[RandZul'Zorander]

(Original post by hawki1989)
I'm not sure that's necessarily true... like I say, homosexuality was ignored throughout my primary education in the 90s and I wouldn't say that anyone I know has a "distorted view" of homosexuality. But I do accept what you are saying in some cases. I'm just not sure that there needs to be a specific initative to usher the topic of homosexuality into the classroom. There are people that don't want there children to have THAT full of a picture of sexuality at a young age, and their wishes should be respected. I don't suppose backlash from parents aids acceptance too greatly.

I will grant that its isn't universally true. But I would say that it is at least a contributing factor to ignorance. I think that it should be something that it shouldn't be ignored and should be at least acknowledged. It should at least be taught that homosexuals are out there and have relationships just the same as heterosexuals. I don't think that parents should have a say in that at least. It's the truth and it is irresponsible to pretend otherwise.

[hawki1989]

(Original post by RandZul'Zorander)
I will grant that its isn't universally true. But I would say that it is at least a contributing factor to ignorance. I think that it should be something that it shouldn't be ignored and should be at least acknowledged. It should at least be taught that homosexuals are out there and have relationships just the same as heterosexuals. I don't think that parents should have a say in that at least. It's the truth and it is irresponsible to pretend otherwise.

Agreed. I think there is a lot of scaremonging about that "being taught" means, really? I agreed entirely with the way in which you have written that; that hetro-and-homosexual relationships should be able to be used interchangably, not as two 'separately equal' concepts.

[RandZul'Zorander]

(Original post by hawki1989)
Agreed. I think there is a lot of scaremonging about that "being taught" means, really? I agreed entirely with the way in which you have written that; that hetro-and-homosexual relationships should be able to be used interchangably, not as two 'separately equal' concepts.

haha I'm glad. I spent a few minutes making sure I had thought of the best wording I could.

[hawki1989]

(Original post by RandZul'Zorander)
haha I'm glad. I spent a few minutes making sure I had thought of the best wording I could.

Hahaha... no, you're alright! I agree...

I think these kind of arguments often get whipped up into a frenzy and common sense just jumps out the window. Healthy discussion, regards of 'sides' is good... It can't all be about one side, which it does seem like it at times.

[Skip_Snip]

"Around one in ten people are attracted to the same gender, and maybe you will be too"

^ why explain the mechanics, make them aware of it, but seem flippant so it's not something that matters or makes a difference

[Gjaykay]

I'm not sure it's even needed anymore. I went to a catholic Primary & High School and we barely got taught sex ed, but other than neds, no one really became anti-homosexual, no one cared to be honest.

[Alexander94]

I think it should be, but never explicitly like "Today we are having a lesson about gay people" *unrolls rainbow and sticks Elton John on*. But mentioning when two people fall in love, rather that a man and a woman might be good from a young age. I was 11 when I put my hand up in sex ed and asked if it was okay to fall in love with someone of the same sex and I got sent out! It would be nice for kids just to be able to ask and to learn incidental.

[jmenkus]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
Why not? I personally wouldn't want kids to be taught about homosexuality. It seems like state indoctrination. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with homosexuals, but it shouldn't be encouraged by being taught in schools.

Surely tolerance of others should be taught in schools?

[Psyk]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
Why not? I personally wouldn't want kids to be taught about homosexuality. It seems like state indoctrination. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with homosexuals, but it shouldn't be encouraged by being taught in schools.

I think it's just as much state indoctrination for them to specifically not teach them about it, and instead keep them ignorant of the world around them.

[Llamageddon]

I imagine they learn quite a lot about all areas of sexual activity with or without the direct involvement of schools.

[Kalb]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
Why not? I personally wouldn't want kids to be taught about homosexuality. It seems like state indoctrination. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with homosexuals, but it shouldn't be encouraged by being taught in schools.

Teaching is not the same as encouraging. I was surrounded by heterosexuals who talked about sex all the time. It did not encourage me to become heterosexual

[Nadooo]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
they should only be taught about heterosexuality tbh. Society shouldn't encourage homosexual behavior. Also, think about the parents of these children who don't want their kids to be taught about homosexuality.

You are on every thread about homosexuality LIKE A RASH.



Bbz, just come out already.

[SilverArch]

I think there's a difference between talking about sexual attraction and sex (which should be left till later) and knowing that homosexuality exists. For instance, lets say one kid comes across a picture of two mums and their children in a book, and they tell their teacher 'look, these kids have two mummies, but I don't', and the teacher says 'you can have two mummies, two daddies or one of each' or something to that effect (ignoring single parents there, obviously that might come up as well). Ta da, job done. They know homosexuality exists now, but in a normal kid friendly way with no grand discussion involved. At a young age, not only is there no need for a big discussion, but kids that age tend to only want one or two sentences of information before they lose interest in the subject anyway. And young children are generally very accepting (a great reason for them to know about it at a young age), it's older kids and adults who are horrid

[kenni12]

(Original post by SilverArch)
I think there's a difference between talking about sexual attraction and sex (which should be left till later) and knowing that homosexuality exists.

That's why I think they should know at a younger age even before puberty

(Original post by SilverArch)
... And young children are generally very accepting (a great reason for them to know about it at a young age), it's older kids and adults who are horrid

It's reasons like this that it's hard to convince older homophobes that their hatred is pointless, they're so millitant

[DYKWIA]

(Original post by Multitalented me)
So basically paraphilia but wait if u had this so called disorder then every1 would want to lynch u immediately

why should homosexuality be any different from these then?

[RandZul'Zorander]

(Original post by DYKWIA)
why should homosexuality be any different from these then?

If you still can't see the difference between homosexuality and zoophilia/necrophilia/pedophilia then either you can't read or just don't understand basic logic. Why they are different has been explained to you time and time again.

[NYU2012]

Homosexuality - sexual orientation

Zoophilia, pedophilia and so on and so forth - paraphilias

ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THINGS.

In fact, I've been so nice as to include formal definitions:

sexual orientation:
Sexual orientation describes an enduring pattern of attraction—emotional, romantic, sexual, or some combination of these—to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. These attractions are generally subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and asexuality. According to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation also refers to a person's sense of "personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of others who share them

Paraphilia:
Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her. A paraphilia involves sexual arousal and gratification towards sexual behavior that is atypical or extreme.

Fetishisms are similar to paraphilia:
Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation.


So, because homosexuals are attracted to people of the same SEX, it falls under sexual orientation! Glad we understand how to classify things using definitions....

[Historophilia]

Depends at what age we're talking about.

At primary not really I would have said, talking to them about sexuality of any orientation at that age might confuse them.

In my view kids should start being taught about the changes that will happen to their bodies in Year 5, about what happens to the opposite sex in Year 6 and then go into more detail about the mechanics of sex in Year 7. I know I got taught about it in Year 7 science lessons.

But this should happen at the very beginning of Year 7, before they get weird ideas of what goes on from older pupils when they start secondary school.

Then throughout Year 7 start advancing it a bit and talk about relationships, both Hetero and Homosexual.

Also what I think is important that you start educating kids from Year 7-8 onwards about what is appropriate behaviour in a relationship, what is and is not abuse, that they should not try and pressure others or allow themselves to be pressured into doing anything sexual they are not happy with. And they should all be taught about consent, what it is, what it means etc.

[snozzle]

(Original post by kenni12)
I'm talking about children knowing that not everyone is meant to be solely attracted to the opposite sex

Why do they naturally assume everyone is straight?

[buchanan700]

I think it would be wise to include discussions as part of any 'relationships' PSE that they do. Not as a discrete area per se, but simply mentioning and discussing that some people are attracted to the same sex or none at all and there is nothing wrong with that. A class teacher should know their class quite well and if there is any particular incidences involving homophobic bullying or questions, it could be expanded on further.