Should children be educated about homosexuality in school?

[)WisP(]

That could be the case, although I don't think that up to 21% of people are homosexual. It seems far too high, even if they haven't come out. Thinking of everyone I know, a couple of hundred people, all teens to early adults, I can only think of one openly gay person, there are bound to be more, but I can't see it being anything near 10% let alone the 'maximum' of 21%.

Edit: Was aimed as a reply to SunnyC's post.

Edit 2: I personally don't see there being anything wrong with homosexuality. If that's what they are, by choice or not, I think that people should accept them for who they are.

trfan, you're 'being exposed to something does not equal liking it' can be true for homosexuality as well as in the case of my analogy.

 

[Typhlosionvsworld]

Typhlosion, any study could be wrong. There could be hundreds of exceptions to that one meaning the percentage is actually much higher. These people who make these reports aren't idiots. They go through all the data, and if they felt it wasn't sufficient, they'd go get more results. That's how science works.

Ahh, but studies are also sometimes tampered with to show the predicted outcome.

 

[GaZsTiC]

That could be the case, although I don't think that up to 21% of people are homosexual. It seems far too high, even if they haven't come out. Thinking of everyone I know, a couple of hundred people, all teens to early adults, I can only think of one openly gay person, there are bound to be more, but I can't see it being anything near 10% let alone the 'maximum' of 21%.

Edit: Was aimed as a reply to SunnyC's post.

Personal reflection doesn't have much credit since the ratio of straight to gays will always be different depending on the different factors.

However, statistically, the ratio of straight to gay people is firmly accepted as 9:1. In other words, 10% of the population are gay.

 

[Typhlosionvsworld]

Personal reflection doesn't have much credit since the ratio of straight to gays will always be different depending on the different factors.

However, statistically, the ration of straight to gay people is firmly accepted as 9:1. In other words, 10% of the population are gay.

Then where did 21% come from?

 

[trfan]

Ahh, but studies are also sometimes tampered with to show the predicted outcome.

Not to mention it can only measure people who accept themselves as homosexual, the number of people who actually do have sexual fluidity is probably a lot higher but accepting it depends on how you are raised.

 

[)WisP(]

The 21% came from the high estimate for children of homosexual parents. I realise that surveys are not always accurate, but more the most part they are.
I know that personal reflection isn't the best way to go about things, but it puts things into perspertive.
And gastic, you said it can depend on different factors? Cam you elaborate on that more?

 

[GaZsTiC]

Then where did 21% come from?

It was a percentage that came from )WisP(, so ask him/her.

It is also important to recognise that the number of homosexual people being set at about 10% is around 10 years old and so might not be an accurate portrayal of today.

And gastic, you said it can depend on different factors? Cam you elaborate on that more?

Indeed. These are just a few: age, gender, race, religion. Those are the fundamental factors which change the ratio. To put it in other words: if you are in high school it is likely that most homosexuals at the high school will not identify themselves as being homosexuals due to the social stigma attached. This is also true for people of certain religions and race.

 

[darkcharizard58]

Im gonna have to agree with )Wisp( on this one. Your environment and how you are raised greatly affects how you turn out later in life. If someone is raised in a rough neighborhood they are more likely to turn to crime and violence later in life. If someone lives in a nice neighborhood, they are more likely to be successful and less violent. So is it so ludicrous to say if someone is raised by a gay family then they are more likely to be gay.

 

[CSolarstorm]

So is it so ludicrous to say if someone is raised by a gay family then they are more likely to be gay.

Your use of the word ludicrous is confusing me. It means absurd. You agree with Wisp but you think his point is absurd? Perhaps you forgot a word there?

 

[Typhlosionvsworld]

Im gonna have to agree with )Wisp( on this one. Your environment and how you are raised greatly affects how you turn out later in life. If someone is raised in a rough neighborhood they are more likely to turn to crime and violence later in life. If someone lives in a nice neighborhood, they are more likely to be successful and less violent. So is it so ludicrous to say if someone is raised by a gay family then they are more likely to be gay.

Make up your mind. You are agreeing with two ideas.

 

[darkcharizard58]

Make up your mind. You are agreeing with two ideas.

No guys read what i said again. It makes sense. I said "Is it so ludicrous to say...". That makes sense because I was asking if given the previous arguments, is it really that absurd to think that environment could affect sexual preference. I forgot to put a question mark maybe thats where you guys got confused. Or it may be youre reading the first part wrong and skipping some words or rearranging them, but what i said makes sense and doesnt contradict itself

 

[J.T.]

However, statistically, the ratio of straight to gay people is firmly accepted as 9:1. In other words, 10% of the population are gay.

Not to say I disagree with your position necessarily - seriously, I haven't read all your posts, I don't know what your position is, I can't disagree yet - but the actual percentage according to studies is somewhere between 0.5% and 5.5%, depending on the study you use. The 10% estimate comes from the Kinsey studies, which have since been considered inaccurate. However, I doubt any of the studies took into account the percentage of people who are still "in the closet", and since we don't really have any reliable way of finding out how large that group is, it's going to be kind of difficult to come up with an accurate statistic on the percentage of the population that is gay.

So is it so ludicrous to say if someone is raised by a gay family then they are more likely to be gay.

"Ludicrous" sounds like too strong a word. I'd say "a bit misguided". It's been pretty much established by who knows how many studies that sexual orientation is something like 98% determined by birth, with some outside factors playing a very small role in development. So it's not like the whole "kids born to Christian families are more likely to be Christian" thing because religion is a conscious choice - you're not born Christian, after all.

As for the topic title: If we're going to teach kids anything about heterosexual relationships, it seems only fair to mention homosexuality as well. It doesn't need to be made a big deal - for example, I don't think we need to go too much into the specifics ("now children, today we are going to learn about the best positions for sodomy"). Just make sure students are aware that it exists. Admittedly I'd much prefer that kids are taught that it's fine to be homosexual, but I know certain people would twist that in their minds to mean we're recruiting to spread teh gay, so you know, baby steps.

 

[darkcharizard58]

Not to say I disagree with your position necessarily - seriously, I haven't read all your posts, I don't know what your position is, I can't disagree yet - but the actual percentage according to studies is somewhere between 0.5% and 5.5%, depending on the study you use. The 10% estimate comes from the Kinsey studies, which have since been considered inaccurate. However, I doubt any of the studies took into account the percentage of people who are still "in the closet", and since we don't really have any reliable way of finding out how large that group is, it's going to be kind of difficult to come up with an accurate statistic on the percentage of the population that is gay.



"Ludicrous" sounds like too strong a word. I'd say "a bit misguided". It's been pretty much established by who knows how many studies that sexual orientation is something like 98% determined by birth, with some outside factors playing a very small role in development. So it's not like the whole "kids born to Christian families are more likely to be Christian" thing because religion is a conscious choice - you're not born Christian, after all.

As for the topic title: If we're going to teach kids anything about heterosexual relationships, it seems only fair to mention homosexuality as well. It doesn't need to be made a big deal - for example, I don't think we need to go too much into the specifics ("now children, today we are going to learn about the best positions for sodomy"). Just make sure students are aware that it exists. Admittedly I'd much prefer that kids are taught that it's fine to be homosexual, but I know certain people would twist that in their minds to mean we're recruiting to spread teh gay, so you know, baby steps.

Good point. I was just saying that environment does have an affect on it, however I realize that people who are gay are born that way.

 

[Typhlosionvsworld]

Good point. I was just saying that environment does have an affect on it, however I realize that people who are gay are born that way.

Ok. I will stop arguing with you now.

 

[SoulSilverMstr411]

it could influence their sexuality.

In the words of Lex Luthor... WRONG! Sexuality can't be influenced. And even if it could, having a few extra gays around couldn't hurt. It would just mean less competition for the straight guys.

 

[Malanu]

In the words of Lex Luthor... WRONG! Sexuality can't be influenced. And even if it could, having a few extra gays around couldn't hurt. It would just mean less competition for the straight guys.

I'm not sure about that SSM. People are pretty susceptible to suggestion. I wonder if a study has been run on weather subliminal messages could influence sexual preference. It is shown to influence other wants/needs, how would it effect this?

 

[.TraX.]

It already kind of is in my country. But honestly sexual education in schools is way too tame to actually teach anything useful.

 

[Deku_Link]

Of course children should be educated about homosexuality, in a sense. They should certainly be made to know that homosexual relationships exist and are a normal part of many people's lives, especially since they or some of their classmates may be coming from families where the parents belong to the same gender.

Though at young ages it should probably done by means of classrooms having children's books that represent different kinds of families, like "Daddy's Roommate" or "Heather Has Two Mommies".

 

[Malanu]

Then where did 21% come from?

A statistician's joke, "90% of all statistics are made up."

 

[SwiftSoul]

honestly, I think much more people have homosexual urges than will ever identify as anything other than heterosexual. The first guy I was with sexually was a straight football player. I think Larry Craig still identifies as straight. Can't remember if Mark Foley and Ted Haggard did. I think Roy Ashburn did, though. I think most people are more sexually fluid than they ever want to admit, though. I identify as completely homosexual, yet I dated a bisexual guy and acknowledged that there may be times I would do some stuff with a female, for/with him. I have no real desire to, but I would have done it for him.

Of course, now I'm with another completely gay man, and we're happy.

What I mean is, that the 21% statistic out of seemingly nowhere, may actually be quite close to correct. I tend to believe it's a little higher, actually. For men/women with concise non-heterosexual urges (real urges, not passing feelings), i mean. Of course, I'm rather seductive, so I may be biased or something