Year 5 Puberty Lesson

[Looubylou]

It has come to light, that when my son had his Puberty Lesson ( live online at home due to bubble isolating at end of last term) the boys were not taught about periods. The girls had an extra session about that. They did however all learn about wet dreams and erections. I can see how the girls would benefit from an extra girls only session, but am I being unreasonable in thinking boys need to know about periods too? I have of course enlightened him now - prompted by needing him to know real reason I can't always say yes I will definately go swimming on a specific future date. (I'm in my 50's and not entirely predictable). Previous to this I've had a policy of answering questions simply, as they arise, about body matters. YANBU - a mixed class puberty lesson should cover periods. YABU - only girls need to know about periods.

Girls need to feel comfortable when told about periods.

Would you not use tampons if you were swimming while you had a period?

I used to send my wee brother to get a sanitary towel from my bedroom if I got caught short I the bathroom; think he was about 3 years old. He called them nappies for ladies.

Surely the whole periods thing should be part of the puberty talk for both boys and girls?

@Geamhradh

Girls need to feel comfortable when told about periods.

They still could - the OP proposed an extra lesson for the boys too, not for them to join the girls.

They usually do a separate and class discussion but I assume was disrupted by isolations etc. They will go over it all in year six but I always made sure I went through it all with all of mine before it was covered in school and gave them books to read themselves as well.

I think body should most definitely be told about periods and what a girl / woman may feel like.
I think all older teens should be told about menopause too and none of these topics should be taboo or made to feel like a joke.
Fed up of boys taking the piss out of periods and making girls feel shit about them. More education needed

I believe at my daughter's school they split the class into separate boys and girls sessions but both groups did learn about periods.

When my children learned about periods in y5, the class was mixed. The teacher said it was very useful as the boys asked all the questions which could have been thought of as silly (e.g. can you control it like wee) which she could tell the girls were dying to ask, but were too embarrassed.

They did also have a second session just girls, 'now that you've had the chance to think about things, has anyone got any more questions?'.... type class, where they could ask directly with just the girls present.

I think having a separate space where girls can ask questions is a good idea, but both girls boys do definitely need to understand periods, ovulation, contraception, and menopause.

I have only recently really understood menopause, as a 28 year old woman, and that's because i'm writing a policy on it at work and needed to research it. I also didn't know until well into my late teens, how ovulation worked.

Defo boys should learn about periods.

My DH didn’t know that periods can be painful until he moved in with me (in his 30s).

Mine didn't have any sex Ed type lessons due to lock down. They had one session at the end of year 6 which was mixed but apparently a bit of a shit show (dreadful interim yr 6 teacher).

I agree re boys understanding periods. My brother didn't (early 80s) but my dh and his brothers did as his mum/sister made sure they knew. Now dd is happy enough to mention in front of Daddy as he has been totally unphased, helped her with washing knickers after leaks etc.

Do you tell girls about erections/wet dreams though? Again we have at home because I didn't really get them until I met one face to face so to speak and it was also helpful to give Dd2 context that boys have messy and inconvenient things to deal with too.

You cant leave everything to schools. Primary teachers aren't sex education experts, no teachers are really but that's another issue.

Teach them this stuff yourselves. Have you tried mentioning sex ed in front of 30 ten year olds?

Teachers have their reasons for keeping sex education things separate, boys stuff for boys girls stuff for girls. Mainly due to the nature of children, privacy, children's embarassment and also to protect the girls from teasing.

You can say all you like that they should be educated to be (unrealistically) mature, and/or in constant adult supervision, but T know children and know their age relevant knowledge limits and what children at different ages should learn.

Theyll be taught it in secondary if you really cant cope. 13yo boys are far less immature than a 10yo boy, and far less likely to use period knowledge as ammunition.

Youve got to weigh up the risk / benefit in choosing age relevance

I would imagine the literate, concerned parents on here are the ones also talking to their children about this stuff but we all know that our families are not the only families out there and actually, if some children rely on their parents for their knowledge, it may be inaccurate, deliberately incorrect or completely missing.

DD definitely learned about male puberty in their sex ed lessons, including wet dreams and erections and I know that the new policy at school means that DS should be learning about periods at school but in some separate sessions so that the girls receive space to explore it in more depth.

Boys do need to know about this stuff in order to demystify, inform and correct.

If the girls learned about wet dreams, erections etc in their lesson, what reason gave the school given for not teaching the boys about periods etc? I agree that these things should be taught separately, so each group feels comfortable to ask questions. So I can't vote, because neither option is appropriate.

@LegoCaltrops

Boys are medically / scientifically proven time and time again to be less mature at every age under 18.