I attended a catholic high school in England when I was a kid. I'm not a catholic, but it meant that school was perhaps a little different than a non-religious backed establishment.
Most of the classes were the same, but we had to attend mass every so often and sex education was all but non-existent.
Don't get me wrong, the teachers covered it briefly, but it was a very serious matter with just the facts at hand. We weren't taught about condoms, sexually transmitted diseases, or any of the things young people should probably be informed about.
It's something that's bugged me over the years. My generation was lucky insomuch that we could find all of this information on the internet. I can't imagine how much of a learning curve earlier generations would have had though without any guidance from the people responsible for their education.
I'm of the opinion that children should be given as much information about this kind of stuff as possible. I believe it would lead to less accidental pregnancies at an early age, and would certainly help to make people think about safe sex a little more.
But what age is too young for this kind of learning?
I have always thought that high school is the perfect age to be taught about sex. In England, high school starts at the age of 11 and ends at 16.
There's a new sex ed book, however, that has been causing quite a stir. It's called 'The Amazing True Story Of How Babies Are Made', and is written by Fiona Katauskas.
The book is supposed to be a straight-to-the-point sex ed guide aimed at children from 5 years and above.
Five?
That seems a little too young to me. Sure, you can probably discuss sex ed with inquisitive children of this age, but I'm not sure they're ready for this kind of detail:
"They might start by kissing and touching each other with their clothes off."
"For adults, it feels special and exciting, and soon the woman's vagina becomes wet and the man's penis becomes hard - a bit like the erections that little boys get, but with a very different feeling."
"The man slides his penis into the woman's vagina and their bodies fit together, rather like a puzzle."
Perhaps there needs to be a middle ground found. This book seems appropriate for slightly older children, but do we really need that much detail when we're five years old?
I guess anything that helps children to understand the circle of life is beneficial in the long run.
What are your thoughts?