This is a comment by Tom B on the post “What Happens When We Don’t Teach Our Boys About Sex“.
When I was a kid, my dad caught me masturbating. All he said was “you’ll go blind doing that.” My response was “okay, so can I do it until I just need glasses?” … Just trying to add some levity.
Believe it or not, my first exposure to sex education was in 7th grade at St. Casmir’s in Chicago. That was back in 1967.
A lot of guys learn about these things with/from other guys. Not sure how the generation before me learned. Never thought of asking any of the men I know how they learned and I guess I never will. They appear pretty well adjusted.
Now let’s add the fact that so many kids are fatherless, where do they turn? Pretty scary stuff when you figure a good percent of kids aren’t getting proper education and then add to that the many that don’t have dad’s …. It’s a big problem.
With my own kids, my wife and I were pretty open. My wife and I were virgins and openly discussed how difficult it was to wait (I’ve known my wife since I was 11 years old) but as they could see by our relationship and love, it worked out great for us. When they became adolescents, we never dissed sexuality. My wife and I would be idiots if we didn’t think they were busy behind their closed bedroom doors.
It’s a balancing act. Don’t want it to appear that we condone anything goes but at the same time, didn’t want to make it look as though it was shameful. My wife openly talked to my daughter and I openly talked to my son. I didn’t tell him the “going blind” thing but I did tell him he would grow hair on his palms … Just kidding!
On our wedding night, I know that my wife had a poor education about sex. Her mom told her to take the biggest thing I have and put it into something wet … she grabbed my shoes and threw them in the toilet …. Just kidding!
Photo credit: Flickr / dimnikolov
Comment of the day? This is comment of the year!