Is this appropriate??

[Doughboy]

Great!!

My daughter is 12 weeks old and now you give me all this stuff to worry about!!! Like I have nothing better to do... well actually I dont but at least we have a few years to figure it out.

I guess like the saying goes

Knowledge is power.

My sons school is teaching the year fours at present about the body. His teacher has her head screwed on so together I reckon we can work it out.

But as has been said before this is your family and you need to be true to your values so good luck with it.

Pete

[Rocker]

Rowan,

I have to say that it believe it is completely appropriate for 8-year olds to be taught what is outlined in the note your daughter brought home. Of course, my opinion may be quite worthless, seeing that I have no children. But it seems to me that it is much better for children of that age to be forearmed with this sort of knowledge, at an age when, without it, they are very vulnerable to pedophiles.

You may well feel that it is really the parents' job to provide this sort of knowledge to their children, and you would be right. But the fact remains that many parents, out of a misplaced desire to preserve their children's innocence for too long, give this knowledge too late or not at all.

It would be interesting to hear the views of a professional in this field. Derek?

Wongo,

Did you mean "No; it is not appropriate" or "No; Rowan is not out of line in protesting to his daughter's school." I would agree with the second proposition; he has every right to go and discuss it with the school. But I feel he would be unwise to insist that his daughter is removed from the class.

Rocker

[Bob Willson]

Rowan,

Many years ago, while bathing our little miss I think aged 7 (grade 2), we were given a lesson on how we mustn't let anyone touch our private parts.

Chapter and verse it was, straight from school that day.

When the lesson was over, (about half way through washing the hair), she asked:

"What are your private parts?"

She's 28 now, and although I haven't asked her lately, I'm pretty sure she's figured it out.

So much for the cognative process. You are correct. An eight year old is not a twelve or thirteen year old. I don't understand why the urgency to rid our kids of their childhood.

I am always completely bemused by the "Stranger Danger" campaigns, which are also a political cop-out, ignoring the fact that statistically the real danger does not come from strangers at all, but from persons well known to the victims.

I don't necessarily buy the argument that kids are exposed to this stuff at that age either, we had a television set that had a feature that new ones don't have, as I recall, it was called an "off button".

Stick to your guns. Sadly I suspect that the necessity for this sort of education (if indeed necessity is an apt description) is brought about by parents who aren't a bit like you!

Cheers,

P

But you must also remember Peter, that this was in the days of Bjelke #$%^ Petersen. He REFUSED to allow any proper sex education in our schools claiming that this should be the domain of the parents. Yeah right. My own (now ex) wife was given the following training by her parents. "Here's a book on the Birds and the Bees. If you have any questions just ask us."
She told me after we got married that she had thought that it was impossible to have a baby unless you were married.
Not the education I wanted for MY daughter!

[Zed]

I reckon so long as either Billy Connelly, Benny Hill, Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Rodney Rude or a nun DONT deliver the training its ok...

seriously it strange that kids are taught all sorts of crap late but pee pee's, wee wee's and whopsie's are taought at the age of 8!!!