When did you learn about sex?
This started as a comment in Erbie's wonderful post about sex ed, and it sort of snowballed.
Apparently "The View" was all atwitter yesterday or this morning with irate callers about Barak Obama's suggestion that age-appropriate sex education could start as early as kindergarten.
I think I had a general idea of the mechanics of sex at maybe first or second grade. I learned from my best friend, who got her intel from her older brother. I dutifully passed on all that I knew to my fascinated younger siblings, using barbie dolls for demonstration.
My parents found out about our new favorite subject and corrected us on some of the mechanics, but more or less I, my best friend, and her brother had it right.
The Barbies didn't. Though they did have a lot of sex from that point forward.
I don't think that anyone's innocence was taken away, and I certainly don't think that anyone had an unnatrual or accelerated interest in sex because we knew what it was. At that age, we couldn't figure out why the hell anyone would want to do something like that. It was one of those grown up things that made no sense to us.
For most of my early childhood, my mother was pregnant. Of course I knew that a baby was inside of her body at a very early age. Her increasing belly helped me understand that I needed to get ready for (yet another*) sibling.
I don't think kids need to know how best to utilize the missionary position, or which maturbatory aides work best for them at kindergarten, but shit, kids are smarter than most people think. And they can take a hell of a lot.
It's the adults' innocence that needs to be taken away.
*For non-practicing, my parents sure took some parts of Catholic dogma to heart...:D
Apparently "The View" was all atwitter yesterday or this morning with irate callers about Barak Obama's suggestion that age-appropriate sex education could start as early as kindergarten.
I think I had a general idea of the mechanics of sex at maybe first or second grade. I learned from my best friend, who got her intel from her older brother. I dutifully passed on all that I knew to my fascinated younger siblings, using barbie dolls for demonstration.
My parents found out about our new favorite subject and corrected us on some of the mechanics, but more or less I, my best friend, and her brother had it right.
The Barbies didn't. Though they did have a lot of sex from that point forward.
I don't think that anyone's innocence was taken away, and I certainly don't think that anyone had an unnatrual or accelerated interest in sex because we knew what it was. At that age, we couldn't figure out why the hell anyone would want to do something like that. It was one of those grown up things that made no sense to us.
For most of my early childhood, my mother was pregnant. Of course I knew that a baby was inside of her body at a very early age. Her increasing belly helped me understand that I needed to get ready for (yet another*) sibling.
I don't think kids need to know how best to utilize the missionary position, or which maturbatory aides work best for them at kindergarten, but shit, kids are smarter than most people think. And they can take a hell of a lot.
It's the adults' innocence that needs to be taken away.
*For non-practicing, my parents sure took some parts of Catholic dogma to heart...:D