to be a little smug at the fact neither of my DC know what to call a cigarett

[Gigantaur]

they know what a cigarette is they just don't know what one is actually called.

the closest was DD who called it a "flag"

DS is 9.10 and DD 5.10

they also call all alcohol beer and have been known to pull a face at people who say they are going to the pub.

DD has also gone up to a man smoking and told him he was going to die because he smokes.

I did tell her that was rude and she wasn't to do it, but i did smile inside.

ahh well in that case, yes she does have her moments. but i blame the ballet teacher for that. she's become a right diva since starting there

haha!is funny how threads turn out,turns they take

ladyanonymous. It's great that you know for a fact that all your children are having sex, contracting stis and getting pregnant. None of them are still reading enid blyton books or trying to have a childhood for fuck's sake.

You are a nob, and I discard you utterly.

Ds calls them Carrots because when he asked my dad what he was doing when sat in the garden having a cigar, my dad replied "having a carrot"

Speaking as an ex-smoker and also someone whose job involves a fair bit of seeing people who are dying from smoking-related diseases, I would say great: do whatever you can to make sure your children are repulsed by smoking and smokers, and hope to god they carry that repulsion with them to adulthood.

Ah...well I am sure your children will take sanctuary in a worker like me one day AnyFuleKno and I/we/they will recieve another mouthful of abuse and take it on the chin.

But hey - you are the type of parents we dread - and we are the type of adults YPs crave.

Ah that explains it then gigantaur - the reading I mean. Did they never ask though when they were toddlrs - Whats that? and then you had to explain all about them and so forth? Thats how mine found out.

ladyanonymous. I can promise that if I find that you or one of your worthy, self righteous, social studies, mealy mouthed cretinous colleagues ever tries to teach my dd about how inevitable it is that she will contract a venereal disease - but don't worry someone on a scheme will be there to save you - I will whip her out of that school faster than you can say shit career choice.

what is all the fractious profanities about?all this from a wean doesnt know what a fag is called

cycling christ on a bike

sorry gigantaur, I came to support you and didn't mean to take your thread on a tangent.

I am now hiding the thread.

Gigantaur - love the mixed leafs

You see - mn has rubbed off on your dc's by osmosis. They are little middle-class children now and will be demanding a babycino after their lightly dressed salad for supper

Well that makes me feel very for your DD.

We never teach anbout inevitability - we teach about choices and desicion making, and self esteem and peer pressure and educate about health.

Glad we still don't have any mountains to climb

Omni - i guess not. It is something that they see almost daily so i would just assume it would be picked up along the way. DD has obviously heard something which is why she came out with "flags" but i am surprised they didn't actually know.

I suppose noone actually calls them cigarettes do they - they would say ciggies or cigs or fags...

Eh, to be fair, AnyFuleKno, I don't think there is a harm in educating them - although I do agree with you that constantly making out that everybody's at it could have a subtle effect on normalising dangerous behaviours. I was like you - never offered drugs apart from weed when I was at 6th form college (and not by a dealer - never laid eyes on a dealer - just by close friends who tried it once or twice), never pressured into sex, also didn't kiss a boy til quite late. If there was much under-age sex happening, everyone was certainly keeping quiet about it. This was not in a distant golden age either as I am in my 20s now. It's sad to realise that a lot of people grew up in a very different atmosphere, I worry for my DCs. But I don't think that learning which drugs are which and a bit of sex ed which I knew already from peeking at magazines (kids are always going to be curious) really robbed me of my innocence. Forewarned is forearmed, sadly it's neccessary to know this stuff to better navigate the world we live in. I knew precisely how stupid it would be to take drugs because I knew the ins and outs of the effects of each one. Never tempted. Enjoyed a relatively innocent childhood and teens.

I was like you Blanchet. I went to a very rough school on a rough area, although I was removed from the worst of it because I was in the top sets.

My parents never spoke to me about drugs or sex. Some of my friends claimed to be having sex, but I never really believed them and I was well out of school before I did it.

The first and only time I was offered drugs was in a club on holiday in Majorca when I was about 19. I just laughed at the absurdity of me taking such stuff. I guess I knew enough to know it wasn't a good idea (was the time of the Grange Hill "Just Say No" campaign )I do wonder what my reaction might have been if I'd been "educated" and believed it to be normal

No- I'd think they were rude ,judgmental and had a poor vocabulary.

discussing socio-economic health inequalities at school gate? now that id be smug about

they would have to be speaking to a mirror then.

or me for the first one

How are your kids going to adjust to the real world if they think drinking is ugh? They need to be prepared fir teenage/adulthood. Sounds like they are growing up slightly puritanical !

AnyFuleKno

sex education is NOT what makes kids have sex. you seem to be under the impression that being educated about stuff makes you want to try it. i tend to go for stuff that i dont know all the harmful side effects of to be honest...

and also there needs to be MORE education about sexual diseases, do you know how common they are these days? generally people have the attitude 'oh it'll never happen to me'
but it does, frequently!

LadyAnonymous, keep up the good work. oh and just to add to my point, have you ever seen a schoolkid watch a teacher roll a condom onto a cucumber and say 'ooh, i really fancy a shag now'...