Maximus,

You're a twit. This is actually quite a serious issue.

As implied by Sajo, there is more to this than the "hokey pokey". For example, how does a teacher deal with an eleven year old girl that is menstruating for the first time and has no idea of what is happening to her. The teacher or staff member must be trained for this.

The is also a maturity aspect involved. Girls will tend (or even need) Reproductive Education before boys. Does society limit this education to reproduction and health, or are gay/lesbian/bisexual/beastiality/bondage/fetish concepts discussed with and by students.

Sen. Allison is quite brave in bringing this topic to the fore.

Lyn Allison:

After trying to digest the thrust of your article, overall I commisserate your emotive view and common sense - niggly, you instill a disquiet because of your Political stance in the past.Hidden Agenda perhaps ?

Which Parent dosen't agonise over their teenage siblings ?

Unfortunately, they come in the thousands. They consciously abrogate their responsibilities, relying on Government to ' welfare' their children through life, and even strenously abetting them - to ride the ' lollypop-roller-coaster' with free handout's,grants,special support and countless charitable initiatives made easy by myriad bleeding hearts, do-gooders, Christian Organisations riding the 'gravy train' of Tax payer funded Social Security largess ?

Quote: "cringe worthy talks on sex " say's it all. Who's responsibility is it to educate your children in the first place ? We worry over what they eat in the 'tuck shop'; the company they keep; the subjects they elect in the curriculum - yet, shameslessly buck at educating them on the necessities of Life !! Expediently, because we still live in the Victorian straight-jacket, coquetishly side-step sex, and even though the vast majority of us don't reside in the Canberra 'fish-bowl', have no illusions about addressing promiscuity, safe-sex, teen relationships, contraception, STD, and all the paraphernalia of 'sexual intercourse'...see I've said it. Bring it out in the OPEN, for goodness sake lady ?

Two Summer's ago, I volunteered for " schoolie's Week " at Surfer's. Mainly to anticipate the psychological impact and ramifications of teenage behaviour, and to complete an assignment. I could publish a book from 'first hand' experience at the coal face. My recommendation to ALL Parent's: to spend time with their siblings whilst they enjoy this 'eye-opener'annual event on the Gold Coast.

Pubescent behaviour in 2006, has NO precedent, nor comparison to Yesteryears. The Media, Advertising, Fashion Industry, Life-style et al have reached heights never before envisaged in previous generation.We are bombarded, traumatised, brainwashed and thoroughly saturated with scantilly clad 'sex-oriented'themic manipulations and gyrations, designed by professionals, to glamorise, cajole, seduce, and encapsulate the human mind, bordering on Science fiction. Orson Well's predictions have arrived.

continued..

Despite the small army of Volunteers, social workers, psychologist, police, security personnel etc the event is a magnet for the seedier side of Society. Predators, paedophiles, deviants, drug pushers/takers, and mix-bag of flotsam and jetsam as is common to any big city event. It caters for everybody, but more specifically focuse's on Year 12 students completing their school years.

The word limit on Forum precludes me futher discussing 'Schoolies'.

All the emphasis on Sex Education focuses on Teenage Mum's, you would think ?For reasons yet unexplained, Adult boy's escape the scandal, retribution and stigma females have to go through ! It takes two to tango. It is common knowledge the seducer's are young men, only a few years older than their prey. The predator's often pick on the weak; bragging about their sex-prowess to their mates, imagining they are some Brad Pitt with flocks of Angiellina Jolly's falling over themselves, swooning for their manly favours ? Good Lord. The fact, they don't use condoms is diabolical to the extreme. Evidently, the STD message hasn't filtered through, nor the aftermath of failed pregnancies, abortions and miscarriages. Quoting figures and statistics to pubescent adults is fraught with Counter productive gogglegook.Sailing out the window with kids with short attention spans !

True, promiscuity, STD and unwanted pregnancies are on the rise. The J curve is destined to pan out, just as soon as Parent's take responsibility and Bureaucrats get off their proverbial and cease making flatulent noises !

12 Year''s ago I heard the same mantra from the Sister's of Mercy lecturing Indegenous school girls at Kakadu. That evening the local Disco was reverberating with KISS and Rollingstone's throbbing music. Inside, the dudes were drinking beer openly, sharing'tallies' with the giggling sheilas. It was supposed to be strictly supervised but alas,their elder's were doing their own thing in the car park, oblivious to their surroundings. By 9 pm, the car park, and nature reserve was a battle ground of fornification ? This rare incident, is identical to what is occuring weekly in some suburbs on the Gold Coast.

Cheers

Dalma, thank you for telling what we already imagined is happening out there.

You put the responsibility on parents and I agree to a point. But didn’t the parents once do what you have described to us? You would think that if you went to a "schoolies Week” at Surfer's you would never want to send your children there. Alas what could be promiscuity to you and I is absolutely fine with most parents today, and viewed as normal and acceptable behaviour.

After all alcohol is still glamorised and widely abused by adults (parents) and youngsters alike.

We have reached a point of no return. I don’t see the J plateauing at all as long as moral values and ethics are out of the context of education both at home and school.

My apologies for misrepresentation in the earlier post. Pre-marital sex was in the same category as "Deviate sex" not child rape as I wrongfully alleged.

However the point is the same - what is wrong with sex outside of marriage? Until anyone can give a serious answer to this question they just look foolish insisting on such things as a moral code.

A few weeks ago I went to a reunion of a bunch of friends, who had hardly seen each other for 25 years or so. We sat down and compared notes about our lives. Everyone in that group perchance today runs their own business, has a family and is doing well and contributing
to society. Yet 30 years ago this same bunch were considered by our parents to be a bunch of long haired, pot smoking hippies, with absolutaly no hope for the future and they wondered what the world was coming to, with people like us around as the future generation :)

Those "evil" schoolies will no doubt turn out much the same. If they have been given a good education in how to deal with times of peer pressure etc, how not to land up pregnant, they will most likely do
even better.

I agree with Coach (amazing) that ethics and morality should be discussed and taught at school. Perhaps I disagree as to what should be taught. Threatening educated kids with burning forever or floating on god's clouds if they are good, simply does not work, we are not in the third world, where people are more gullible.

I agree with Edward de Bono, we need to teach kids how to think. On these issues we need to challenge them to actually think about them and come up with their own reasoned opinions. Ethics and morality should be taught, but not as god being the answer to everything, for thats clearly failing, apart from those few who seem to need religion to cope with life. There is clearly a gap here that needs filling, in the education system.