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I recently read a question online asking about funny questions that had come up in elementary sex ed classes.
Yes, I read many hysterically funny questions and answers on that site, but the main
question as far as I’m concerned is “Where does a child get to learn some of these things?”
As parents, we are embarrassed to explain the facts of life
to our children. As teachers, we aren’t any better. The children your child
plays with certainly don’t know the answers, either. As the children get older,
and they still haven’t heard some of the sexual terms, what happens then?
I teach human sexuality in a community college and I’ve had
equally strange questions come up in class. One sweet young thing naively asked
“What’s a blow job?” Fortunately, another student gave a very concise and
accurate description that didn’t involve giggles from the rest of the class.
When I was in the hospital after delivering my first child
(many decades ago!), the woman sharing my room said she had no idea there
were “three holes down there” until she’d gotten pregnant. To my mind, there is
no excuse for this kind of ignorance.
Come on, parents! We shelter our children from “naughty”
words and acts, then wonder why they get pregnant in their early teens. We
don’t give them accurate information, so they get inaccurate and scuzzy
information from their friends, or online porn.
In class I emphasize the necessity of teaching the correct
words for penis, breast, vagina, but I also encourage the students to let the
child also learn slang terms. Allow a child to learn what happens between two
people who love each other. There is no reason to shy away from letting our
children know about life!
I blow you a kiss!
Fanny
