Kids and Homework

[lizardlove]

IMO, I'm okay with the idea of sex ed. When I first had to take the course I remember thinking, this is really stupid, parents should be teaching this, but I was SHOCKED to find that the teacher would ask very simple questions about protection, STIs, etc, and people wouldn't know! No wonder the teen pregnancy rate is up! And sex ed for young kids is a bit ridiculous, yes, but what's also ridiculous is that 12 and 13 year old girls are getting pregnant these days. I'm okay with it only because the stupid, unnecessary class is in response to stupid, unnecessary real-life phenomena among young boys and girls these days.

As for regular teaching, why are we not trying to imitate Japan right now? Pride? Because their educational system looks a heck of a lot better than ours...

 

[Lena]

Don't get me started on abstinence-only programs in schools.. Ugh. My high school is one of those schools.. Alright, I'm going to go off on a tangent here:

At least 5-10 girls are pregnant in our school at any given time. And that isn't an exaggeration!! I blame the lack of education!
I remember being a sophomore and sitting in our health class, being beaten to death with"Sex is bad" "You'll get STDs and HIV!" "Wait until you're married!" "Join promise groups in your church" ..All I thought was "Well, I'm not religious, and marriage isn't an end-all-be-all to me.." "What about me?"
Not to mention, protection was only mentioned ONCE in the entire class, and it was that it wasn't 100% safe. No wonder everyone's pregnant! Not everyone's lucky enough to have parents who are comfortable with discussing birth control.
Waiting until marriage is all well and good if that's what you believe in, but this is a country in which we have the right to make our own choices. It's totally unfair to impose any singular belief upon impressionable children.
...Besides, in a world where over 50% of marriages fail.. Well.. Need I say more? :main_rolleyes:

ANYWAY.. Homework has always been the bane of my existence in school. Working all day in school and then coming home and working on the same stuff again for an hour or two never clicked for me..

Now I'm a senior, no homeowork.. Straight A's . What does that tell you? Of course, it's different for every kid. Everyone learns differently.

 

[acpart]

I'm sure the opinions about sex ed in schools varies widely here because we vary so much in our outlooks, so I"m not going to offer an opinion. When my sons were in late elementary school (5th grade), they also had a "health and hygiene" class that focused on changing bodies, personal hygiene, sexual development and respect in interpersonal relations. Some of the classes did address sex, but it was in the context of a lot of age appropriate things, not just by itself. The girls and boys participated separately. The parents were allowed to have their kids opt out and could also attend an evening class explaining what the kids were going to be learning (this is a private school). In seventh grade, the kids learn about reproduction in their co-ed science classes. THis worked very well for my kids and my family.

Aliza

 

[Shem]

I theorize that they don't have the money to make school last longer like other countries so they condense what they would teach over a longer period into a shorter period. But I really wouldn't know.