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National Sexuality Education Standards

Jennifer Wagaman — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:24:48 +0000

Three groups got together some time ago, (Advocates for Youth, Answer, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) and, hoping that federal funding for abstinance only sexual education would soon be eliminated, began to form standards across all grade levels – starting as young as 5 years old.

Reading this should cause a variety of conflicting emotions – first, a bit of outrage at how young they’re starting, a bit more outrage at the fact that they are hoping the abstinance education be eliminated, and a final bit of outrage at the parents who are not teaching their children and instead are leaving it up to the teachers.

Second, a bit of relief, knowing that children will actually be taught about their bodies, something that is ironically lacking in today’s society. Girls in particular are growing up either unfamiliar with their bodies and too scared or embarrassed to find out, or are finding out too much too soon, even before leaving elementary school in some cases.

First it is important to note that the standards for our youngest children (k-2) are simple and basic – the ability to use proper terms for body parts, understand that all living things reproduce, be able to identify differences between boys and girls and be able to identify the different make up of various family structures. (Well, I guess that’s important in our “anything goes” society) They also will learn what bullying is and understand they have the right to tell anyone to not touch them in any way that makes them uncomfortable. (yeah… this goes back to abstinence but come on, shouldn’t we also be teaching to not touch others?? Seems the onus always has to be on the victim there, huh?)

Now the Education Week article I read that discussed this had a link to a study on abstinence education that was fascinating to me – in fact, there seems to be no impact on children’s behavior when taking one of these classes, so the point there is why spend money on them if they are not working? Take a quick second to just scroll through it to look at the graphs – the control groups are almost identical.

Want more info on the standards? You might if you care what your child knows about sexual orientation by the end of 5th grade. I suppose the easy way to sum up the new standards is this: by the time all students enter high school, after going through each standard, they will know everything about everything… I guess the question left is will the kids be allowed to eat the banana after the lesson is over?

Bad thing? maybe not but if you care about what your kids are taught in reference to, well, who, where, when, why, or how… you best be on top of it at home because teachers are going to cover all that too, not just the what anymore.

Teaching Kids to Deal with a Bully

Jennifer Wagaman — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:33:29 +0000

Bullying is one of the most serious social issues that a child can face. It is important that both teachers and parents know how to help a child learn to deal with a bully.

Signs of bullying include:

Teasing
Making choices in play that will purposefully hurt another child
Being mean to another child

Signs that your child is being bullied:

Not wanting to go to school
Avoiding playing with other children
Emotional (either upset or angry) after time spent with other children or at school

It is important to teach children to not only treat each other nice, but to react appropriately when they are bullied.

Grandma, Why Didn’t God Make Me a Bird by Amanda Hines provides a unique perspective on bullying and how to deal with a situation where a child is being bullied. Read more.

Zero-Tolerance Policy for Weapons

Jennifer Wagaman — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:01:41 +0000

Schools have implemented zero-tolerance policies for weapons and drugs as well as strict rule for handling those students who break the rules. So when a six year old is caught with a cub scout knife and was sentenced to 45 days in an alternative school for breaking this weapons rule, people question the logic behind such a strict rule.

In this child’s situation, the school district voted to change the policy for Kindergartners and First-graders to a 3-5 day suspension. But where do schools draw the line and how do they keep all students safe?

Schools should have strict policies for students who bring in any kind of weapon or threaten any type of violence. In fact, some schools have suspended Kindergartners for breaking the zero-tolerance rules, and for reasons less innocent than a child trying to eat lunch with a cub-scout knife.

Parents should back up the school and teach their children not to bring in weapons. While it may be an acceptable tool for use in the home, teachers must keep all students safe and what parent would want their child in danger while at school? While one student may not mean the tool as a weapon, another child with anger issues may take the weapon and use it maliciously.

While teachers must use judgment in keeping students and staff safe, the fact is that many teachers work in schools where violence is a serious issue and students as young as 5 years old attack teachers with flying fists. Violence is not an issue isolated to high-school students and schools should stand behind their zer0-tolerance policy.

Stop Bullying Now FREE resources

Jennifer Wagaman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:32:14 +0000

The Stop Bullying Now website has free resources for educators and administrators to teach students about bullying. The resources include multimedia presentations designed to teach school staff, teachers and parents about bullying.

Find tip sheets, webisodes, books and more. All resources on the website are free.
Bullying is a serious problem and needs to be addressed in every school across the country. With these resources teachers will have the tools they need to learn how to stop bullying in their schools. Awareness of the problem is the biggest first step towards preventing and solving it.

Start a stop bullying now campaign in your school!