Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Called in by Teacher. Aibu?

100 replies

dollywashers · 22/10/2012 16:37

My eldest dd is 8. Her teacher called me aside today to 'have a word'. Apparently a few of the children were talking at wet play time about how babies were made (my dd did not bring topic up). There were various theories. My daughter said they were made from seeds from a man joining with an egg from a woman to grow a baby. Perfectly reasonable I thought. She doesn't actually know about the sex bit yet as hasn't asked. I suspect she thinks the woman eats the eggs :0! But I would be quite happy to tell her at 8 if she asked, age appropriately of course.

Anyway the teacher called me aside and was acting shocked that my daughter had said this. She stood waiting from a reaction from me. I said that I thought at 8 this was a perfectly normal thing for dd to say. She thought not and asked me to tell my dd bit to mention it again as other parents might not like it!! I was a bit too shocked to say anything at the time but thinking about it now it's made me really cross. It's hardly like she was giving the class a sex lesson for goodness sake. AIBU?

OP posts:
Floggingmolly · 22/10/2012 17:37

Very odd. Don't be side tracked by the fact that it's a Catholic school, this will not be the explanation.

honeytea · 22/10/2012 17:39

what an odd teacher!

It is worrying that out of her class some girls will start their periods in the next year or 2 and where babies come from is still a secret :(

GhostofMammaTJ · 22/10/2012 17:43

Christmas pressie for teacher - Mummy Laid an Egg

I agree with the above. It is a great book and perfect for the curious among that age group. My DD is 7 and also knows that she has all the eggs she will ever have already in her tummy and that when she becomes a lady, every few weeks one will come out through her 'baby hole' and what looks like blood will come with it. Not sure what that teacher would make of me! Hmm

SuffolkNWhat · 22/10/2012 17:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FellatioNelson · 22/10/2012 17:47

The teacher sounds positively Victorian and i think I might have been inclined to laugh in her face.

Whistlingwaves · 22/10/2012 17:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsBungleBear · 22/10/2012 17:52

How odd. I've just had a baby and so my 3yo DD has been asking how I got the baby out of my tummy and then some time later - how it got in there!

I said a seed and an egg etc - so she would say the exact same thing as your DD.

MamaBear17 · 22/10/2012 19:08

Massive over-reaction from the teacher. In my school (year 6-9 middle school) we teach sex-ed in year 6. At 10 the children are taught about the mechanics. I would expect an 8 year old to know something along the lines of mummy and daddy having a special cuddle and the 'seed' and 'egg' bit. Completely normal.

TheMonster · 22/10/2012 19:10

Yanbu. I recall being taught the facts of life at school when I was eight.

Aboutlastnight · 22/10/2012 19:20

We have a book approved by the FPA and it really is fab.

The best thing about it is that the section on the er...nitty gritty...of sex is put in context among chapters on love, biological differences, baby's growth in the womb, periods even HIV/AIDS is covered!

I have left it in the girls room and my eight year old is quite happy to talk to me about it at a level similar to your DD, op.

My five year old is interested in sperm and eggs at the moment and we have had some conversations about that.

As everyone has said, the teacher is nuts. Your DD has a healthy attitude to this and dhouldn't be made to feel that a normal part if a loving relationship is something shameful.

ChippingInLovesAutumn · 22/10/2012 19:29

I would talk to the Head sniggers inapproptiately I would be very worried about a teacher with that outlook.

ChickenFillet · 22/10/2012 19:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LynetteScavo · 22/10/2012 19:36

yanbu...

The teacher sounds a bit odd to me.

It being a Catholic school has nothing to do with it. DS1 left Y5 of his Catholic school knowing exactly what condoms are for. I wish they had warned me. I wasn't expecting that! Grin

Faxthatpam · 22/10/2012 19:39

She is completely bonkers and should not be teaching. Go and see the head, this is really bad. Shock

TiAAAAARGHo · 22/10/2012 19:40

I knew the mechanics at about 5 or 6. I had a picture book that explained it all (quite detailed too).

echt · 22/10/2012 19:48

Hmm at doubting the teacher's mental health and saying she shouldn't be teaching.

I'd check with HT what the school's line on all this is, explaining what was said to your DD. It IS most likely to be down to that individual teacher, but you never know.

I went to a Catholic school where the lay governors forbade sex education. The nuns were very Hmm, so arranged for us to view the relevant tv programmes while they left the room.

pigletmania · 22/10/2012 19:50

YANBU none of the teachers business, you are the parent she isent

thebody · 22/10/2012 19:51

Tell the teacher you don't agree with her and inform the head and if need write to governors.. This is wierd.

alphabite · 22/10/2012 19:52

YANBU. Your DD didn't say anything wrong.

catgirl1976 · 22/10/2012 19:53

Unanimous YANBU!

Rare thing Grin

You are so not being U - she is a loon

echt · 22/10/2012 19:57

Er..what is said in school IS the teacher's business. How they handle it, and if they are mistaken in their judgment, as this teacher most likely is, is quite another matter.

McHappyPants2012 · 22/10/2012 19:57

yanbu and also thank your DD from me as when DS asks next time i will have an age appropriate answer :)

StaceymReadyForNumber3 · 22/10/2012 19:57

Odd teacher my ds knows the same and he's 5.

piprabbit · 22/10/2012 19:58

This thread should act as a timely reminder for all parents of 8yos to start talking to their DCs about sex (age appropriately of course) unless they want them to come home repeating what dollywasher's expectionally well-informed DD has told them in the playground.

I honestly don't think you can blame a child for telling their friends about something which seems pretty normal to them. If it comes as news to the listening children, then really that gap in understanding needs to be addressed asap.

LurcioLovesFrankie · 22/10/2012 20:15

Damn, someone has beaten me to the suggestion of supplying a copy of "Mummy laid an egg" to the school. YANBU.

Swipe left for the next trending thread