I was about six the first time I ever heard of sex--my friend had a much older sister (she was probably in the 6th grade). She just told us about it but I had no real clue how one actually did it..simply that it made babies.

I was in the 4th grade when we had our first sex education course but I just recall learning what a male/female part looks like but not about diseases/pregnancy.

Before I start, I hope I don't offend anyone but I don't believe teaching children abstinence and waiting until marriage is the right thing to do. I believe that is one portion of sex education that should be taught, but believe proper protection is MANDATORY particularly with younger and younger children experimenting. If my teacher/counselor had told me to wait to have sex until I was married, I wouldn't have listened. I was going to have sex whether or not someone told me "no"...

Lucky for me, I grew up in a household where my parents were not afraid to answer my questions and did not make the topic of sex uncomfortable. My parents would have rather me be educated and know how to protect myself against diseases, pregnancy, etc. than wind up in a situation I would later as an adult regret. I made the smart decision that when at 17 I felt ready to have sex, I told my parents that I wanted to be put on birth control and I wasn't made to feel "bad." I would have had sex anyway, so at least they made the step to help me make the right decisions at the time.

I think it's unfortunate that more parents aren't comfortable to be able to talk openly about sex with their children. It's not disgusting, it's done between two people who should care about each other, and the child needs to be educated about the consequences of sex. I would rather my children have the knowledge to make wise decisions, than be pregnant or worse have a deadly disease at 15.

Sex education should not be left up primarily to school teachers--these are your kids and you need to be involved in all aspects of their life.