Author Topic: information for children in school too soon  (Read 9307 times)

Dragonfly

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information for children in school too soon
« on: October 20, 2015, 10:05:22 pm »
Hi everyone,

I don't know what Kathleen Wynne is thinking with her new program about sex and other subjects.

My granddaughter is 8 years old and in Grade 3. The class are being educated about different types of drugs. Where you get them, etc. She doesn't have a clue as to what her teacher is talking about. I agree that there is a time to teach kids about drugs and sex. Not at the age of 8 and in Grade 3. Don't take their innocence away at this early age. Around puberty would be soon enough and very good for the kids to know such information. (When kids ask questions about sex a simple answer should be sufficent at this age).

Very upset by this.

One thing I think is very important for kids to know at an early age is if anyone touches them in an inappropriate way such as the private parts, etc. the child should let their parents, teacher, someone they trust know. That it is not shameful to do that.

Dragonfly

Pleeb

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Re: information for children in school too soon
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2015, 11:46:47 pm »
Sure....Grade 3 is too early for drugs.

Re sex, maybe something very general, like "men and women get together to make babies" - can't think of a better example.

Peter

paulm

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Re: information for children in school too soon
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2015, 04:20:47 am »
Hello Dragonfly. This is one of the few times I will disagree with you and yet still agree with you(if that makes sense) . Certainly young children,should be told that other people should keep hands off. However puberty vary's greatly and so does sexual exploration amongst the young and curious.  I don't agree with the Premier's methods and I think that in some areas the gov't should go more slowly. 

 The facts are that many preteens (12 and younger ) have experimented some form of sexual behaviour or been exploited by someone ( 20% of preteen girls have had some form of serious sexual contact other than playing doctor with someone) and that many preteens have experimented with some forms of illicit drugs or inappropriate alcohol use. The consequence of these happenings can be serious addiction problems(15X's as likely to get addicted as an 18yr old), permanent injury or death.   Take Care. paul m

 The following is just proof of the logic that I have followed and need not be read unless you are bored.   

 Girls start puberty as early as 9 yrs of age and and the average age is 10-11. Some are young women, in body, if not in mind by grade 5. A Peel Region report shows that 20% of preteen girls and 30% of preteens boys have been sexually active.   https://www.peelregion.ca/health/sexuality/parents/parents-teens.htm   I'm not saying that they need the full course at age 8, but as many kids in the 3rd grade will turn 9 before the end of the year and certainly many of them will turn 11 by the time they are done grade 5, they certainly need information. Various studies also state that most young girls do not take part in sexual activities because of sexual desire, rather it's the need to feel loved or they do it to please someone, or they think all of their friends are doing it.  It has been repeatedly shown that often the girls most taken advantage of by predators (older guys) are very young and very unknowledgeable  about sexual matters

 Unfortunately the consequences of uneducated sexual experiences can be terrible if not deadly. Pregnancy is one of the smaller worries. Sexual transmitted diseases, especially HPV and Aids are killers.   While you may think that very young people having sex is something new, it's not. 12th century Catholic law allowed girls who were 12 and over to marry. (boys had to be 14) At the time. Just as a added note, there are roughly 100 pre teen pregnancies reported in Canada each year.

 In regards to drugs and alcohol use in preteens, those stats are very hard to come by in Canada, the Gov't does not like to survey any under 12 and most stats just show 12-19 yr old use. However Corrections Cda did do a study and found that of adult prisoners surveyed, 13% began drinking on a regular basis in there preteen yrs and 18% had tried drugs during their preteen yrs.

 I did come across a Cdn study that said that the average age of first alcohol intoxication( getting drunk) was age 13 and the average age of the first pot smoking was 14. Both are average, some kids were much younger, some older. What a vast number of studies show is that the earlier a person starts to drink or use illicit drugs , the earlier they will become addicted and have life long problems. Pot isn't the only drug that is a problem, in fact I was surprised to see that far more kids in grade 7 admitted to huffing(getting high by inhaling substances such as glue, paint thinner, aerosol sprays etc) than to using pot. Apparently it's the fact that it's easy to obtain and the fact that kids no nothing about it's dangers.   Even I as a young child was warned against the dangers of huffing.

     

Dragonfly

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Re: information for children in school too soon
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2015, 05:21:30 am »
Paul you have opened my eyes. Thank you for all the statistics and information. My granddaughter will be nine in January. She is already starting to develop.

When I was young I think I led a very sheltered life. I don't think there were drugs in my time at school. I am probably wrong. I was never exposed. I do remember when I was in high school that some of the students would talk about getting wasted on alcohol. At that time I went to a young people's group every Wednesday and the group did different activities on the weekend. We had parties. Alcohol was never involved. I think most of us didn't have money for it. We still had lots of fun without drugs or alcohol.

My family was an immigrant family and my parents worked hard to give us a better life. Both my parents were not drinkers of alcohol. I did remember that my Dad would sometimes have a beer. They could not afford to buy alcohol.

You are right about girls and boys getting married at a very young age in the old days and probably even now in some countries.

Around my dinner table we did have a discussion about drugs. My son and two daughters and my grandchildren who are 8 and 6. The kids are being asked about drugs in school. We were all laughing because I, Oma, am on drugs. We explained to them that this was for health reasons and to keep me well. How did I obtain these drugs? Through doctors orders and then would get them at the drugstore or pharmacy. The kids didn't know what a pharmacy was. One day I promised to take them. They both learned in school that street drugs were not good to take. The kids also knew that drinking alcohol and smoking could kill you. 

I now realize that it is better for the kids to have this education. My son did take street drugs in his teens. He said he didn't know a thing about drugs and how they could effect you. If he had known he probably would have thought twice about taking them. Maybe. He was only into pot although he did try LSD once. As parents we denied to the principal that our son was taking drugs. The evidence was there for us. We didn't know enough about drugs and use to recognize it.

My son is scared of the teenage years coming up with his kids. He was out of control at that age. Afraid that his kids will also be like that. Especially since he is separated and their mother has very low morals.

From what you have said Paul we will have more discussions around our dinner table or at other times about drugs, sex, etc. Our family will keep an open mind.

I hope I don't go on too long.

Thanks!

Dragonfly

paulm

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Re: information for children in school too soon
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2015, 01:23:56 am »
Hello Dragonfly. Thx for your reply. Whenever I take a strong position on a subject I always worry that I will hurt someone's feelings.

 I do agree with you that Ms. Wynn is taking things to far. I agree that kids need to been warned about all of the possible problems  incorrect behaviour and the possible consequences of that behaviour. However I think that could be phased in over a 2-3 yr period a little better than it is being done now.
 
 Like wise with drugs, alcohol and smoking. At your granddaughters age there is little possibility of her getting involved with cocaine, heroin or pot. So once again, the education should be phased in gradually. There is nothing turns a child off of learning as fast as being fed a pile of facts that they have no interest in and have never heard of.

The major dangers of the very young are smoking, drinking and huffing. Smoking and drinking because of the ease of access. They may not have any, but it's not unusual for the "cool kids" at school to take some of their parents cigarettes or booze and bring it to school where they share it.

 Huffing is a major danger as it is often the first type of high that children experiment with. Huffing and sniffing are easy to do(all you need is a bag or a rag and some glue), gives you a quick high and can cause permanent brain damage exceedingly quickly. (The person either put the glue in a bag and inhales or sniffs it off of a rag). I actually had thought that huffing etc had became extinct due to the large dangers  involved, but apparently it's back. In my day leaded gasoline and glue were major things that people would huff. These days it's glue, solvents and some kinds of aerosol sprays. All readily available

 I'm not a big fan of any talk show, including Dr Phil's however he does have some good points about how to protect your kids. http://drphil.com/articles/article/623 

 Good luck with your Grandchildren, it is a dangerous world out there, but it always has been. We just hear about it a little more now. The number of people that I talk with over a year that are my age and who were sexually abused as a child by a relative, friend or religious leader is astounding to me. ( I too grew up in a fairly innocent and protected world)  Take Care. paul m

momfellinglost

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Re: information for children in school too soon
« Reply #5 on: November 13, 2015, 12:55:03 pm »
I would agree if I wasn't seeing news articles of twelve year olds getting pregnant. Too often parents think their kids as so innocent about things and they know more than the parents do far too early. It is the world we live in today. There is new paper article about the codes kids use when texting so there parents have no idea what they are taking about to each other. You think they are talking about going to the mall and they are setting up a date for sex it is really scarey for parents these days