This was a statement by Troper8 in the Gun Control Thread:

"Proper instructions for the kids are necessary, I concur to that to many accidents happens due to irresponible parents that just ignore that they got dangeroues materials at home. This is true for any potential dangers in a home, be it household chemicals, alcoholic beverages or in your case guns. They still needs to be kept in a safe place but only hiding them is a dangerous tactic, the kids are bound to find it at some point and do their own experimenting and the result can be tragic indeed. I guess that your work related reasons for owning guns shows that you are probably working in the police or some other security related profession but I do hope that you have bought those "tools" out of your own free will or you have a very weak union. Employers are supposed to provide all necessary tools their employees needs. "

There are some very profound statements in this post that I feel also cover other areas. The jist of this post is that educating kids about the proper uses of guns, and this is true for any potential home dangers. This view on gun control is held by many conservatives and gun enthusiasts I've spoken to.

So my question is this: For those of you who share this sentiment on Gun Control, what are your views on sex education?

-Demosthenes

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"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

This part actually comes from me, your quoting a quote Demosthenes.

Now may opining about sex education in schools:

Either we tell the kids about it or they will find out for themself. The schools need to them them what it is all about. Tell them of the need for contraceptives since absentee instructions just don't work. At the most you could have a system that tells them that: You are still to young for this but if you HAVE to do it, make sure to use proper protection. Condoms also needs to be easily available since they are a superior protection method that not only reduce the risk for pregnancies but also reduce the spreading of sexually transmitted decides. There is no such thing as "underage" to buy a pack of condoms. Well the law may disagree but if so, then the law is wrong and needs to be changed. If they are going to do it, make sure that they got the proper tools. The schools should actually teach them not only to use a condom but also how to use them. Make sure that they know by letting them trying it out themself on a model so there will be no mistakes when they eventually do it for real.

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Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he doesn't become a monster.
Friedrich Nietzsche

So you believe that, as in the case of education on guns, the best possible plan is to educate the children and prepare them the best we possibly can to make responsible decisions?

-Demosthenes

__________________
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Demosthenes you created this thread to lift that question out of the gun thread, now you reconnects to it. For guns I am for talking about guns in the schools. Let a police officer visit the kids and show them his/her own gun, then show them the dangers with guns. Let the police be assisted by someone that has been wounded by a guns, someone that can tell them about the danger. The whole point is to make the kids understand that guns are NOT toys. Still, visiting a firing range may be a fun thing to do. The idea should then be to make sure that they connects the use of guns to proper situations and places (like the fireing range). We could have a famioues sport shooter demestrating there. Let me give an anology with cars:

All knows that we are not supposed to drive cars in peoples gardens. Cars belong on the roads. Cars can also sometimes be driven in terrain but this is an rare occation that require the use of a special car and a good reason for driving off road since. In any case you needs a proper driving licence. The idea is to get the kids to make the same connection for guns, or sex or whatever.

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Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he doesn't become a monster.
Friedrich Nietzsche

I think that sex education is school should be a required class. There are way too many kids that have too many questions, getting answered by the wrong medium. The wrong medium I refer to is things such as misinformed friends, T.V., movies, music videos, etc. the list goes on. Once again the American public is pushing their responsibility onto the educational system. They want the schools to raise and educate their children for them. I think that if parents would take a more active role in the lives of their children, then there would be a lot less teen pregnancies, and kids would wait longer before experimenting with sex. I am not supporting abstinence for high school kids, nor am I against it, I think it comes down to each individual to make that choice. If they are given the proper instruction then they will make the right choice, whatever that may be. As for the condoms being available at school, I think that is a good idea, but needs some reform. I think that if the school is to provide condoms, then the school should take some responsibility. I think that if a person wants condoms from the school, then they should be required to attend a class on relationships, responsibility, and diseases, and how they are spread. I think this will make some people think about what they are doing, before they do it. I would only require the person to go through this class once a year, not every time they wanted condoms.

I think that parents have become so self absorbed that they hire nannies, and au pairs to raise their kids for them. Now having a baby-sitter once or twice a week for a few hours of quite time for the parents, I think is ok. The parents know, or should know what interests or curiosities, their kids have, and can influence the childern correctly.

Thank you for responding. I am in full agreement with your views and this issue and appreciate you taking the time to put them forward. I am also glad that you did not fall in the trap.

-Demosthenes

__________________
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

mandatory sex education is laughable. Have you ever sat through one of these? i did, in 8th grade- the kids never paid attention past the 'how to' part to learn about responsibility. They wont take it seriously or pay attention unless their parents teach them.

I'm not sure how long ago you had sex ed. but it's been awhile for me. I think that mandatory sex ed. is definitely the way to go. I think is needs to be updated and maybe revised, but the information is still very vital to people that age.

it was only about four years ago. i am still in highschool. Sure the kids werent asleep but after the 'how to' part of the lesson they were so busy giggling i had to make the assumption that they werent paying attention. honestly, having this in the schools givces the parents a false sense of security, the lesson never covered anything that the kids should know, it was basically 'use condoms and youre good', and i doubt the parents actually filled them in on any of that. why exactly do you think AIDS is such a crisis were it not for lack of real education?

But parents aren't doing the job and the idea of teaching abstinence doesn't work. I'm sure that you, being a high school student, can attest to the fact that High School kids have sex. Someone has to educate on this matter, maybe the process in which it was presented to you was poor, but that can be fixed. The info is still necessary.

-Demosthenes

__________________
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower