest, other times it can be horrible.

Originally posted by Beldin
Mybe it's one of those "male bonding" things - it happens to everyone at a certain age that no matter what you do someone in the class calls you "gay" , or is called "gay" by others...

Yeah, male bonding can be fun...not as much fun as female bonding, though

@Tamerlane, I'm really quite surprised that they needed guards in the toilets I suppose the huge difference comes that you're in Oz, and I'm in England...

Originally posted by Kameleon

as much fun as female bonding,

Never heard about that. IS there such a thing as "female bonding" (and - no I'm NOT refering to tying each other up !) .

It has always seemed to me that girls/women were somewhat jealous of the male "brotherhood".

Or did I fail to get the joke here ?

No worries,

Beldin