I never got the whole abstinence thing drilled into me at school. Most of our public schools teach protection and safe sex rather than abstinence. Which I think is a much better idea.

Teenagers are going to experiment and most of them are going to have sex or experiment with sex at some point whether you tell them not to or not. In fact, the way in which a teenager's mind is wired probably means that if you tell them not to do it, they will want to do it even more. So isn't it better that they are armed with knowledge about how to participate in safe sex and how to protect their bodies etc rather than the useless piece of "don't do it" advice?

I think Australian schools are quite opposite to the schools being described in the US as most of our schools steer clear of the whole abstinence argument and teach protection and safe sex lessons instead. In fact, it's only really the private religious schools that teach abstinence.

An oxymoron if there ever was one, abstinence programs are the exact opposite of teaching.

I think whoever the child looks up to should be a good role model for their children.
However, I don't think that abstinence should be taught at all without proper discussion about sex.
Rather than, "Don't have sex, sex is bad." like I was taught.
Maybe something like, "Sex can be a beautiful thing, especially if you wait."

I wish someone told this to me.
Instead I was thrust into a world who knew everything when I knew nothing at all.
I learned everything about sex from my friends and the world around me.
The only thing about sex I learned from my parents was one time when I asked my mom what rape was.
I think I was in eighth grade.
Yeah, it was that bad.


Edit: I didn't really answer the question.
I think schools should encourage open discussions about sex rather than make it taboo.
That way children can go home and feel comfortable talking about it with their parents.

Well yeah, it's telling I guess.

Although in my person opinion a teacher's job these days isn't teaching per se, it's facilitating learning. But I won't get into that can of worms.

i'm with Alfred on this one, then again i'm another Canadian.

i don't think it shouldn't be taught, but i also don't think it's the only thing that should be taught. it IS a viable option and there's absolutely nothing wrong with making the choice to wait, regardless of gender.

although i think it's a huge disservice to future generations by forcibly educating ignorance in relation to the most fundamental function of our bodies.

it's the same as providing drug 'education' that just lumps any illegal substance into the 'bad' pile and doesn't offer any worthwhile education as to what sort of effects said drugs will have on the individual.

well put.

Of course there is nothing wrong with making the choice to wait. But the purpose of education is to educate, not make decisions for the students (regardless of what decision this is.) So the primary purpose of sex education should be to educate students on: what sex is and how to participate safely in sex. Sex safety should not only be physiological lessons but also psychological ones - encouraging young people that it's okay to make their own decisions and to not feel pressured to do anything they are not ready to do or don't want to do.

But I think the main focus should be on safe sex and how to protect yourself from unwanted conception and sexually transmitted diseases. Not on whether or not they should be having sex or not - this is the individual's decision to make, not the education system.

...why?

I will say Swansea schools don't teach Abstinence which I'm rather happy about but we do have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe also. :D

You inspired me to go look at the list of teen pregnancy occurrence in different countries (Teenage pregnancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and Australia has a significant lower rate per population than anywhere in the UK or US. No schools in Australia teach abstinence unless they are a private religious school, which adds to the contention that teaching abstinence is not an effective form of preventing teenage pregnancy or perhaps even disease. New Zealand is a little lower down the list so not sure how the schooling system here differs, but tis interesting!