Excerpts of special awesomeness:

The horrific result is that thousands of our children are today finding themselves abused, impregnated or poxed because they've been taught how to do it.
...
our sex education is?

I actually really hate that, when you wake up in the morning and discover you've become one flesh. It's really inconvenient. Also,?

Too many parents want the state/education-system/anyone to do all the tougher parental responsibilities and leave them free to think being a parent is all about?

It is ironic, if hugely predictable, that the people most insistent that teaching sex education is their job as parents are the ones least likely?

Don't ask me, he already had me in hysterics at "poxed". Ah Garth, reading you is like reading the Onion, just not as nuanced!

In all senses of the word?

For the purposes of reproduction only, children! Like your mother and I did!

O RLY.

As someone who's had sex ed within the last 6 years, it tends to be a mixed bag. At a private single sex school, we had the Family Planning Nurse?

Can you imagine a female schoolteacher standing before a class of 15-year-old girls and simulating for their edification the noises she makes while in the throes of sexual orgasm?

A bit too much subconscious oversharing, there, Garth....

I?m always a bit fuzzy on what I picked up through school sex education and what I didn?t, due to spending a lot of time as a child hanging around Family Planning and?

Yes, just imagine it! I'm imagining it right now, and ... I'll be, as they say, in my bunk.

And it's never too late for that. Why, just today thanks to your facebook link, I discovered more about the clitoris than seems necessary to produce female?

Come to think of it... Mazengarbism for PA Word of the Year, methinks?

You want to go to a time when none of this happened? Better head back to before humans had self awareness. Pretty sure that was when the dinosaurs were still around. I'm sure you'll fit in nicely.

On a slightly tangential note, a woman in a careers advisory class at high school told us to comb our hair before interviews, because "you wouldn't want to look like you just had a blow?

Now that's risk-taking behaviour.

I'm sort of hoping that any kids I end up having will be enough like me and my partner that we can just leave books around the place and they'll do the research themselves.

Come to think of?

I remember being given the Birds & Bees lecture by my mother at around 9 or 10. It seemed rude and embarrassing to me, but she was serious and straight faced, so I paid attention. Then she handed out literature. We read?

Is that a cop out? It's kinda what I'm hoping for but what to do when a question is posed and she's not around... "wait to ask mum" seems like it could convey unintended messages. But, as a man am I?

Gawd I forgot about that altogether. I though it was about the "bitches box", and Cecil the ram.

Gawd I forgot about that altogether. I though it was about the ?bitches box?, and Cecil the ram.

Don't forget Cooch's "cousin" Kathy.

I wrote a book and left it lying around a pub. That worked. (It?s only just?

Yep. Took us a while to work that out.

You sage. Of course, it's modern kids we're talking about after all. Send them an email...um no, too old school. Send them a tweet, with the links.

Mind you in a search for sex ed apps on the Android marketplace (there seem to be 3), I noticed an old favorite about sex, that is about sex. Karma Sutra.?

Really how would you know whether to stand up or sit down?

Because I'm feeling particularly obtuse
I'd like to put in a shout out to non-parents like me who?

I so want this to be true – is there any data?

I remember sex ed when I was and there was little in the way of really learning about anatomy, the birds and the bees etc. It was more along the lines of what these people are reporting. Talking about the different things you?

As a parent, I rely on it. Same sex relationships have been easy to explain in our?

My mother?s friends, my ersatz aunts, were of far more value to me than my actual biological aunts and uncles. I wrote half a column?

Sex education isn't a particular worry for me at the moment, but I've had issues with religion with my eldest daughter (who doesn't live with me) in relation to Mormonism. I want to be respectful of people's religious beliefs but I think it's?

Answer: "In some other galaxy, far far away..."

For a while I assumed that these days, people in their twenties were much more sexually frank, experienced and open-minded than they were when I was?

I can't help but think that "admitted" is probably the key word?

I actually really hate that, when you wake up in the morning and discover you've become one flesh.

I was actually wondering recently what the total number of fleshes would be under this system. This wiki page with poor inline citations suggests it might be one really big flesh and?

My friend Susan and I were recently discussing covert reading of Lace as a rite of passage for women our age. That and fancying David Bowie in Labyrinth, it's like carbon-dating.

My father kept a stack of penthouse mags in the toilet – that combined with the fact we grew up as nudists meant his 3 teenage sons knew a) that sex was fun for both parties and b) penis's?

The youngest person they assisted in birthing was 12. Came from a Brethren family. The most extraordinary ?precautions you take so as not to have?

The number of times Hoggle is standing next to Jareth, ergo the camera is justifiably at crotch-height...

ETA: Also, this may be relevant to your interests. (Not Safe for Actual WORK.)

Fancying David Bowie led to reading biographies of David Bowie which was quite the education (especially if one stumbled on the more salacious ones at an impressionable age).

You know what I took away from ?Labyrinth??
Fly-spraying leetle glittery-winged fairies was really OK-
been doing it ever since (saves the bluebottles, y'know.)

No, really, I was reading it for the articles. And, quite seriously, reading something written for women was probably quite useful.

It would also be fair?

There's Lego Star Wars now, that does help a little. Plastic Gods seems less plausible.

Listening to our younger boy talking himself through the existence or otherwise of God was a delight. I gave my opinion when it was requested but basically?

I think we under-estimate our sub-creativity!

The Onion "Children Exposed To Porn May Expect Sex To Be Enjoyable"

http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DY4kwk5jV2nU

Why shouldn't blokes be able to have such experiences too???

Apparently there are some subtle differences.
Buggery is a Bulgarian hobbyThe term buggery originated in medieval Europe as an insult used to describe the rumoured same-sex sexual practices of the heretics from the Buggre sect.This sect originated in?

Cunning linguistics, if I ever saw it myself. Or should that be master debating?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92jbfz9qa9M

A kind young lass had to teach me that, at a slightly later point.

I certainly hope things have?

Um , really?
And where are her parents, you, and other whanau in this scenario?

And why the shit?

Thinking talking about it is icky is probably a good sign she's not ready to be having sex yet but that's good – you should be learning about sex long before you do it, that way, when?

Heh. After under blankets reading of semi blue paperbacks it took a couple of shots to discover that a woman needed a wee bit more attention during certain activities as it became obvious that she did not burst forth in?

There's a recent study which seems to demonstrate that in the US, at least, ASD people are far more likely to be atheists or agnostics than neurotypical?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwo8qxUit00

Ok technically? Technically this was true of my school, in that we learned about anatomy and reproduction in science class. If the?

Freakin' A.

I had a conversation a year or so ago with?

And just reading it makes me laugh out loud, Bob. Jesus. Have you ever _met_ a teenager? They?

New Zealand really is a few decades behind :)

Vid possibly NSFW. Full length scene (if you go looking for it on youtube) definitely isn't safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6vjLoLtmig

Yes, but only episodes four to six. The other films don't actually exist. Not in my universe, anyway.

In my first year of university, the RA for my part of our hall – i.e. the older person there to be a fount of wisdom?

Hopefully, because that column is practically unintelligible. From it:

Ideally there should be an opt-in clause for children at school as opposed to an opt-out clause.

Like there is for religious education in many schools, right?

...but I can see how a lack of upper limbs
would preclude – or at least hamper –
the?

and by which we mean christian only

?What are you doing in there George??
?I?m working on my column?
?You are doing what??
?I?m columning, I?m columning?
"did you learn that at school dear?"

Nothing wrong with that – although the minutes could probably?

hemlines have varied naturally since Noah, don't you know

No, seriously. I love Clarisse Thorne. There?s a lot there I can?t relate to, because we had such very different sexual upbringings, but a lot of it chimes so hard for me.

?I?m columning, I?m columning?

I love a good columning.

Good grief. That really is some mad shit.

Agreed Rich! It's tough when her introduction to Star Wars is Clone Wars... oh the humanity!

and by which we mean christian only

Sacha, you might be aware the situation in NSW?

Yes, they really might have pointed out that she's a?

must. resist. responding.

would make far more sense

That feels like not even a rationalisation, cheers Jackie.

would make far more sense

We were happy for our five year old to do a couple of terms of Ba'hai on the basis that it's broadly theist?

They're still going.
NZH: Jim Hopkins: Time parents fought flawed system

Basically my job at The Lady Garden, linking to stuff Clarisse Thorne has written.

Time parents fought flawed system

Absolutely it is. The sex education curriculum should be standardised across all state schools. Just like the rest of biology.

Ah, is that a good thing?

Oh Ian, you flatter.

This is beyond ridiculous. Hopkins' column is completely mad.

To be fair, there has been one guest opinion piece in defence of sex education. But the editors have clearly worked out what's going to generate more page views.

Klaatu barada nikto

It is harmful because children are literally at the mercy of the classroom teacher, as it is up to each teacher really as to what is taught. Sure, they have "guidelines" to follow but can teachers use their own resources and "innovate" in line with?

Didn't Fred Nile do a deal with Farry O'Barrell to pull the ethics classes in NSW Paul?

I remember our Religious Instruction classes in Victoria – we called them ridiculous interruptions – but I only have very hazy recollections?

Please, is there some kind of class we could send columnists to to learn what the word "literally" means?

Because, I replied, when they are having sex, they shut their bedroom door. Clear signal.

I was?

I'm guessing most parents of young teenaged?

Sure. Which makes the Herald about as appetising as a turnip, liver, brussel sprout and bacon burger.

We?ll be signing up for ethics as soon as its available.

IMO, what Kiwi kids most need is?

that one always cracks me up.

Perceptive!

Excellent. Having studied Logic I can see how that would leave kids too confused for sex.

It's also done here, at least in the hippie schools Isabel and I send our kids to.

The deal's not entirely done or clear to be frank.

Rev Fred Nile did support Coalition legislation to cap public sector wages, which he threatened to block in the Upper House, but he's?

*only* there, I'd say

I was well impressed when my son started doing Philosophy at High School in year 9.

yes :)

Here in Denmark, there are explicit sex-education books for pre-schoolers on sale in most?

Oh, the pop-up books are out there! Although this one is much less saucy than you'd think: it's mostly pop-up foetuses.

I definitely recall forming the impression that paisley fabrics were representational in this regard. I also recall expressing this in formations such as "the tie with the sperms on". What I don't recall is having my plural?

I had no idea it was a zero sum game. But if I was a teenage boy, I?d be feeling pretty epically matron-ised right now. Here?s a crazy idea: If you treat?

The anecdotes reported in this thread are about women avoiding using them, though, unless you?re suggesting those women were?

On the issue of civics, I take your point that modeling the ideals is vital I also think being explicit about why helps. As part of the watching the?

This is good. I probably would have turned up if we had that. Hell, I would have made it a subject for my photography class. :)

I'd expect they were put off by their experiences. These would probably have involved lengthy fucking around with condoms during which they felt stink because they?

Well, that in itself may be entirely why Ben had difficulty ;)

Ben: was this really your experience of sex as a teen? A competitive sexual market? My teen experiences weren't remotely like that, but then my social circle may not have been a typical?

I think that's a fair point and I wasn't arguing against it (though I suspect the word "some"?

I had no experience of sex as a teen, so fierce was the competition ;-). But sex education isn't limited to teens. And absolutely I personally judged whether I would want to repeat with someone based on what the?

Sure, if you start to use it and then they they then insist on condomless penetration, and you're into that kind of thing?

Thankfully, I'm no longer?

Ditto.

Guys like you are the reason I got an STI & have used the morning after pill 3 times.

I don't think that's entirely fair.

If it's a physical reaction, then that really sucks, and you have my?

Well, all except the business of having an STI, which I never have. Probably all that condom use saved me from that. That's something, I guess. But relying on them for birth?

Yes, but there are elements of inequality that frequently come into play between men and women negotiating contraceptive use, men being bigger and stronger being an obvious one. The way slut stigma works is another. Pretending it's always 50/50 doesn't eliminate that.

So choosing to have sex now absolves the person you have sex with of the responsibility to not be a dick? Because that's what pressuring someone in that situation to have sex without a condom is. (Saying?

Read kindly, people.

Responsibility for what happens in a?

When contraception has been available, it's almost always women who've been expected to sort it out and put up with the inconvenience and side effects. I'd wager that amongst heterosexuals, it's also mostly women who get routine STI tests.

Is it so unfair?

That was my point.Everyone could take responsibility and the kids I've helped raise all carry condoms on them, and for them it is a no brainer. So I think sex education?

I thought we all wanted equality here? I just can?t get behind blaming someone else for ones own ignorance.

We want equality. I always carry a condom.

Responsibility for what happens in a consensual sexual encounter is always shared.

Totally. Genderizing this issue isn't all that helpful. Tangentially, It?s never?

Chris, I'm not sure what you mean by this. Surely discussing gendered roles and expectations and culture is never more relevant than when we talk about sexuality? And since we have physiological differences, surely we need to compare notes about how stuff feels?

Not enough, no. Filament magazine is.

If you mean, lets not be making sweeping generalizations about people based on their gender, I?m with you on that.But I don?t think that means we can?t talk in general terms about our own experiences.

We're on the same page Lilith__, It was mainly a response to Alice's "guys like?

Yeah, hence my linking to that column?