Sex In The Public Square - Education - Comments

Fear of Creepy Crawlies

JanieBelle — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:45:01 -0800

This article at LiveScience bears directly on this:

Fear of snakes is one of the most common phobias, yet many people have never seen a snake in person. So how is this fear generated?

New research suggests humans have evolved an innate tendency to sense snakes — and spiders, too — and to learn to fear them.

Psychologists found that both adults and children could detect images of snakes among a variety of non-threatening objects more quickly than they could pinpoint frogs, flowers or caterpillars. The researchers think this ability helped humans survive in the wild.

(More at the link.)

There are so many

Gracie — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:32:55 -0800

There are so many conversations going on this, that I may be mistaken, but I do think it was discussed somewhere that boys are more distracted by girls in classrooms. And I do believe there was not too long ago a study or report of an all boys school (and if I am recalling right, also black students?) which had results to say that such separation was benefitial to the boys... If I have time later I'll look it up.

There are also the matters of other educational components at work -- you'd have to compare equal quality schools and programs and isolate the separation issue to see if that's what is really at work.

My experiences in college make me think that there are times and places for separations, but that we do have to come together, work together, as we will eventually in the life outside of/after school.

PS Pls excuse typos etc., I'm typin on the fly!

Who benefits?

Elizabeth — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:00:32 -0800

It's interesting, Gracie: Rashima's essay (the one you link to) discusses separation of all sorts, not just gender separation. But where it does discuss separating students by gender the benefit is to the boys. I always think about single-gender classrooms as being set up for the benefit of girls and yet this reminds us to consider that boys benefit too. It's been ages since I've looked at any data on single-gender education but I wonder if boys actually benefit more?

The reason Rashima gives for the benefit she noted is the removal of social distractions. The boys stopped posing and posturing, she says. I have heard the same argued as a source of benefit for girls too. Rather than focusing on "victimization" or intimidation, the focus is put on the intensity of the erotic and social tensions between boys and girls and the attendant distractions from academic work.

My own students who have come out of single-gender schools have remarked on the same thing. They've also typically been schools with uniforms or fairly rigid dress codes and students report at least some reduction of what might be called fashion distractions. it's interesting to discuss the issue in classes. Often the students who went to co-ed schools (the vast majority) can't imagine ever wanting to be in a single-gender school and think the idea is a bad one because it prevents boys and girls from learning how to deal with each other. The students who attended single-gender education often report on the usefulness of it, and on the other places where they got to interact in mixed gender groups.

I'm teaching a Sociology of Gender course this semester. I should ask my students to comment on this, and I should also go back and check out studies of single-gender education to see if there is data on the relative benefits experienced by boys and by girls. Wouldn't it be ironic if it turns out boys benefit more?

Ryan, I can't tell which way

Gracie — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:38:29 -0800

Ryan, I can't tell which way your passion is leaning.. sarcasm was my first thought, but on my second read the intensity made me wonder if you wanted such a world as you described.

So far, if I'm reading all the comments at a total of 3 sites correctly, most people are thinking separation at times is a good thing, as is the choice to pick a gender specific shcool ~ if all things are equal in terms of quality at each school.

Yes, exactly what women need!

Ryan Prior — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:17:11 -0800

Of course, what women need is to be closed off from the scary, abusive, stifling male portion of society and allowed to flourish without being subjected to any real or imagined threats. Surely this will lead to an era of light and equality, where men finally realize that women are just as able to cope in competitve academic environments; where women can stop believing that they are of a different breed and class, unable to fulfill those jobs which men presently dominate! Besides, this will put and end to those awkward situations in which women must confront those who don't process and think the same way that they do.

Make it so!

Some Info On Arachnid Sex Campaign

JanieBelle — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:41:37 -0800

Just came across (no pun intended) this article in New Scientist , although they don't link to the campaign directly.

According to some of the commentors, the PSA was run a few years ago and terminated for reasons of ineffectiveness.

I'm really curious

Elizabeth — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:23:03 -0800

about this PSA campaign. Where are these images appearing? (Magazines? Metro stations?) And does anybody have a link to the organization that sponsors the campaign, or to any other info about its creation/distribution?

Just curious.

A secondary reaction: It's interesting that they chose wildly enlarged versions of animals that we are terrified of, and not animals that are often associated with zoophilia. Does the use of these animals work mostly because of our taboos about sex with animals, or mostly because the animals themselves are ones we associate with danger and ickyness? (And do the images reinforce stigma/taboo around zoophilia, or do they seem too disconnected from actual zoophilia to have an impact?)

A handbag is more convenient than a medicine cabinet.

Elizabeth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:22:07 -0700

I wonder why he thinks they need a medicine cabinet. It seems to me that pill packets and condoms and those little bottles of lube that they sell at the drug store fit quite nicely into most handbags and can be a near as the bed. Much more conveniently available, actually, than the medicine cabinet.

And what with being so portable, pills and condoms and lube can be with you all the time, so planning ahead is less necessary. Need them at the spur of the moment? There they are. Now, if only pills were affordable and safe for everyone, and condoms something that sexually active teens were not embarrassed to buy.

I remember when the big debate was whether or not to allow for condom distribution in schools. Now we're debating even teaching about condom use! It's hard to believe we've lost so much ground.

(And for what it's worth, I think that McLeroy should review the new teen pregnancy statistics (PDF). While they don't offer sparkling good news, they do at least show a reduction in teen pregnancies and some of that drop is attributable to better use of contraception.)

Parents of teens

Elizabeth — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:01:29 -0700

TracyA, thanks for the link to the UNESCO report, and thanks for jumping into the thread. I hope we get lots of parents of teens and young adults in here to help shape the discussion, but in the mean time I hope you'll contribute as often as you can. Your perspective as a parent and as an expat is especially interesting!

field trip to planned parenthood

tracya — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:43:12 -0700

i'm sure we all agree that teen sex education and prevention of pregnancy is the place to start, something planned parenthood does very well. it's unfortunate that pro lifers see and exploit ONE aspect of their services as promoters/providers of abortion services. i still find it scary that some people particularly in the US feel it's okay NOT to educate teenagers about their bodies and sex. i am living in england now, and it's pretty dismal here as well. england has the highest teen pregnancy rate in europe, and fueling it is lack of education and state benefits for the moms. i've been told that a 16 year old girl here can get her own apt if she gets pregnant, an incentive if you want to move out of house. the dutch are held up as the gold standard as far as teen sex education, i recently watched a documentary where they sent 6 british 16 year olds to the netherlands to see how they approach the subject. very interesting and refreshing. i don't see that kind of honest open approach taking america by storm but that's why we're all here, isn't it???

http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_07/uk/apprend2.htm

as a mom to 3 young people aged 16-26, i have a big interest in this subject...i hope that won't conflict with my future posts on the BDSM threads!!

YMCA field trip

Elizabeth — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:34:05 -0700

I think there's something symbolically interesting about the Young Men's Christian Association taking a field trip to Planned Parenthood. Good for them!

As for "equal time," I'm sure that the students got exposure to many interesting and complicated ideas: women's health care as a priority, the importance of reproductive freedom, strategies for conducting protests, the oversimplified framing of a complicated issue ... That's much more valuable educationally than just getting two views on a controversial question in a classroom.