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[Franknburger]

Sexual education should not be taught in kindergarten.

Would that also exclude teaching small children how recognise (risk of) sexual abuse?

[Franknburger]

Sexual education should not be taught in kindergarten.

Would that also exclude teaching small children how recognise (risk of) sexual abuse?

No I don't really consider that sexual education. I was more referring to sex positions, nerve endings, secretions, forms of protection, cross dressing, and homosexuality. It's always good to teach of abuse.

Fair enough - the topics on your list are not what I would call essential kindergarden age knowledge.

Problem is that kindergardens don't operate in a vacuum. In the kindergarden that our oldest daughter visited (inner-city Hamburg), we got the impression that some of the other kids had already at home been exposed to hard core porn. Also, one of the girls there had a lesbian couple as parents. Now, if rules would be so strict that kindegarden teachers were not allowed to address such issues ("Sometimes, both parents can have the same sex., That is o.k. Stop harassing her for that") the rules could potentially do more harm than good.

[Franknburger]

I probably did not put forward my point too well, barfbag. Essentially, I agree with you that sexual education should not be part of a kindergarden curriculum.

However, there are situations when a kindergarden teacher may need to take up sexual issues. Imagine a five year old that has been exposed to hard core porn at home, does not understand what it is all about, but nevertheless tries to enact it with other kids. In such a situation, a teacher must be able (and trained) to talk about sexuality, intimacy, respect of others etc., without having to be afraid of being potentially criminalised.

Speaking more generally; De-regulate school, empower teachers, but monitor and evaluate their results. Hold them responsible for the class situation and learning achievement, but don't interfere in how they do their job. Some do it with moments of silence, some with charisma, and others employ games and group work.

What I personally would like to see is parents and pupils from a certain age (say twelve years) regularly rating their teachers according to a pre-defined set of criteria (knowledge, methodological competence, authority, "entertainment factor", fairness, management of class dynamics, etc.).