Comments on: You know, for kids

You know, for kids

elgilito — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:34:38 -0800

Sex: wot's the big deal is a sex exhibition for kids currently taking place at the Cité des Sciences in Paris. Pre-teens can learn about love, puberty, making love and making babies, and they can also experiment a little bit. The show is based on Willies: a user's guide (in French: Le zizi sexuel) by Swiss comics creator Zep, and features the rising star of French playgrounds, Titeuf (NSFW unless you're a French preteen)

By: norabarnacl3

norabarnacl3 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:43:55 -0800

I wonder what the long term effects of the scientization and infantilization of sex are, if any.

By: burnmp3s

burnmp3s — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:51:15 -0800

o that how babby formed. thx

By: edgeways

edgeways — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:58:45 -0800

I wonder what the long term effects of the scientization and infantilization of sex are, if any. People are not so freaked out about it when they are teenagers? Less unwanted teen pregnancies?

By: DU

DU — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:07:37 -0800

Exhibitionists

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:07:37 -0800

I wonder what the long term effects of the scientization and infantilization of sex are, if any. yeah god forbid people look at something in a scientific way.

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:08:36 -0800

Six percent of French girls under the age of 20 give birth; in the United States, that figure is 22%. I'd say the French are doing something right. cite

By: LVdB

LVdB — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:13:29 -0800

Titeuf is very much the already risen star of French comics, as it sells probably three times as much as the next best selling comic book.

By: DU

DU — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:30:57 -0800

I wonder what the long terms effects of the scientization and infantilization¹ of astronomy are, if any. ¹Misuse Of Word Alert

By: fusinski

fusinski — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:36:34 -0800

Ok, honestly. This link? I am not a prude and am all in favor of sex ed, but: What the hell? Holy crap.

By: kid ichorous

kid ichorous — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:39:26 -0800

The age of consent in France is 15; yet the average age of mothers having a firstborn child is 29.4 and increasing. There are many explanations for this: more efficient use of contraception, longer studies for women, the relative deterioration of the image of the mother in the working world, difficulties in finding child-care solutions [here]

By: bryak

bryak — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:46:02 -0800

i think it's an idea that has potential, however i totally agree with fusinski. anything that might potentially teach a person that stomping on a sack is the best way to give someone an erection gets a big red flag from me.

By: norabarnacl3

norabarnacl3 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:52:38 -0800

Unwanted teenage pregnancies are the result of low socioeconomic status, not lack of sex education. There isn't some noble purpose behind this stuff other than profit. People are fascinated by sex. If we can sell it to them under the socially-approved, hell even subsidized, guise of "education", then chick-ching!

By: tweemy

tweemy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:59:13 -0800

This hugely popular French cartoon character, Titeuf, is already teaching quite a few things to kids about relationships. I know for a fact that, in quite a few French schools' libraries, this book is borrowed regularly all year round, as in taken out as soon as it is in. It allows kids to learn things without going through biology or pornography, through a 'popular' medium they don't feel ashamed of borrowing (Oh, I just took a book of Titeuf out!). Sure, some things, like fusinski's link shows, might seem weird, but in the end it tends to make people treat sexuality in a way that allows conversation and experimentation (however dodgy they seem, give the kids some credit into knowing this is hugely simplified and unlike reality), which is a good thing when you are dealing with teenagers. And yes, teenage pregnancy doesn't seem to be that much of a problem we talk about in France. I am glad they have done an exhibition about this book, especially with clear educational purposes behind it.

By: modernnomad

modernnomad — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:59:52 -0800

Seems like an excellent program. If kids who are 10 years old don't understand the physical mechanics of sex and its consequences, their parents or teachers have failed them.

By: DU

DU — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:03:23 -0800

Unwanted teenage pregnancies are the result of low socioeconomic status, not lack of sex education. How do you untangle the low status from the bad education? ..the average age of mothers having a firstborn child is 29.4 and increasing. In the future, the French will live to 300 while Americans live to 30.

By: chococat

chococat — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:20:41 -0800

This is awesome, I wish I could take my kids to this. Those videos are hilarious.

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:25:21 -0800

fusinski, bryak - that's just to show how ephemeral the male erection can be, especially with those new to body ... stuff. Heh. Being in the US and not knowing a whole lot of other cultures, I wonder how sexuality is treated in other "developed" countries? rtha's link is interesting by itself, but is presented without context. Is it because the US still discusses abstinence as a valid form of STD prevention and a way to avoid pregnancy? Is there less informal education for US kids? Maybe religious discouragement of contraceptives plays a larger role in the US? I want to know more (and I don't). Interesting subject, but the high rate of teen pregnancies makes me sad, and reminds me of the day care center at my high school. From that small window, it seemed the less well-to-do teens were the ones getting pregnant, and it wasn't really a big deal for them. I'm not saying they should be scolded and ostracized, but it felt a bit too accepted (to me, as a upper-middle class white male, looking ahead to college and all that).

By: nosila

nosila — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:29:56 -0800

Great post title. I laughed really hard of the video of the girl pushing the willy-inflator over and over until the willy wouldn't inflate anymore. The whole thing reminds me a bit of Brave New World.

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:50:17 -0800

Unwanted teenage pregnancies are the result of low socioeconomic status, not lack of sex education. This is not entirely true, or at least, it's not that simple:

The study did find, however, that across all of the focus countries, young people growing up in disadvantaged economic, familial and social circumstances are more likely than their better-off peers to engage in risky behavior and have a child during adolescence. It is true, therefore, that pregnancy and birth are more common among U.S. teens in part because the United States has a greater proportion of disadvantaged families. (While the United States has the highest per capita income of the study countries, it also has the highest percentage of its population who are poor.) However, at all socioeconomic levels, American teenagers are less likely than their peers in the other study countries to use contraceptives and more likely to have a child. For example, U.S. teenagers in the highest income subgroup have birthrates that are 14% higher than similar teenagers in Great Britain and rates that are higher than the overall teen birthrates in Sweden and France.

(emphasis mine.) filthy light thief, you might be interested in the stats I posted in this thread, addressing the difference in approaches to sex education between the U.S. and European countries; the fact sheet I linked to is currently down for updating, but the crucial (to me) bits are:

* Research is the basis for public policies to reduce unintended pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Political and religious interest groups have little influence on public health policy. * A national desire to reduce the number of abortions and to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, provides the major impetus in each country for unimpeded access to contraception, including condoms, consistent sexuality education, and widespread public education campaigns. * Governments support massive, consistent, long-term public education campaigns utilizing the Internet, television, films, radio, billboards, discos, pharmacies, and health care providers. Media is a partner, not a problem, in these campaigns. Campaigns are far more direct and humorous than in the U.S. and focus on safety and pleasure. * Youth have convenient access to free or low-cost contraception through national health insurance.

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:14:18 -0800

I'm going to laugh and point at the funny country. Thats you, puritans.

By: mosk

mosk — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:26:46 -0800

Heh heh, he said "country".

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:30:57 -0800

In the future, the French will live to 300 while Americans live to 30 and such a Brave New World it shall be.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:33:10 -0800

HA! I wish I had that when I was a kid. Oh wait, I'm still a kid. HA!

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:54:07 -0800

It allows kids to learn things without going through biology or pornography I like how you phrased that. That's exactly what's needed, imho.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:01:13 -0800

"Nadia, if I stick my willy in your tummy one day... do you promise to give it back?" PRICELESS. My parents were really liberal about sex-ed - my mom was an OB nurse who proclaimed "If I see you at work before you're 23, I will kill you myself." She put me on the pill at 14, after I went to the prom with my first boyfriend. (She actually asked at dinner, in the manner that you would ask someone to pass the butter, "Are you going to have sex after the prom?") Sex was discussed casually like any other bodily activity. And being in a home with a nurse, you can imagine how often and how casual these conversations were. I did indeed start having sex young, but I was safe every time - both the pill AND condoms - and I never felt the need to have casual sex or "experiment" in the ways that many of my peers did. I can count the number of partners I've had on one hand - which isn't to say that this is any big accomplishment or that I'm some kind of prude, just that talking about sex openly in the home didn't lead to my not taking sex seriously. Quite the opposite. Knowing the risks involved and not feeling like sex was taboo or an act of rebellion, I never felt the need to have sex with someone unless I also wanted to have a relationship with that person. I may be bisexual, but I do have the lesbian urge to bring a UHaul after the first date, so my sexual relationships quickly turned into long-term monogamous relationships. And no, I did not end up pregnant as a teenager, judging by the fact that I am still alive at 27. This is exactly the sort of sex-ed stuff my mom would have used, had she had materials at her disposal and not just an endless selection of anecdotes and information that honestly, I would have rathered NOT know.

By: Toecutter

Toecutter — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:04:34 -0800

So this is a serious question: How about European countries making immigration and naturalization as easy for Americans as we did for Europeans in the 20th Century -- because honestly (my euphoria over Obama notwithstanding) I think there are huddled masses here in the States yearning to breathe free (and non-repressed, etc., continental air). I promise my family and I are not loud and poorly dressed.

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:07:50 -0800

The paperworks way less of a pain than it is the other way. Off you go!

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:12:23 -0800

(Omigosh, the "Feeing the Fetus" game is awesome. You put the vegetables in the box, and it FARTS. HA.)

By: happyroach

happyroach — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:13:42 -0800

This program sounds like it will do a good job of demystifying sex and reproduction, and it's a huge pity that the U.S. can't have a sensible program like that. Thank you SO much conservative Christians, for your continuing efforts to eliminate sex education in America. All the teenagers who have misguided notions about sex have you and your "family values" to thank.

By: Toecutter

Toecutter — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:17:20 -0800

Oh I should have prefaced my question with a wow -- this is great and *exactly* the kind of thing a parent needs to demystify sex and take the cringe factor out of sex ed. But it will never, ever happen here in the States.

By: Zambrano

Zambrano — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:22:31 -0800

Régis Fait Une Farce A Sa Collègue

By: LMGM

LMGM — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:49:59 -0800

Love it. I live in Paris right now and I've been seeing those posters everywhere on the subway. I want to go check it out, but I'm 30. I feel a bit odd going on my own, but I don't think it would be a good idea to ask my colleagues if I could "borrow" one of their kids to go to a sex-ed exhibition. No creepy uncle here, thank you.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:52:26 -0800

Yeah, looks pretty much like Where Do Babies Come From?, interactive French version. I'm with grapefruitmoon. Watched the video of Where Do Babies Come From? at age 7, and went on the pill in my teens, Mom was never shy about helping me pick a contraceptive and stick to it. Went straight into a good, sexual LTR. A nullip to this day, and I daresay a nulligravida. The elephant in the room is, you have to start teaching sex to kids at a young age or they'll never become SEX JEDI.

By: Marisa Stole the Precious Thing

Marisa Stole the Precious Thing — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:29:53 -0800

This program sounds like it will do a good job of demystifying sex and reproduction, and it's a huge pity that the U.S. can't have a sensible program like that. Growing up, there was a book called Where Did I Come From?, which you can still buy from Amazon (also by the same author: What's Happening to Me?) that was at once humorous and informative. You could also talk to your kids. I really would love to see a national standard of sex education in public schools that included teaching abstinence, birth control and a frank discussion of the emotional as well as the physical aspects of sex and sexuality. My sex ed class was taught by an old woman who seemed painfully embarrassed with every sentence she uttered, and answered any of our questions as curtly and briefly as possible. Also, this bit of pricelessness: There isn't some noble purpose behind this stuff other than profit. People are fascinated by sex. If we can sell it to them under the socially-approved, hell even subsidized, guise of "education", then chick-ching! I have now idea how you crawled inside the mind of the creator of this exhibition and saw Scrooge McDuck, laughing and rolling around on a pile of gold coins and jewels, but if this exhibition manages to make sex less a mystery to children in a way both fun and scientific, as opposed to keeping sex in a cloud of taboo that they stumble into blindly and out of with a baby in their arms, all because a few prudes think unwanted pregnancies and STDs are preferable to teaching children about a few natural facts, then I personally couldn't care less if this man gets filthy rich from his idea.

By: LVdB

LVdB — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:38:51 -0800

It's an exhibition in a science museum, in partnership with the department of health, youth and sport.

By: Rangeboy

Rangeboy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:39:20 -0800

People make a big fuss about 17 year olds getting pregnant, but they're not considering just to what degree 17 year olds are just walking around DARING you not to make a baby inside them.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:06:22 -0800

The elephant in the room is, you have to start teaching sex to kids at a young age or they'll never become SEX JEDI. *whooooosh. brrrrr. brrrr. brrrrrrrrrrr* The obvious problem here, and this is entirely aside from the religious aspect for many families is that a fairly typical reaction of many parents to grapefruitmoon's excellent personal account is: I did indeed start having sex young, but LALALALALACAN'THEARYOU

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:48:44 -0800

"Sex was discussed casually like any other bodily activity. And being in a home with a nurse, you can imagine how often and how casual these conversations were." Yeah, I expect to have the same kinds of conversations with my kids. Of course, since I have a daughter I expect to have a bright red face and steam rising from my head from all the internal angst build up while we're chatting (a'la homer simpson "yes, that's a real pickle"). On the upside, I'll be in fantastic shape given that I'll be fight training throughout the age she's having sex and I could turn pro at a later age (and I suppose I'd be undefeated since I'd be relatively immune to physical pain given all the psychological pressure). ...of course, I'll have to remove all the firearms from the house when her dates come over. And I expect to have several heart attacks on prom night. But yeah, you have to have a healthy discussion about this stuff. Just kinda tough for some of us midwestern U.S. types.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:15:23 -0800

But yeah, you have to have a healthy discussion about this stuff. Just kinda tough for some of us midwestern U.S. types. Smedleyman, it might hearten you to know that my own mother is midwestern to the core. She's from Lake Wobegon. Literally. She and Garrison Keillor went to the same high school. And she managed! Her head never once exploded!

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:07:33 -0800

I have to admit, I'm surprised and feeling I should perhaps be alarmed that you have kids, Smedleyman. Not that I've any real reason to feel this way. Just that... well, I've never got the sense that you were kid-compatible.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:38:46 -0800

Why? I'm pretty kid-friendly. I'm extremely family oriented. I fact I'm strongly opposed to corporal punishment.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:33:55 -0800

I'm not sure why I got that impression. My mental picture of you usually involves the idea that you're large and have several guns slung around your chest. I admit, it isn't an accurate mental picture. :-)