In school my son was shown a video of a man sexually attracted to balloons

[Balloontheory]

Name changed for this as it could be pretty outing.

Apparently it was a YouTube video, and the idea of the class was to teach them about feelings?! WTAF. AIBU to think that there are a gazillion other more appropriate ways to teach 12 year old about feelings than watching a man get into bed with balloons and tell people it arouses him?

Obviously I don't know exactly what they watched but it all seems a bit weird to me. I did clarify that the teacher showed them this and he said yes. It was part of the class.

It just seems a bit odd

Was it perhaps shown in his airithmetic class? Or enginairing? Physics string theory?

What lesson was it? PSHE? (is that still a thing?)

Anal is pretty weird though to anyone over 50
Is it? I'm well over 50, and have never considered it to be weird.
Actually, anal sex is one of the subjects that should be covered in PHSE in my opinion, though only to older children, simply because it's already normalised amongst gay and bisexual men and they should receive sex education relevant to their own needs. I don't think fetishes need to come into it though, certainly not at 12.

Still laughing at the post asking if it was Pennywise!

“This means I have to bring the subject up again and it's annoyed me as I don't want to make a fuss about it”

Well, in fairness they can’t track it down if they don’t know what lesson it was. Just ask him casually.

What the fuck.

No it’s not hilarious. It’s anything but.

Again, another symptom of widespread normalising of fetishism and/or large scale grooming of children.

I can think of lots of ways this video could have been used that have got nothing to do with fetishism
A discussion on inappropriate feelings
A discussion on unrequited feelings
A discussion on feelings generally
After all, love is love
It is a bit of a leap to assume that it was about fetishism, though it might perhaps have been safer to make it a dog or teddy bear rather than a latex object.
I'm pretty sure that anyone who brought up the subject of fetishism would have been shut down pretty fast in the session
I think you are viewing this from the perspective of a sexually active adult and making your assumptions accordingly

And are hairless genitals, anal sex and blow jobs standard elements of the school curriculum?
Year 9 Biology scheme of work, just after photosynthesis and before osmosis. Normally the third week of the Spring Term. Why do you ask?

Anal is pretty weird though to anyone over 50

Actually I should apologise there, as Feeling recognised, that’s a pretty homophobic statement.

What I meant to say was, all my over 50 friends, with whom I have discussed sex, regard anal as pretty weird in a heterosexual relationship. We are of the generation when men were pretty grateful though and knew they’d be replaced if they didn’t play nice.

Sounds like a rogue teacher with an agenda. They wouldn't be the first.

I misread balloons ad baboons.

I saw a Tv show recently (must have been channel 5) about a woman who was in love with a train station.

@feelingverylazytoday Completely agree, people like me still receive no sex education what so ever.

It's always things commonly associated with children that are fetishised.

So true, @thequeef. It's never "this woman is sexually attracted to really huge beards on men" or "this man has a fetish for huge piles of legal paperwork" is it?!

Don't fetishes develop from when you are growing up though, something you may have experienced as a child or early adolescence?

Any school that attempts to teach my kids about waxing or anal sex in the context of “stuff you might do” without any other context is going to find itself in a lot of fucking trouble.
I’m very hopeful no schools are doing this, in fact.

Actually, having just watched the film, there are some interesting points which could make an interesting discussion: is it a Problem if it's not hurting anyone? Does keeping things to yourself mean that those feelings must be inappropriate? How do we judge people that are different to us etc? I think that the whole point was that it is a pretty abstract subject matter and something that none of the kids will have come across before, so it will cause them to actually think about some of the issues for themselves rather than trotting out standard answers or going into it with preconceived ideas.

Really @TheBigBallOfOil? You'd rather they first hear it from their boyfriend when he's telling them "everyone does it" and they'd do it if they really love him?

To be honest, a third of us are supposed to have fetishes, and most of them aren't even that kinky (feet is super common but one I will never understand). I think it's a bit late to get your knickers in a twist about the normalisation of fetishism.

I also wonder what is so terrible about PHSE including the fact that some people have fetishes. Having one or more fetishes is common, and most fetishes are pretty harmless. Statistically, one or two adolescents per class are likely to have some sexual interests which are outside heterosexual romantic PIV sex and it would actually be a good thing to let them know that this isn't wrong or bad unless they are trying to involve other people who don't want to play.

@busybarbara none of those things are a normal part of sex. A lot of people do them but then again a lot of men used to rape their wives back in the day. A lot of people would never think of doing those things. There is a difference between sexual deviant behaviours that have been normalised and have a large uptake and standard sex. Please don’t minimise anal etc by saying it’s standard, it’s definitely not.

I agree with @TheBigBallOfOil. We were taught about safe anal (lube plus conforms always), oral (conforms anddental dams unless exclusive and checked) and fetishes (in that they exist, no specifics) but all within the context of things that some people do, that are not a standard part of sexual relationships and which you should never do unless you are 100% into it and you are using all of the safety precautions. It’s right to teach children about sex but you have to contextualise it within the frame of you only ever do something that you want to do and you do it safely.

I didn’t need to taught about any of this at school to be able to deal with the sort of shitbag you describe, thanks. Not will my kids. I know how to see to that.

I rang the school. They have no idea and want me to find out which teacher and which lesson. This means I have to bring the subject up again and it's annoyed me as I don't want to make a fuss about it. Bloody school. They are going to ask his form tutor if she has any idea about it though

How strange!

Do you think DC could be winding you up?

m.youtube.com/watch?v=lh93pguL00A

Could be worse what they were shown! I have got myself done a dark YouTube path searching “man loves balloon”

If the kids are having a joke with you op please let us know

Sexy balloons 🎈 😂