Ohio high school's Internet porn assignment cancelled

[Kathy]

Just wanted to share this news story that I came across. Apparently a 'well-intentioned' project which required students to research porn on the Internet.

http://news.sympatico.msn.ca/OddNews/Co ... ue&abc=abc

I mentioned this assignment to my husband and he said "clearly I went to the wrong school"

[afealicious]

a....what the hell

what did they plan to achieve from that...

[Kathy]

That's what I don't understand!! Discussing the harmful effects of pornography was apparently the goal... I'm not sure you get to that goal by asking 14 & 15 year olds to research it on the Internet! Geez... what do you suppose they'll find when they Google it?

<i> The assignment asked students to research pornography on the Internet and list eight facts about pornography. Students also were asked to write their personal views of pornography and any experience they had with it. </i>

[afealicious]

especially 14- and 15-year-olds! that is SO STUPID

if anything, it would get them interested in dealing with things like that.

[Johnny]

I wish there was a study like that at my school!

[Kathy]

feel free to do the assignment... please list 8 facts about porn and talk about your experiences with porn

[naseoj]

that's the united states for you

[Henrietta]

I have to agree, that is a ridiculious assignment. We may be a progressive community here, but asking children to try something that is clearly addictive is wrong. It's like asking them to do illegal drugs. Sure, some people think it's ok, but not in school!

[Rusty]

I see this assignment in a bit of a different light. I don't think the teacher meant for the students to go and view pornographic material but research into it. Like, use journals, books, scholarly sources with information about pornography. As for asking the children to write about their opinion on pornography not like give a review of the material, but what they think about in general. Is it good, is it bad, what are the consequences of porn on society? I.e. Does it give people the wrong impression about sex, does it objectify women? As for the last part about them and their own experiences with it, well lets be honest...this guy is a health teacher, which means he's probably teaching the health unit to a boys gym class. He's probably assuming that a great majority of teenage boys at that age when all the hormones are kicking in have watched pornography. It is widely accessible for free on the internet. I think he was just looking to start an open and honest discussion on it. It's such a controversial subject, that everyone is afraid to talk about it, if we don't talk about it, how can we ever expect to understand it? Without discussion we never see all the sides to a subject. Also, people at that age discuss most often when its about a controversial subject that they are interested in. It is important for students to learn proper ways to voice their opinions. People at that age are a lot more mature and intelligent then we give them credit for. If we don't allow them to have a chance and discuss it in a controlled environment such as a school, how else are they going to learn? In summary, I think it might have a been good idea. Society is so afraid that teenagers can't handle mature subjects that they refuse to give them a chance. We all deserve a chance to be mature, let the younger generation have their chance, and we might all be surprised.

[closeyoureyes]

Porn makes me feel sick. Liek I don't care if other people watch it. but I feel so dirty looking at other people fuck. To me, its just weird.

[nikki4982]

Rusty, that'd be true if he hadn't told them to research it on the internet. Like someone said... try running a Google search for that and getting something useful. The teacher clearly didn't think everything through.

[AnnieDreams]

People at that age are a lot more mature and intelligent then we give them credit for.

Damn right!

[Henrietta]

Well then he if that's what he wanted, he should have been more specific! Also, I hate to say this, but my generation isn't mature enough to handle that. When we were 15 we would have gotten every guys' back with lists of porn sites. Sure, some students would be ok. Most wouldn't.

[afealicious]

People at that age are a lot more mature and intelligent then we give them credit for.

Damn right!

guys....no. just trust me on this.

[closeyoureyes]

Well then he if that's what he wanted, he should have been more specific! Also, I hate to say this, but my generation isn't mature enough to handle that. When we were 15 we would have gotten every guys' back with lists of porn sites. Sure, some students would be ok. Most wouldn't.

[thirdhour]

Sound well-intentioned, but the stupidity was in the details. You can't just ask kids for "facts about porn"! If the teacher wanted to discuss porn with kids of that age, he should have photocopied a bunch of articles talking about porn from different perspectives, and then gotten them to answer questions or pull facts from those, not just sent them off with a project labelled PORN with no guidelines.

Kids that age can handle that topic, they just aren't mature enough to do an independant study on it.

[Johnny]

Can anyone name one fact aboot porn?

[thirdhour]

Fact one: Porn makes you feel funny in the pants!

[Kathy]

:lol:

[Rusty]

Rusty, that'd be true if he hadn't told them to research it on the internet. Like someone said... try running a Google search for that and getting something useful. The teacher clearly didn't think everything through.

Well, usually people are told to use other websites on the internent not google. Also, there is google scholar, which brings up scholarly journals about the subject. Try it yourself if you want to, go to google, click more and then google scholar.

Well then he if that's what he wanted, he should have been more specific! Also, I hate to say this, but my generation isn't mature enough to handle that. When we were 15 we would have gotten every guys' back with lists of porn sites. Sure, some students would be ok. Most wouldn't.

Maybe he was more specific. The article doesn't go into a lot of depth. Also, the media has the power to twist things into any way they like, while still technically reporting facts. The younger generation keeps surprising me more and more. If we stop looking back at how we were maybe we'll continue to be surprised. If the younger generation realised that we're just gonna see them as we see ourselves back then, then they won't both trying to show us how they've changed, because we'll be blind to it anyway.

People at that age are a lot more mature and intelligent then we give them credit for.

Damn right!

guys....no. just trust me on this.

It is true that guys mature slower than girls but please lets not generalise all of them.