6th Graders Caught Having Sex In Class?

Thanks for clearing that up, Adam.

The school should notify parents, no question.

Did you ever take a shop class? The room is big and you get a project and the teacher goes and sits in his office while you attempt to not cut off your finger with a hand saw.

I think (at worst) the teacher wasn't being attentive enough to the goings on in class but then -- I also am unclear about what the sex act entailed. Some instances would be easier to get away with than others but, in essence -- I agree with Adam.

At sixth grade, young boys and girls are just beginning to learn about sex, while two of their peers are engaging in it right in front of them. This could seriously influence other children into thinking that having sex in school is ok and even worse, cool!

Depending on the school -- I'm just not sure that this is accurate. Even when I was in sixth grade, I knew what sex was and even some of the "dirtier" aspects of what you could do with another person. I had absolutely no chance of doing it (dork, here) but I knew what it was. (I'd probably seen a porno or two by that age -- with friends, at a parents house.)

With that said, I think knowledge about sex is probably even greater now -- for better or for worse. Still, we can't undo that, really. (Though, it would have been awesome if the kids had used a condom. Perhaps if we were more open about teaching safe sex practices in school this story would have (at least) had a silver lining. (Or, a latex lining.)

I think that so long as the kids who were involved were punished and "their" parents were notified -- the school shouldn't have to notify every parent of a disciplinary instance. (What about fights? I don't want my kids getting into those, either -- but I don't want to know about it everytime some dumbass kid picks one with some other kid.)

I do too -- and I said that anyone who was "witnessing" the sex while knowing that there was a lookout was a culprit in the act. That child's parent should be notified. It says that the students who were involved were disciplined -- I'm sure their parents were notified, right?

Again, I want to know more about "what" the sex act was -- I want to know more about the kids who were involved -- there's a lot of "ifs" I need to know more about before I can really pass judgment.

I could just as easily argue that these kids parents were failing them based on their choice of activities -- but I'd have to argue that on a lack of information, as well.

Exactly. Lack of information is the problem here. People are throwing a fit over something when they know only a few details, and I think there are a lot of false assumptions being made. The fact that this story was broken by local news is a good indication of the amount of sensationalism. When was the last time you saw quality, trustworthy reporting from local news? I don't know that I ever have.

Good point, Adam. My local news station recently insinuated that Nintendo DS devices were putting kids at risk of molestation -- based on a short-range chat feature. They also faulted Nintendo for not warning parents -- despite the fact that their -is- a warning about discussing chat usage with children in the some of the paper work. The "test" parent "had no idea that strangers could chat with my children" -- and the test parent immediately revealed to me that they need to know more about the technology they buy their children. Read the manual!

This, despite no evidence that it had ever been used in that manner or that the risk was anything more than a highly unlikely hypothetical.

News stations look for controversial subjects in an effort to sensationalize and drive ratings. As a result -- I don't watch the news.

I think fights are worse than sex.

That's what I said too, bro. In the original thread - Killfile's thread.
I will wait for the truth to emerge.

My wood shop in high school was 20' x 30' and had a half-width second floor, for a total of 900 square feet. My class had 30 kids. The office was off to the side, and our teacher spent a decent amount of time in there, because he knew he'd done a good job teaching us how to use the equipment.

I haven't been in that room for 6 years and I remember the layout, and I can think of quite a few places where peers could have done things and not been caught by the teacher, while everyone else could see them.

But that's part of a teacher's job -- to make sure kids are present, doing their work and keeping safe. Especially! in a shop class, where a teacher could turn away for a moment and a child could lose an eye, hand or something more serious. Everything about this is wrong -- from the teacher's abhorant negligence to the school's highly inappropriate cover-up. Those involved should be fired, immediately, and not allowed to work in that field again. If it's true. If not, appropriate action should be taken. Anyone who condones this, or thinks it's no big deal, should never have kids of their own, or be charged with the care and supervision of others' kids.

I'm not sure I could disagree with you more, Enigma.

People are people, and they make human mistakes. A teacher not having his attention focused on the kids isn't the greatest thought in the world, but I suspect we'd have to fire 50% of our educational staff if this were the case.

Think back to your Gym class: You were never left to your own devices on the playground? During "free play" you weren't allowed to choose a corner of the gym and do whatever you liked? (And there's no way you could have done whoever you liked in that instance if enough kids were willing to help out with distractions?) In any other class, a teacher never stepped out of the room and left a student "in charge" for a few minutes?

The teacher did not encourage or "know about" the activities and turn a blind eye -- so to claim that they deserve to be fired and ostracized from their job (in any school, ever) because some dumb kids were inappropriate is just -- scary.

I still say the biggest problem is that this has been sensationalized by a news station that is short on details but long on holier than thou accusations.

As best I can tell, the act happened 1 time -- for about 30 seconds. But this is unclear and the news report makes it seem like an event that was ongoing. (Makes for a better story if the details are vague.) Further - no details about the sexual event are given, either. (It would be far easier to give someone head without getting noticed than for two students to undress (enough) to engage in intercourse.)

The lack of details in the report and the sudden "Holy crap let's burn these teachers at the stake!" reactions are unsettling.

Think back to your Gym class: You were never left to your own devices on the playground? During "free play" you weren't allowed to choose a corner of the gym and do whatever you liked?

I'd rather not. The situations you point out are the same ones that promote bullyism. Indeed, I bet that in most cases in which kids have been bullied, it's been exactly in locker rooms, gym classes and playgrounds. These people act not only as teachers, but in locus parentis -- in place of the parents, literally. Teachers are held -- rightfully so -- not only as mentors by also as guardians of your child's life part of each day. Is it too much to ask that the teacher make sure kids aren't beating the @!$%# out of one another, or having sex in class?

As best I can tell, the act happened 1 time -- for about 30 seconds. But this is unclear and the news report makes it seem like an event that was ongoing.

What the hell is your stance -- sex between children, in a classroom during a class, is fine if it doesn't last a long time? Does this twisted logic apply elsewhere? Is rape also ok if it happens fast enough? I don't recall ever hearing a worse argument.

He never said it was "fine". He said it's not the huge deal everyone's making it out to be. It wasn't like they were making a porno in the middle of class. Yes, it's bad, but it's not a reason to call for firing someone.

Is rape also ok if it happens fast enough? I don't recall ever hearing a worse argument.

Eh. Whatever. You clearly aren't willing to have a rational or realistic discussion.

You're right. Blame the conservative Right for their invasive, religious fervent into our public schools.

And -- don't you think that poor parenting probably plays a pretty large role, here?