At what age should schools introduce Sex Education classes to pupils [ENDS 8/08/2010]

[Hecktix]

At what age should schools introduce Sex Education classes to pupils?
Ends: 8th August


With teenage pregnancy rates soaring, the question of when schools should introduce sex education classes to pupils has been floating around. This debate is about discussing when in a childs education should they first be introduced to sex education classes, should it be in Primary School (ages 5-11yrs), Secondary School (12-16) and which ages specifically, what specifics should they be taught? Should it be a progressive system, i.e. learn X when you are 12, Y when you are 13 etc. Should schools provide sex education at all?

The debate is all yours!

[Superior]

Right at the start of secondary school. This is because secondary school is when sexual relationships may begin to start with all the feelings from puberty and if they don't know enough about it then the consequences could be terrible.

[Nicola]

Right at the start of secondary school. This is because secondary school is when sexual relationships may begin to start with all the feelings from puberty and if they don't know enough about it then the consequences could be terrible.

Agreed with this. Start it in year 7, they'll probably go through the whole "ewww" phase but they'll be thanking teachers later when they get to the stage where they need to know what's going on.

I think that they should be taught most of it in year 7 but they should still go over it in years 8, 9, 10 and 11.

[Special]

i think mine started in like year 5 lol and it was way to early all i kept doing was laughing

but yeah year 7 i think only with the basic stuff, then year 8 cover all you need to know

[GommeInc]

Hmm, I remember having it in Year 5 as a sort of quick topic, but as above, Year 7 is ideal because that's when life slowly starts to change for everyone. In Year 5 you look at where babies come from in brief, then in Year 7 you go straight into looking at it in a bit more detail. It depends how you look at it really, the system I went through were you look at condoms in Year 11 was fine, as it goes alongside the law about sexual intercourse at 16, but for some this may not seem enough and the earlier you look at condoms, babies, STIs and STDs the better.

Perhaps they could do what they do with science and citizenship subjects (PSHE?) where it's covered briefly every year, with science looking at it in great detail while in PSHE it's looking at the social and physical changes (science looks at how it develops, PSHE looks at the simple facts and figures etc).

I think that makes sense?

[lTraditional]

I remember right back in Year Six and Five (My memory is good LOL) we learnt about babies ect in Year Five and then we learnt about puberty and condoms and periods ect in Year Six which i think is maybe abit to young because i am sure most sensible children won't have sex untill they are older and not at 10/11!! Year Seven and Year Eight i think is the best time to learn it in my opinion.

[sammy]

I started learning it in Year 6, mainly just laughed throughout. It was on the basics. Covered it again in Year 7 and we went into MUCH more detail, I thought it was disgusting at the time and yeah i dreaded the lessons xD. I think it should be mainly learned in Year 8, with the basics being taught in Year 7. Obviously then it needs to be covered more in Years 9, 10 & 11.

[Inseriousity.]

Start of secondary school. I think the problem is not when they start sex education, it's how they teach it. My sex education was crap. It was left to science and became more of a biology lesson. "draw a penis and label it", "draw a vagina and label it" hmmmm... 4 years later. today, we're gonna learn about... STDs!"

[Matthew]

i think that the basics should be taught in year 7, and then it should be taught in more detail in year 8, mainly for the reasons above.

i think primary school is too young, i remember being taught about sex in year 6 and all the class did (me included) was laugh and joke about it.

year 7-8 is probably the best time to start because at this time itll be more relevant to whats actually going on, and the pupils will hopefully be mature enough by that time to learn about it.

should still go through to years 9 10 and 11 though.

[Tash.]

I personally think year 6 is the right time, year 6 should signify when a kid is moving on to bigger and better things and with that should come this responsibility and knowledge. Thats when I first remember it being mentioned in any detail to us and packs handed out for the girls with things about periods etc and I think that was early enough. We all laughed in year 6, though we were split into boys and girls in my school when that happened and the detail was at a minimum. I do think it needs to be revisited in increasing detail throughout secondary school because really how much do you take seriously in year 6 and below? In the end though, you can tell some people about contraception, STD's and the likes until your sick of saying it and some people just do not listen.

[Apple]

I remember it starting at the end of year 6, preparing us all for the more serious sexual education in year 7 I'd presume. So I'd probably say it should start around the time when most of the pupils are around the age of 12/13, getting into more detail year by year as they get older.

[MrPinkPanther]

Year 5/6. People start puberty at different times and quite a lot of people will start around this age, they need to understand what is going on.

[ihatehash]

I think it should start in Year 7, but not necessarily about the anatomy of the penis/vagina but how to say no, or how to put on a condom. I was never taught either of these, but instead had about 25 10 year olds laughing the whole time and causing disruption. It ended up being a waste of time.

[Moh]

I didn't really learn anything at school. Year 5 was too young, nobody really paid attention. Then the next one was in year 9 or 10 which we already knew.

So year 7/8 would be the best I guess.

[Sharon]

I'd say Year 7. My brother is 7 and he's being taught the basics already. In Year 3 I'd already watched a VIDEO of naked men and women and their child.

With Year 7 they should cover the body and relationships. In Year 8 at our school we're already taught how to use a condom. It should get more advanced every year. But Year 11 everyone should know what it is like to be a parent; how dangerout STD's are; All parts of the body; How to use protection and so on.

[louder]

did mine in year 5, which made me 9.
there's nothing wrong with the way i've handled my sex life either.

i think there should be a lot more sex education in secondary schools.
but starting in year 5 is all good.

[HotelUser]

When you're around 12/13 (I can't go by years because we have a different education system in Canada). I also think they should always have separate lessons for males and females.

[louder]

When you're around 12/13 (I can't go by years because we have a different education system in Canada). I also think they should always have separate lessons for males and females.

12/13 is year 8.
that's pretty late though, seeing as i lost my virginity at 13.

and we did in our school.
there were joint lessons, boys lessons & girls lessons.

i think the system works fine.
sex education, or lack of hasn't caused pregnancy levels to rise.
all that ever did was teach us about erections, periods & we watched a woman give birth (on a video). 8-)
it raises awareness so you know you're not an absolute freak.

if we didn't have it, it would just mean we'd all be really worried when we bled from our vaginas. 8-)

[HotelUser]

12/13 is year 8.
that's pretty late though, seeing as i lost my virginity at 13.

and we did in our school.
there were joint lessons, boys lessons & girls lessons.

i think the system works fine.
sex education, or lack of hasn't caused pregnancy levels to rise.
all that ever did was teach us about erections, periods & we watched a woman give birth (on a video). 8-)
it raises awareness so you know you're not an absolute freak.

if we didn't have it, it would just mean we'd all be really worried when we bled from our vaginas. 8-)

Oh dear. Here we had two one hour sessions when we were 14 with the school nurse. Both were unisex and during one we watched real life footage of how STIs affect the body. A boy passed out :P

[Apple]

When you're around 12/13 (I can't go by years because we have a different education system in Canada). I also think they should always have separate lessons for males and females.
I agree with this. When they are together they spend most of the time feeling embarrassed and laughing rather than learning, when they are split up they are usually a tiny bit more comfortable with it but are still likely to laugh and feel a little embarrassed but thats natural.

[DannLea]

I firmly believe that all children should be taught abstinence in primary school, as early as grade 3.
I know, its a bit early, but where I live, some children are starting to get into relationships (although not very serious) at ages 7 - up.
I think they should start learning about the pros of sex in High School, that way no one can blame school for their kids getting pregnant. :)

Thats just my 2 cents worth!

[louder]

I firmly believe that all children should be taught abstinence in primary school, as early as grade 3.
I know, its a bit early, but where I live, some children are starting to get into relationships (although not very serious) at ages 7 - up.
I think they should start learning about the pros of sex in High School, that way no one can blame school for their kids getting pregnant. :)

Thats just my 2 cents worth!

abstinence is absolute rubbish. no-one should be taught it, no matter what.
kids don't have relationships at 7. they say they're going out with eachother & it means nothing.
everyone did it. why so serious?

[Jamiie]

Year 5 Mine started and i don't think anyone had any idea what the women was
talk about
But i think it should start at Year 7 , Even if it just a little bit
Just build it up but with mine i had it like year 7,8,9 and it went it 10 and 11 Spose
we all knew but it wasn't much education anyways.

[Jessicrawrr]

At the beginning of secondry school is when they should be taught the basics, but then all the way throughout their secondry school life they should have a section of a science lesson where they revise it and learn more as they get older.

[-:Undertaker:-]

It should be changed from sex education based mainly around pregnancy to sex safety and the graphic basis of what happens rather than describing it as 'two people who love eachother' when really that often is not the case. The pregnancy information and birthing information should be seperated in science class as its not really relevant or memorable for most people. I think it should start in Year 6 (as mine first did) with the basics and go into detail in Year 7 - infact after Year 7 and Year 8 it should be finished and no longer needed to be taught.

Or perhaps better, as you can not rely on all science teachers to be as graphic as often is needed - have a book with all the information in and hand them out in Year 7 - any questions can be raised with parents or teachers if need be.

[Catzsy]

I think for the younger children love and relationships should be first on the agenda and then maybe just before secondary school perhaps a bit more about the 'mechanics' then after that it should continue.

[Gibs960]

Right at the start of secondary school. This is because secondary school is when sexual relationships may begin to start with all the feelings from puberty and if they don't know enough about it then the consequences could be terrible.
I think they should start in year 6 but go into a lot more detail in yr 7, just because of the reason in this quote. :)

[Richie]

I don't understand the uk school years but I say at about 11, 12 or 13 'cause thats when most of them get into stuff like that.

[RedStratocas]

I firmly believe that all children should be taught abstinence in primary school, as early as grade 3.
I know, its a bit early, but where I live, some children are starting to get into relationships (although not very serious) at ages 7 - up.
I think they should start learning about the pros of sex in High School, that way no one can blame school for their kids getting pregnant. :)

Thats just my 2 cents worth!

abstinence education is absurd, i dont understand how people still think its a good idea. there's piles of research that shows its 100% ineffective, studies have shown that kids who pledge abstinence are just as likely to have sex as those who dont. how about we stop pretending kids will stop wanting to have sex if we warn them not to? they wont ever listen, so might as well spend our time educating them on the inevitable than trying to prevent it.

anyway i think around 12 or 13, maybe ease into more detail year by year. i know i started basic sex ed when i was 10 but i really didnt understand hahaha. we had real sex ed i think when i was 13.

[Jessicrawrr]

My school started in Year six, but we're all really too childish to understand it all then, it should be tought only in secondry upwards

[Nemo]

I think when i got taught (year 5) was the right time. Everyone pretty much knew what sex was, but perhaps we were a bit too immature to take it fully in. What i think should happen is that sex is taught throughout the school years (from year 5 upwards) and get rid of pointless subjects like citizenship, or atleast put it into that.

[Java]

I would say at the start of secondrary school. So everyone has a better understanding.

[Fallen]

I believe they should start teaching sex eduaction right at the start of secondary school (year 7) as pupils will then start to maybe have relationships and maybe they would start to contemplate having sex, or any kind of sexual contact.

[Nemo]

I believe they should start teaching sex eduaction right at the start of secondary school (year 7) as pupils will then start to maybe have relationships and maybe they would start to contemplate having sex, or any kind of sexual contact.
Woah what, sex in year 7, you do realise that's age like 12

[Hayleigh]

I had my first one in about year 5 i was a bit disturbed we had to watch a baby being born etc. Although i know a few of us were at puberty then i dont feel watching that video was right then. But i do that that the classes are good as a one of maybe 3 times a year. That was in middle school, Now in high school we study it in biology i have sin ce watched another 2 babies being born videos and this time everyone understood it more and didnt laugh like we did back in year 5. I am now going into year 9 , most of the people have now started puberty etc so i think its very useful .

[.Devilish..]

Every year since the start of primary school we did a little booklet.
At Year 1 it started out as God creating the world and people
Then year 2 it was how we felt about ourselves.
Year 3 was talking about plants and how they live (breifly introducing the sexual parts of a flower)
Year 4 was talking about birds lives and how they breed.
Year 5 was talking about rabbits.
Then Year 6, the booklet was in quite deep detail about humans having sex.
Also in year 6 we had to do worksheets about labelling stuff and also we watched a few videos , telling us about puberty and stuff.

Then in Year 7 we didn't do anything at all.
Then in Year 8, we had a quick talk about STD's since we were having our cervical cancer jabs.

I think it should be taught in the begginging of secondary school, continuing on with the booklets used in primary school. I like the system of the booklets as , when the child gets older they get introduced into more detail.

[Rock]

I was never taught it in Primary School and everyone else had (sorry not sure what "year" it is in the English system because I live in Scotland) so when I went to Secondary I felt pretty dumb when everyone knew. But luckily I got it in my first year there so it was fine.

In my opinion all schools should have a set year when it is done, and it should be done at the end of Primary.

[Arron]

when puberty starts

[wizzhan00]

well my school dose it in year 6 but i think mabye at the end of year 7 they should do it

[Lew]

Still not had Sex Ed.
going into year 9 when we go back.. probs get it then.. but my school is so sh*t we probably wont get it at all

[,elaboratedolls]

We were first intrudeced to puberty in Year 4 but as my class though they were all mature and stuff they thought they had already hit (well some actually had xD). We got intrudeced to sex education at about late Year 5? or something like that, early year 6.