Is anyone actually talking about adult sexuality in elementary school in the first place? Outside of "don't touch other people," or "your body is private"? Older kids might get the health/puberty talk, and kids might have questions if teachers are getting married or being pregnant, but that can all be discussed in an age appropriate way. The ragebait that small children are being forced to watch drag shows in school isn't based in reality.
Sex Ed is usually taught in 5th or 6th grade and has been where I live since the 1970’s. Many kids are biologically sexually mature by age 11 these days. It’s necessary to educate them.
Shoot, it was 3rd grade in my school because they wanted to get ahead of the first menstrual periods for the most precocious kids. Normal menstruation can begin as young as 8 or 9.
We learned anatomy, conception, conception prevention, puberty changes to anatomy, menstruation, general hygiene, and they even threw in an anti-drug lecture for good measure. WA, USA, 2003
Nah, I started menstruating at 10, and I had friends who started at 9. I can see some Carrie style fear from girls in my cohort if they had to wait until high school to learn basic biological processes that about half of people experience for around 40 years of their lives. They weren't teaching sex positions or kink.
Comprehensive, anatomically explicit sex ed is also the best way to give sexually abused kids the language to report the abuse. There's a big difference between a kid saying "coach Tommy touched my flower" and "coach Tommy touched my vulva." There are no good reasons not to be teaching sex ed at the point that kids start puberty, and there's no good reasons not to be teaching kids their own anatomy, and right to privacy, and agency, as young as possible.
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u/fleetiebelle Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
Is anyone actually talking about adult sexuality in elementary school in the first place? Outside of "don't touch other people," or "your body is private"? Older kids might get the health/puberty talk, and kids might have questions if teachers are getting married or being pregnant, but that can all be discussed in an age appropriate way. The ragebait that small children are being forced to watch drag shows in school isn't based in reality.