Ludovico

I agree that sex education should be taught to children as soon as possible. Unlike many of the people who posted here, I had a relatively stable childhood with very progressive parents. They were still a little squeamish about discussing sex with me, but they had no problem allowing the schools to teach me. They'd answer any questions I had, even though I didn't have many. I've always been a Russell fan. The man was, IMO, the most liberal human being on the face of the earth. He believed that a child should not be ashamed of sex or nudity or anything the church thought was dirty, simply because he understood that shame breeds madness. Children who are sexually repressed and/or frightened of sex are more likely to develop psychoses, both sexual and non-sexual in nature. The more comfortable you are with your surroundings, the more comfortable you are with yourself. I don't believe that teaching abstinence is a good thing, either. Granted, it should be advocated as the favorable alternative to casual sex, but denying yourself a basic, life-driving instinct is just plain unhealthy. It has been scientifically proven that sex enhances health, lengthens lifespans, prevents impotence and reduces stress. In fact, the whole "abstinence is the safest form of safe-sex" line isn't true at all. It just reduces the risk of conception and sexually transmitted diseases.

Pandora

“How a Baby is Made” appeared on my bookshelf when I was about four years old – and was a great favourite as bedtime story reading when Granny came to stay!!

At school we were taught contraception and facts of life at about twelve. There was no insistence on being married or even being in love, but a lot of emphasis was put on mutual respect. Oral contraceptives are free in the UK and condoms are handed out at Family Planning Clinics. Not one girl at my high school became pregnant whilst I was there, and plenty of us made an informed choice to wait till we were older before going that far.

One piece of advice I once heard was a mother who told her daughter: “Don’t go all the way too soon, boys aren’t so into kissing after that!”

Captain Pedantic

I recently got a book out of the library on the subject of what people used to believe about sex. greanbean's post reminded me of it. I am almost in awe at the way fundies will try anything to support their Victorian values. I would barely be surprised if one fundie piped up that we shouldn't store books by male authors next to books by femal authors unless they were married (true story!).

Also kind of reminds me about one mentalist Christian I heard of who swore blind that he lost a testicle through masturbation. I can only assume he was masturbating with a jigsaw, or a cheesegrater.

Amen-Moses

One girl in my class got pregnant at 14, again at 15 and again at 17. She was the only girl in the class who carried rosary beads.

(she had all three children, from three different fathers - one a teacher and ended up as a 30 year old grandparent)

Amen-Moses

[ November 30, 2001: Message edited by: Amen-Moses ]</p>

lpetrich

One curious response to all the pro-abstienence piety and propaganda has been a lot of oral sex, often justified by some Clintonian rationale that it does not really count as sex.

However, oral sex does have the nice feature that it is difficult to get pregnant with it.

And masturbation is the ultimate in safe sex, yet it seldom gets discussed.

Captain Pedantic

One comment I heard on masturbation was "I do not do it because it doesn't glorify God" which the folks at the Something Awful forums thought was pretty funny.

I think that so much utter bollocks has been written about masturbation that it's been extremely hard to get feelings of guilt about it out of everyone's mind. "Scientific" papers have been written (in the Victorian/Edwardian period, but even so) about how it makes you go blind, stunts your growth, blah de blah. John Harvey Kellogg (he of Cornflakes fame) is, I suspect, a big name in the fears about masturbation. I have no evidence for this, of course, but I do think that one of the reasons why circumcision is such a widespread practise in the USA is because, originally, of fears about masturbation - as Kellogg proclaimed it to be a fine preventative for the habit.

There are almost certainly men here who can refute this

DMB

There was a young lady called Wilde
Who kept herself quite undefiled
By thinking of Jesus
Infectious diseases
And the bother of having a child

TollHouse

I can most definetly refute this.
You know what, I was 18 years old before I even know I was circumsized. Goddamn parents and their fear of any kind of sexual education...

buttercup

I think its wonderful that you belong to the program you mentioned, and I also think its wonderful that people are educating teenage mothers about how to properly care for their children. However, what is your basis for Christianity rejecting sex education?

Puttz

Christianity does not reject teaching sex education. Infact most of us want more. Like instead of telling people the simple mechanics of it, which most of them already know. Why not explain the emotional aspect, and other aspects that the liberal education wants to ignore. If anyone wants to discuss this with me further email me, because I do not have time to follow this discussion, but I did want to clear the air about what many Christians believe.