The responsibilities of Sex Education...?

Most people seem to expect teachers, babysitters, group leaders, coaches, pastors, etc. to practically raise their children. I'm surprised these parents aren't relieved since this is one less 'parental 'task' to perform.

I think it's really terrible that parents won't step up and do it themselves.

I wonder if the whole thing is some big circle though - the schools took it upon themselves to educate kids about sex, and now parents don't bother because "they'll be learning it at school and the teacher will do it better than me anyways". And now, because parents aren't bothering, schools feel like they must do it or nobody else will.

In my opinion, the only kind of sex ed that belongs in schools is human anatomy and what happens during puberty, and the basic mechanics of "traditional" intercourse as it relates to conception. That's it. I bet that if parents had to educate their children about sex because the schools simply don't do that, then way more parents would step up to the plate and do it themselves.

Either way, I do not think schools should be the ones to teach kids about sex. They do it without attaching any kind of moral compass to it - indeed, they are told "when you are ready". That is so dangerous. No wonder teens are out there having so much sex.

I really think that good values start in the family. If the parents won't take it upon themselves then the child might get in trouble. That is, of course also dependent on the environment, education, what they're exposed to (media etc...)... But I still think that the upbringing of a person counts for the most part.

To answer your question, most people, at least in my experience, are afraid that these topics would pervert their children. Parents don't usually take it upon themselves because it is very awkward, and some people prefer comfort and taking pleasure in the possibility that these things won't happen to their son/daughter.

It's a very specific groups of parents who don't take responsibility. Broadly speaking they fall into thse camps.

1) The religiously motivated parent, who denies their child any information on sex for fear that they might start doing it, and where they do give out any information, it is usually in terms of sin and hellfire.

2) The parent who believes they are keeping their child innocent and sparing them the painful realities of the adult world for as long as possible.

3) The parent who is too embarrassed to talk to their child about sex.

4) The parent who is too lazy to attend to this aspect of their childs development, or any other aspect of it.

Groups 1 & 2 may well remove their children from exposure to education, 3 & 4 are much less likely to. The reasons why are self evident.

As for why such parents are upset, they believe that their child should be indoctrinated into their own beliefs, whatever risks that might impose on the child, and the hell with anyone who wants to interfere with their "right" to educate their child as they see fit.

Conveniently they will usually either hide behind their religion or some mangled version of the constitution to justify their stance.

They get upset because they see their authority over their child being threatened, whether that authority is in raising a child in religious fear of sex, or simply in maintaining its innocence of sex. The mindset in both cases treats the child as property, and is generally ignorant, if not willfully ignorant, of the realities of teen pregnancies and STD transmission and their correlation with a lack of education, and abstinence based education. Richard Dawkins in his book "The God Delusion" goes as far as arguing their behavior should be classified as child abuse.

some are so narrow minded they hold the belief that if we teach our children about sex education they will go out and produce many unwanted children. That is like saying if we speak about suicide they will kill themselves. Actually, this could not be further from the truth. Knowledge is key to success here as with anything. However, unfortunately it does not take a great level of education and or knowledge to become a parent. Some parents barely understand their own reproductive systems and/or are too ashamed to discuss it. Ignorance is bliss.

it takes a village to raise a child...

i think it is the responsibility of schools to teach children the biological aspects of reproduction and the pitfalls that may await them regarding disease and pregnancy. but i think it's the families responsibility to instill values, practical knowledge, and realistic expectations. do i think sex education should be left up to the boy scouts? no, not really but i wouldn't pull my kid out based on that. however, if i felt that they were in some way preaching morality rather than providing rudimentary instruction i'd be very disturbed and would most definitely express my concerns.

In a country where parents expect the school to take care of everything w.r.to their kids, it is unrealistic to expect them to actually sit together and work on the kids growth.

When that attitude improves, I may have a reasonable/justifiable response to your question. Till then, I m blaming it on the media and bad parenting.

Sex education has demonstrated to many children how to do things that are not good for them, along with "value neutral" teaching which encourages them to do these things.

Notice the coincidence of sex ed with teen pregnancy.

What they need to be educated in are the consequences of sex out of wedlock, not the method.

Because they despise the most natural act as a whole. They want complete 'abstinence', but that's not possible given our nature.

EDIT: It's all part of their childhood indoctrination; abide dogma and neglect reason. It's pretty common amongst the religious.

They just don't like the idea of their kids hearing the word "sex" when it's not immediately followed by "is BAD!"