What's going on in the world?

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-07-2006
What's going on in the world?
3
Mon, 04-23-2007 - 11:43pm

Oh my goodness guys, I could not believe what was in the newspaper today - there was an article entitled "Sexually Active Infants". My bf told me about it after we were discussing another case that I saw (first article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/04/national/main2645702.shtml). The second article was taking a while to load, so I copied the article directly into the post below.

It's a bit long but it reads:

Sexually active infants
Health Ministry introducing sex education talks to kids 3-6 years
BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, April 22, 2007

A growing number of three - to six-year-olds have been engaging in various sexual activities on school compounds, prompting the Ministry of Health to deploy staff to the affected schools to actively engage them and their parents in sex education discussions.

Andrea Campbell, regional behaviour change co-ordinator at the Ministry of Health, said they get up to three requests each month from basic school principals who want them to give sex education talks at their schools because a number of the infants are engaging in various sexual activities.

Campbell said only recently she got a request from the principal of a basic school who had caught a little girl performing oral sex on her male classmate.
"The teacher saw the little boy smiling and when she went to look, she saw the little girl under the desk performing oral sex on him," Campbell said.

She added that when the principal spoke to the little girl, her response was, "So you don't do it, miss?"
Campbell said when the mother was called to the school, her response was "me never know she was watching those videos because she was suppose to be in bed".
Campbell, who was addressing a group of parents at a forum organised by Scotiabank last Friday, said the children are engaging in all types of sex.

She explained that when the request from a school is received, a team from the ministry goes into the school and talks to children as well as address the Parent Teachers Association (PTA).
Campbell said this was why it was important that parents not only talk to their children about sex from an early age but that they uphold certain morals and values themselves. She said those parents who think they are being careful by blocking certain channels from their children must realise that the kids have become technologically savvy and still have access to the channels.

"Many of these children are 'techies' and so when you block a certain channel they have a way of unblocking and watching what they want and then they block it back by the time you get home," she said.

As such, she encouraged parents to get comfortable talking to their children from a very young age about sex.
"We need to get comfortable talking about sex and sexuality because when they go to school, if the teachers themselves are not comfortable talking about sex, then how can they talk to their students about it?" she asked.

She emphasised that it was very important to start this dialogue as there are many students born with HIV who are now in high schools and who will begin experimenting with sex.
"When a man wants to have sex with a girl who is a virgin, if she tells him she is HIV he won't believe because he will be saying she has never had sex, but she has been born with the virus," Campbell said.

The principal of Alpha Infant School confirmed that a number of basic school children were having 'outright' sex with each other. "Sometime you will have one child ask excuse to go to the bathroom and they will take another student with them and when you think they are in there using the bathroom they are there having sex," she said.

As such, she said it had become important for her to begin engaging members of the PTA in active discussions on the issues surrounding sex.

"We have to start talking to them about these things from early because we can't pretend it is not happening," she said.
The questions asked by many of the parents at the forum showed how limited their knowledge was of the issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.

In a bid to heighten awareness, Scotiabank has sponsored a national primary school HIV/AIDS debating competition in which 400 students will participate and which will have its grand finals on May 19.

"We also want to reach out to parents and the wider community, which is why these seminars are so important," said the manager of Scotia's New Kingston branch.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2007
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 7:37am

That doesn't really shock me. Kids see and hear so much more these days then they used to. When my son was in first grade, he wanted to talk to me about sex. When I asked him what in particular, he wanted to know what it was about. No doubt, this occurred because of things he heard at school. He was fairly easily satisfied with some very vague answers.

I also had an in-home daycare business. One of the girls that I watched always talked about sex and wanted to play games with the other kids where they would have sex! Pretty much, it amounted to kissing, but I really had to keep an eye on everything when she was there. She was in first or second grade at the time. I'm not sure if she was sexually abused, but she did come from a rough background. Thankfully, her family moved a lot, and she wasn't in my daycare for very long. I felt bad for her, but I had 7 other kids to worry about.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-07-2006
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 9:25am

I know young kids are having sex these days, but these articles (especially the one about the "infants") definitely shocked me. I can't imagine giving birth to my child and three years later, he/she will be engaging in sexual activity. I just can't imagine my three or even six year old being so "mature". It definitely scares me - having kids, and making sure they're not exposed to these things (or them thinking sex is just a thing). I don't think when I was three I knew what a penis or sex was. My little brother is two, and he can't even talk that well (maybe an exaggeration), but he's only a year younger than some of these little kids.

And what's more shocking is how bold they are... in the classroom, under the desk. It just scares me that my kids (when I have kids) will be exposed to much more. How do you bring up sex education (of this magnitude) to a three year old? What if they don't ask and just do it? How do you know?? It's just crazy and scary.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2007
Tue, 04-24-2007 - 9:46am

"And what's more shocking is how bold they are... in the classroom, under the desk."

Kids in the age category that you are talking about simply mimic what they see. Unfortunately, there are parents that don't protect their kids from adult things. They may have porn around the house, on the computer, or their kids may even see them have sex. There are also kids who are sexually abused.

The reason why kids are so bold (as you said above) is because they don't know what they are doing, or that it is even wrong. They just see someone else doing it, so they try it out. Personally, I didn't talk to my kids about sex that early, and wouldn't think about doing it now. If there is something going on, then you need to talk to them. It's important to teach them that certain parts of their body are private. If that is taught to them, they will know that they shouldn't be letting others touch them there -- whether it's another kid, or an adult.

If my kids asked questions about sex, or were exposed to something sexual, I would always approach the subject as an "adult" thing. Just like watching us have a drink -- it's something that adults do. Of course, when they start getting close to their teen years, then the talk has to change. That's when the talk has to become about them making choices, responsible choices.



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