Personal Safety Programme in National School

lazygal

I don't think telling children the correct names for their body parts is sex education. My two year old knows she has a vulva, her brother has a penis, she uses them as normal words. Which is how it should be. I cringe when I hear people refer to a 'vagina' when its obvious they mean vulva, or call a penis by a nickname.

One eyed Jack

lazygal wrote: »

I don't think telling children the correct names for their body parts is sex education. My two year old knows she has a vulva, her brother has a penis, she uses them as normal words. Which is how it should be. I cringe when I hear people refer to a 'vagina' when its obvious they mean vulva, or call a penis by a nickname.

I agree with you, which is why I believe it is a parent's responsibility to determine what information is appropriate and when it is appropriate, for their own children. Some children are developmentally way ahead of the curve than their peers, and some are way behind, but the "one size fits all" approach takes no account of this.

This is why it's more important that parents get the right information moreso than the children, so that parents aren't coming out with ill informed ideas like being suspicious of parents who choose not to have their children participate in the programme, that there must be something to be suspicious about, and then linking that to child abuse?

And that's coming from an adult's imagination. Imagine how a child would process that information - stranger danger taken to new heights, trust nobody, etc. That sort of exaggerated paranoia isn't very useful to a child.

heldel00

lazygal wrote: »

Not around our way. I know several parents who shelled out €200 or whatever for the psych report so their children (who were aiming for high points courses) would be able to opt out of LC Irish. It seems to be a very easy thing to do. I'd have no problem doing the same for mine if required.

:eek: absurd

lazygal

heldel00 wrote: »

:eek: absurd

Absolutely not. For an 18 year old going for 500+ points it's eminently sensible to avoid studying stuff that you're not good at and don't need to have for third level courses. I liked Irish, but if my children didn't need it and weren't counting on it I'd be doing the same. It's a pragmatic decision.

heldel00

I repeat, absurd.

lazygal

heldel00 wrote: »

I repeat, absurd.

I repeat, pragmatic. I'd hate to see my child miss out on a course because they had to waste his or her time studying a useless language.

coolperson05

"Useless language"

Surely very subjective? There's many who would consider art and music 'useless subjects' however they have a very high reputation for achieving high leaving certificate points, and thus parents "encourage" them to pick them to climb the points ladder. I have friends of mine working in TG4 and in Brussels doing financially very well from Gaeilge.

I would blame the exam system and not the subject.

On the original subject, I've 2/3 children in my class who are exempt from Stay Safe, RSE, Photographs been taken, etc. Parents today have the choice to pick and choose their child's education. Whether this is a good/bad thing is unknown, but the choice is there.

byhookorbycrook

lazygal wrote: »

Not around our way. I know several parents who shelled out €200 or whatever for the psych report so their children (who were aiming for high points courses) would be able to opt out of LC Irish. It seems to be a very easy thing to do. I'd have no problem doing the same for mine if required.

A very silly thing for an ed. psychologist to sign, if the child is not entitled to an exemption-and the criteria are quite specific.
An ed. psychological report costs at least €500.

D4RK ONION

As per the request of AH mods, I've moved this back to AH. Have fun!