Sex in class gets 5th graders arrested

OH MY GOD. Why would a fifth grader be having sex in the first place? This is apalling! Did they use any protection? In fifth grade I was still chasing boys around the playground and was way too scared to even kiss a boy...and that was only about ten years ago! How can this be happening. What can we do to stop it? Anything?

Reply

Would it be better if they snuck out of school and had sex in the alder tree thicket? Or maybe, the favorite, the stage?

My guess is they had no idea that those were possibilities.

Reply

how tragic. I have a 10 year old neice. I can not imagine what horrible depravity she would have to be exposed to in her little life to even think about engaging in such lewd criminal behavior. I hope all the children in this story received good counseling.

Reply

I wonder if at least one of the children isn't being molested by an adult or older child. I am sure (hope) the police will investigate this thoroughly.

Reply

While I certainly wasn`t doing that sort of thing in gradeschool... Even back when I was in 5th and 6th grade there were kids who were. 13 wasn`t unthinkable then, and 11 is only a couple years younger. In modern society, where sex is just considered something you do for fun, is this really a big surprise?

Of course it`s sad, but I really don`t think that these kids would have had to have been abused or exposed to anything other than friends and TV to do this. Trust me, at 12 I definitely knew what was going on, and the idea of sex wasn`t a big mystery. I waited a while before actually doing anything, but it wasn`t outside of my knowledge. I imagine that is only more true with the children today.

Reply

A 41-year-old acquaintance confided to me that she first had sex at age 11. (She first got pregnant at 16.) And when I was in the fifth grade, there were plenty of boys who were aggressive and eager enough to try it if they could find any girls to go along. So I'm not surprised that a few kids got this idea.

I do wonder what a 13-year-old is doing in the fifth grade, but I guess that's not unheard of either.

I guess schools will have to require kids of all ages to be supervised at all times while in school. Unfortunately a few will still figure out ways to do things off school property, but at least the rest of the fifth grade won't be watching.

It would be nice if there were messages in our society to the effect that early sex is not cool. However, I've long since given up on the idea that the American media will ever give a damn what happens to kids, and all the schools are willing to teach is how to do it better.

Reply

When I was that age there was "the kissing hill" in a nearby park (that was used for more than kissing) and the stage (and the gym equipment room behind it) was also a perennial favourite in our school.

Honestly, kids have been doing this for decades, or at least they were 20 years ago when I was that age. I'm impressed they got caught, and hope that the possibility of abuse is investigated, but I don't think it's a requirement that any of these kids were abused, or at least I don't see any thing in the story that would lead me to suspect so. I think the media of our culture has hyper-sexualized kids and this is a fairly predictable result.

Reply

This is what happens when we glamourize sex, and take away the "taboo".

When I was a kid (I'm 37), I was taught that sex was for adults. It was an adult act that had a very real possibility of producing adult results. If I was not ready to deal with those adult results, I should stay away from it. It was similar to the way driving, voting, and alcohol were presented. None of these things were presented as "bad" or "evil" or anything else, I was simply taught that I was too young. That message was reinforced by people around me, from the adults I saw on a daily basis (teachers, relatives, neighbors) to television, movies, etc.

Now, we have sex education programs in schools that teach younger and younger kids that sex is ok as long as they're wearing a condom. As Tamyu said, sex is glamourized on tv and in movies. It's something fun. It is no longer considered an activity that is for adults only.

Further, we have allowed the educational system to deteriorate so far that if a teacher disciplines a child, that teacher can expect, at minimum, to be reprimanded. A lawsuit is a very real possibility.

Is it any wonder, then, that 5th graders are having sex in school?

Sorry to be so pessimistic, but it was only a matter of time.

Reply

I'm 47, and yes we were taught that sex was something only for adults. But just like smoking and drinking we all wanted to try it.

I knew girls who were 10 or 11 when the first tried sex, they wanted to do it. I don't know what the solution is, making it forbidden makes kids want to try it, telling them about it and giving them knowledge about it seems to encourage them to try it.

I was afraid of getting pregnant, and I knew that my parents would be disappointed with me if I had sex, those things kept me from having sex several years longer than most of my friends.

Reply

As a product of the Chicago Public School System (looking back)you all have to realize that this type of thing happens more than NOT. Im not sure of the socio-economic background of the students but it may play a huge part in the shock value, or the amount of media this story is getting

Reply