I spent my early teens hating myself for my gay impulses. Now I'm more mature and PROUD to be gay. But I think if in primary school (elementary school to you Americans (I think)) or early in high school, the teachers had told us about homosexuality and that it's ok to be gay in sex education or whatever, then I think I may have had a chance of skipping the hating myself phase and people would growth up to be generally less homophobic. Does anyone else feel like this?
Yes, I think they should teach decent sex ed at primary level. And decent sex ed should include stuff about sexuality.
I'd write down my thoughts, but gibson, apart from the first sentence, then I'd just copy you! :icon_wink
Yes, I definitely wish I'd known about it earlier on during grade school. [Awkward silence.] But in all seriousness, I wish that sexuality, and other interrelated subjects, were discussed more frequently, and with more sincerity, in schools. As if it weren't bad enough that the curriculum avoids it to a great extent, I always felt awkward when these things were brought up in class or amongst peers because they'd act so immaturely toward them..... At the very least, I sometimes wonder if I would've realised I wasn't straight sooner if that had been the case.
hah... maybe in the next century when being gay really IS okay... to the world, that is... I don't see that happening anytime soon. =(
I agree. For most people, homosexuality is taught in health classes along with drugs and STDs, as if they are related. Basically when people in my school think of being gay, they relate it to drugs because we learn about it in the same class. If it was taught younger and in a less awkward environment it would be a lot better.
I agree :3 We were only really taught about straight, sexual relationships (& the apparent "purpose" of them (to procreate)). I think it'll be taught in time.
Orientation should be one of the first things they teach in sex ed, but alas, the world sucks. I guess I got lucky because when I was little, my neighbors were an elderly gay couple, and my mother didn't try to hide that from me. If not for that, I probably would have struggled a lot more with my sexuality...
I hadn't really thought about that before. They really should. Hearing about homosexuality as if it's a normal thing would probably really help a lot of young people through their struggles.
I don't know, most of the kids in my class probably would've laughed and made jokes about it rather than take it seriously...even now, they still do. But I do wish they would have taught us about it, we probably would have had a lesser amount of bullying than we do now, and I definitely wouldn't have tried so hard to fight myself off.
Yes. Or at least here in the Netherlands some primary schools have started teaching about same-sex relationships and gender issues. It's not mandatory yet, but they're trying to make it so.
Although I think that eventually sexuality will be taught in primary schools, I really wish that it would have been taught while I was there. Instead, because they only focused on the biological changes of puberty and straight relationships, I ended up in mass confusion when I went through puberty. No one had ever explained homosexuality to me and I never really knew it existed. The only exposure that I had to it was my siblings calling people that they didn't like as "gay." I remember one day that I watched a Jesse McCartney Disney concert on TV over and over again just to see Jesse McCartney and I honestly didn't understand why I was so fascinated by him. Point being, by not having sexuality discussed and taught with me, I went through a period where I didn't really comprehend what was happening with me. The only way that I finally figured everything out was through a computer and learning everything by myself. A child shouldn't have to do that. Not to mention that when it is finally taught it schools, that will help future generations see that there is nothing wrong with differing sexualities and that they are all normal.
I don't think I learned anything about homosexuality in sex ed in middle school...I just remember "put the condom over the banana" and death and grieving.
I think the only time homosexuality was mentioned in school was in jr high when someone came in to talk about hiv and aids and they said that the class needed to stop laughing and listen because it is not only for gays "but you can get it too"...
We learnt a bit, but only stuff like protection etc. We never had a specific thing saying it's ok to be gay. When we learnt the bit about it, everyone just stared at me, cus everyone thought I was (I was confused at this point). But the teacher did nothing, which made me feel even more uncomfortable and hate myself even more. I genuinely thought there was something wrong with me at that point:/ So yes, they should teach about it in sex ed properly
Ha my parents didn't teach me anything, I learned through sex ed, friends, and the internet. I didn't learn it was ok to be gay until after I graduated, so it would of helped, but I couldn't see my school teaching that. Also, my church was telling me it wasn't ok throughout my teenage years, so I don't know if it would of helped or just confused me even more.