Being that I can't find where else to put this, and given I do want to laugh a bit at how stupid some schools, in America it seems, go about doing this. I want to ask about Sex Education and how many differences was there from school and state.

I was raised in Virginia in the early 2000's and late 90's, as you can imagine, my education on the birds and bees, *why do we even call it that?) was very much absence and very cheesy sit com like things with some misinformation. That, let's face it, as a middle schooler some didn't half pay attention to and I didn't know what period was until I hit mine and also hit some regretty in my life as no one told me cramping pain is very much a thing!

Anyway, my education was mandatory until your highschool year, which I did opt out of not because of my over bearing religious mother but because, rather than learn something new and different, we just watched the same videos about HIV, Aids, and Protection, that was never really told how to protect yourself from what I remember, with basically nothing of what Sex is and just what hormones are and how to ignore them etc. etc. etc. Don't masturbate kids!

All and all, bunch of bullshit spout stuff to get away from a conversation that really shouldn't be that awkward but the USA likes to make it awkward from what I'm seeing as many countries, I think mostly in east, make rather simple and not so 'Don't Hug Me I'm Scared' sort of deal. Thing I is don't know why this started, I'm starting to think it's because of religious groups, wouldn't be the first time, and their strange obsessives fear/fascination with the penis and vagina. 

What I find sad is most people, myself included, found out how to even have sex because of a lovely thing called the internet, which isn't always a good source, but you find that out once you get older so don't worry.

What spurred on this topic?

When I was at school, back in the stone age, sex had not been invented and so was never taught!

I went to Catholic school, so sex education basically boiled down to 'keep it zipped or go to hell.'

Boru

My dad's a GP.

He made sure the kids got good sex ed, much to the annoyance of my conservative Catholic mother.

School covered the basics.

Life experience covered most of the rest.

An antiquated sex ed video in seventh grade. I wasn't sexually active till the age of twenty, though.

Prett rubbish. C of E primary school which went through the basics of biology and what might happen during puberty, but very little about sex.

Secondary/high school I honestly can’t remember a lesson. Like Valkyrie said there were some basics but life taught the rest. I lost my virginity at 15 with my girlfriend of the time and we were both smart enough to use protection despite the raging hormones.

In 1960s Indiana: Naughty neighbor lady.

(October 21, 2018 at 5:24 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: I went to Catholic school, so sex education basically boiled down to 'keep it zipped or go to hell.'

Boru

I also went to catlick* school. The school had plenty of materials sent down from the Dept of Education but the archbish, as patron of the school, ordered them locked away from the students.

* Despite being run by church fiat the church made no contibution to the running of the school, the salaries were paid by the state, equipment picked out and bought by the state, repairs organised, tendered and paid for by the state. New buildings would have also been paid for by the state only for the school was originally chartered (when the Brits were still in charge) by a trust set up by a rich high anglican to teach sons of poor farmers better farming techniques (in fact, our school is the reason why Agricultural Science is on the Irish leaving cert).

Black and white films in gym class with a stupid 50's morality overtone, mostly biology.

For the actual sex ed, a girl a couple of grades ahead made me her project. I was a very appreciative young man.

In India sex-ed is virtually absent, so you guys honestly had it better. Luckily for us, my school was progressive and decided to bring in a woman who travelled to any schools that would let her in, and gave sex-ed. So in fifth grade my very bewildered class was sat in front of a white-board with a rather heavyset woman with a high-pitched voice telling us about a 'special hug' and how it was something we were not able (blatant lies obviously) to do until we were married. (That's India for you.) But hey, at least she was defying the norm by not telling us that we came into this world in a haze of taboo-flavored secrecy. I applaud her for that.
As a result of this very backwards culture, though, there were far too many girls who got their period without knowing what it was and freaked the fuck out. Also, in later years (eighth or ninth grade), far too many of my friends were taken advantage of, but never spoke up about it because sex is such a taboo in India.
Thankfully for me, my parents are liberal, and when I showed up home on the day after the sex-ed class and told them "I'm glad you gave each other a special hug to make me" they decided it was time I knew some cold, hard (hot, soft) facts. Although they are firmly of the view that sex should be saved for marriage, they never taught me about abstinence, only about safety, protection, and biology.
Thankfully very recent changes have made it mandatory for all education boards to have a chapter dedicated to sexual reproduction in humans in biology in eighth grade, and it talks about only the biological aspects and safe sex, not abstinence.