To be wound up by primary school kids wearing shag bands

[RattusNorvegicus]

I work in a high school and we had Y5 primary school kids visiting for transition today. Lots of them had shag bands on. These have been banned from our school, and I'm sure most of the younger kids don't know what they represent, but it still goes through me to see them being worn.New here, be gentle!

I must be bloody po faced.
They are not just bracelets, they represent, in the playground at least, sexual acts that primary children have no business knowing about.
It actually turns my stomach.

who says they represent sexual acts?

The Daily Mail says so.

Erm, the children that are wearing them ime.
Dd's friends who live on our street and have armfuls of the things have kindly filled her in on their meaning.
They are all 8, btw

I bought a 15p plastic bracelet for DS (2.5 yrs old) today from the local party shop when we went in to have a look at the balloons (this was the cheapest way to get him out the shop without a tantrum).

Obviously I ended up wearing it home so I have been walking around with an orange 'shag band' on all day. I had never heard of them before this thread and no idea what orange represents. I'm 8 months pg as well so hopefully didn't give anyone any strange ideas...

Y9 explained it to me.

If your child knows 8 year olds who know about blow jobs and anal sex, then you know some dodgy people and I don't think that the plastic bands on the wrist are the real issue.

So let me get this right, a 8 year old decides wearing a pink bracelet means you are good at bj's or whatever?

Well when i was at primary school, if you said injection 1,2,3 it meant you couldnt catch head lice, my mum didnt take it seriously though and still treated my head just in case!

I think you are naive MillyR, if you imagine only 'dodgy' children know the connotations of shag bands.
Slightly offended by your insinuation, tbh.

Did you say your ds was 11? I would be very surprised if he was unaware. Perhaps he just hasn't discussed it with you.

Ime what happens is an 8yo wears what they believe to be a pretty bracelet, then an 11yo comes along and fills in the gaps.

I am very confident that my 8 year old does not know what anal sex is.

My 11 year old may know what they mean, and be pretending not to know. I think that is fine. He has had adequate sex education from me and the school. He has a right to his privacy as he goes through puberty.

Surely wearing a pretty bracelet is whatever you want it to be?

My 8 year old wouldn't have a clue what anal sex or blow job means and I wouldn't want her hanging around wioth children who did.

I did not say, ever, that my 8yo, or any 8yo I know, has discussed anal sex
Dd was told they represent
kissing
showing breasts
sex

And yes, she knows what each of the above is.

So the 8 year olds don't know what shag bands mean then. They cover a wide variety of sexual acts, including blow jobs and anal sex.

I don't think there is an issue with primary school children knowing about kissing and sex.

Kids must have grown up an awful lot, when my older 2 ds's were at primary school, they were embarrassed by the thought of having a girl friend. Anal sex and bj's they would have thought the bracelets were disgusting!

I have no issue with dd knowing about kissing/sex.

I do have an issue with her wearing bands, marketed at children, that in playground terms represent willingness to indulge in above acts.

And I think it is naive to imagine that the wearing of the bloody things does not encourage discussion between children who may not already know and children who know too much. And the children who know too much are present in every school playground ime.

I don't believe the bands are marketed at children as an item with sexual connotations. While some brands may be sold in that way, I have never seen them and had never heard of them before this thread.

I bought DS them from a toy shop, and they are just bracelets. Many young children will wear them as bracelets.

Kids who know too much shouldn't tell other kids stuff. Older children should not talk to younger children about sex; that should be stressed by parents when talking about the facts of life. I think most older children understand that exposing young children to inappropriate sexual comments has abusive connotations and would be treated as a very serious issue by schools, parents and possibly the police.

There are going to be inappropriate comments made by kids who know stuff that is not age appropriate. My DD received 'rape letters' from a six year old. The bands are just bracelets and not relevant to the spread of sexual knowledge, which will always spread in secondary but should be dealt with in primary school by serious intervention with the children concerned, not the bits of plastic!

Kids who know too much have always passed on knowledge to those less 'streetwise', though.
And I think there are increasing numbers of these children, due to increased availability of sexualised images.

Shag bands are obviously relevant to the spread of ill informed sexual knowledge, because to some children they have sexual connotations, connotations which they will take delight in revealing to those less 'well informed'.

It is not hard to say No though is it?

'No you can't have that vile tat'. Usually it is about parents who can't /won't say no imo.

Kids think up different meanings for all sorts of things, if an 11 year old tells a 6 year old you will get pregnant if you drink coke, you wouldnt stop your 6 year old from drinking coke.

Never heard of them or seen them.

So YABU. They are just coloured elastic bands aren't they?

Actually, having read everyone else's replies, I have changed my mind.

Yuk.

Claw, the difference would be if there was a 'pregnancy coke', marketed as such.

The bracelets are not marketed as shag bands.