Looking for explanations…May 27

I feel awfully saddened by the fact that kids’ childhoods are being cut short by the earlier onset on puberty, but this is the reality. I hate the idea of 14 & 15 yo kids fumbling their way through those early experiences, exposing themselves to all sorts of risks, which effective sex education can mitigate.

It has always been adults who have a problem with sex education. Kids only laugh about it or become bored with it because of the awkwardness & reluctance of adults.

It is adults who feel ashamed & embarrassed about sex, and who pass their hang ups on to young people, making it easier for predators (older people & peers) to exploit them. Shame might seem like a way to protect young people from the dangers & risks associated with sex, but the fact is that it is a method which works best for those who wish to harm young people, not nurture them. It is a method used & abused by the patriarchy, not by a loving, caring & supportive society.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-28/teenagers-lobby-for-better-sex-education/106726302?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

'We need to talk about sex': Young people call for sex ed to grow up

A long-running survey of Australian teens has identified falling condom use and unwanted sex as major concerns for young people starting relationships.

Show threadRaymondPierreL3

@Susan60
200% !

We toilet train our kids, we talk with them about drug use (alcohol, tobacco), we discuss gambling habits and gaming, love and hate, ethics and morals, work and play, healthy habits and consent, so what’s the big issue in talking with them about sex and coitus. It’s all in Parenting 101 I’d say — too many fail that basic course.

May 28 at 1:25amWeb
Show threadLooking for explanations…May 28

@RaymondPierreL3

Which course was that? 😩

Too many parents put it off, then realise it’s too late, & don’t bother at all, thinking it’s redundant. But if anything, it’s the relationship side of things, the empathy, respect & issues of consent that most need attention.

Even if a kid’s parents model a healthy respectful relationship (& many don’t), with so much awful porn & the “Mano sphere” exerting such sway, kids might make mistaken assumptions about how their parents behave behind closed doors, what a man &/or “dominant” partner might demand, & the women/partner tolerate or accept.

Show threadRaymondPierreL3May 28
@Susan60
Yes ‘role modeling’ is a difficult, if not an impossible task for parents given all relationships seem to be about ‘power’ over another. I don’t understand why we haven’t all figured out that the only power that matters is ‘self-empowerment. I’d argue it is all we need to live a happy, fruitfull life — lots of assumptions here, I know, but power relationships are soul gutting and life draining IMO.
Show threadLooking for explanations…6d ago

@RaymondPierreL3

Some people are only happy if they “win” & if that, for them, means someone else has to lose. Trump is a perfect example.

Show threadRaymondPierreL36d ago
@Susan60
Yes. Thankfully we’re not overrun by those ‘Alpha’ types. Whether winning makes them happy is open to debate. Striving to win all the time is hard physical and mental work. And when they loose they’re likely to be depressed, angry and vindictive (even more hard work). So you begin to question their motivation or their state of mind.