Oral-sex issue hits middle schools (posted 6/10/2002)

Lexington Herald Leader ^ | Jun. 09, 2002 | Valarie Honeycutt Spears

[Pern]

Isolated incidents of oral sex on campus and talk among middle-school students of the behavior occurring at off-campus parties has alarmed some Fayette County school administrators and parents who plan meetings on the topic.

Physicians, including one who has seen an increase in sexually transmitted diseases among middle school students, and other professionals are promoting frank discussions about oral sex to discourage students from engaging in it. Still, all agree the practice is limited to a small number of students, some of whom do not equate oral sex to intercourse.

Since Beaumont Middle School principal Tom Mowery wrote to parents in December asking them "to be aware of the prevalence of oral sex at off-campus parties at the middle-school level," administrators at one school referred an incident to law enforcement, and administrators at another school, Jessie Clark Middle, called in parents to discuss a situation.

Diane Woods, the district's middle school director, put the topic on the agenda for a future principals meeting. She said she was notified of a report of oral sex occurring between two students on campus at Tates Creek Middle School several weeks ago.

Without releasing specifics, Tates Creek Middle School assistant principal Earl Stivers said the incident was investigated "both by law enforcement and administratively."

Students' remarks have made doctors and parents fear the activity is more widespread.

Dr. Hatim Omar, a University of Kentucky specialist in adolescent medicine, said that just since January, he has treated at least 10 middle school-age students for sexually transmitted diseases they said they had contracted through oral sex. That's up from six cases in 2001 and two each in 1999 and 2000.

Four students, treated for tonsillitis caused by gonorrhea, attributed their conditions to so-called "head parties," Omar said.

Also since January, he has seen students from every middle school in Fayette County who admit that they have engaged in oral sex or attended parties where students have engaged in oral sex.

Parents and administrators are responding. Besides principals addressing the topic, Beaumont PTA president Debbie Boian wants middle school PTA leaders to discuss developing programs at each school to talk to students about risky behavior.

"It's easy to say, 'Oh those kids are just bragging about having oral sex,'" Boian said. "But if there is any truth to it, you should" address the issue.

Nationally, public-health experts report that teen-agers appear to be engaging in high-risk sexual practices without caution and with alarming casualness. Nearly 1 in 10 reports losing his or her virginity before the age of 13, a 15 percent increase since 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to several surveys, as many as half of teens ages 13 to 19 say they have had oral sex. Other communities across the country are grappling with the problem and are instituting policies that require more supervision and education.

Lexington pediatrician Tom Pauly said his patients are asking him about oral sex and telling him they think it's safer than vaginal intercourse.

"It's a new issue," said Bryan Station Middle Counselor Lynette Schmiedeknecht. "It's more part of the culture, more talked about. It seems that in talking with the kids, they don't consider oral sex (to be) sex. They just think it's something they do as an adolescent."

Dealing with incidents directly and speaking bluntly with middle school students is key to helping them understand the ramifications of their decisions, parents and doctors said. Damage to reputations and illnesses are two of the dangers.

"We advise them to abstain," Pauly said. "We talk about medical complications and the psychosocial complications of engaging in oral sex at such a young age."

After Jessie Clark Middle students talked about the popularity of oral sex with an assistant principal this spring, principal Steve Carmichael said: "We invited two moms to come in and shared our concerns. It wasn't a conversation as awkward as you might think. We would rather overreact than underreact."

The issue isn't a routine part of sex education classes, officials said.

Mike Kennedy, acting health education coordinator, said that until 1990, the district had a sex education curriculum. But now, site-based councils at each school are responsible for deciding what kind of sex education is dispensed, he said.

Seven middle schools offer programs that teach abstinence only, Kennedy said. Other schools cover sex education in health classes. But Kennedy said he doesn't think oral sex is discussed anywhere as part of the middle school curriculum.

At Beaumont, principal Mowery said the quick intervention -- writing to parents -- was successful. Parents responded to meetings about how to discuss sexual issues with their children. And as the year progressed, counselors and administrators had fewer kids talking about the parties.

Only a small minority of students have actually had oral sex, Mowery thinks.

"Ninety percent of our kids," he said, "make good decisions in every aspect of their lives."

[VRWCmember]

More of the clinton legacy

[ThinkLikeWaterAndReeds]

I don't mean to sound cruel, but it sounds like a these girls are gearing up for a certain very old profession.

Could it be that these girls are gearing up fo a marriage where they are able to please their husbands? How many "faithful" moral majority husbands have teenage trailer-trash lovers because their wives are so very proper? You proper wives might scoff but just think about all of those fishing trips and bowling nights - you think his buddies would tell?!

[No Truce With Kings]

Four students, treated for tonsillitis caused by gonorrhea. . .

Anyone remember the National Lampoon High School Yearbook Parody? One of the threads in it was a student (Mary-Jo Praegers? It has been a long time) who had gotten pregnant. Since this was the 1960s, her absence (during the period when she was "showing") was euphamistically explained as being due to "tonsillitis."

I contrast today and then -- scary as it is to contemplate, I am beginning to feel that the sex-crazed '60 seem a more innocent time than today. How depressing.

[yendu bwam]

Of course, the liberal nun who was the principal would indoctrinate the kids day in and day out about the horrors of polluting the planet or helping the homeless. She just didn't feel it was important to teach the kids about what Christ said about pre-marital sex.

The whole stinking homosexual teenage boy rape scandal in the Catholic Church stems from similar selective oversights.

[scan58]

...since several 8th grade sluts at her school openly brag about performing oral sex on certain boys.
Even more horrifying: Daughter told me that a boy at school she barely knows asked her "Do you spit or swallow?"

You know, that is definitely behavior similar to how prostitutes think and talk to one another...bragging and comparing notes. It probably won't be long till these girls ARE getting paid for it. I can see it now, a girl says "no" and one of these boys from the suburbs (young, dumb and full of it with more money than sense) offers her money to take care of him...and maybe even more $$ to do it w/o a condom. To me, it's inevitable.
Maybe I'm looking too far into it, but I'm training myself to think these things through as far as my kids go.

[Biblebelter]

The Clinton legacy continues. From playing doctor and spin the bottle, Clinton has shown our youth the game of Bubbas and Bimbos in which a Lewinsky is a euphemism for a sex act performed on the male by the female.

[yendu bwam]

You know, I am happy and content knowing that my wife didn't spend her teenage years wrapping her mouth around boys' sexual organs. And she pleases me just fine. When I was looking for a wife, sluts were out of the question. And a good decision that was!

[Dick Bachert]

Clintoon's book will be published by Alfred Knopf Publishing.

“Knopf” is 13th Century German for “ incredibly stupid buyer of other peoples’ garbage.” Knopf is a very old publishing house best known for such early classics as

“How to Enjoy The Inquisition” by Father Torquemada
“You Get My Point?” by Vlad the Impaler
“Guillotine Maintenance and Repair” by Citizen Robespierre

Three of their more recent offerings are “PeeWee Herman’s Movie Guide,” “Gary Condit’s Guide to Picking Up Chicks” and “Compared to Us, Ponzi Was a Freakin’ Choirboy” co-authored by Gary Winnick, Ken Lay and Terry McAuliffe.

All available in a dumpster or landfill near you!

[yendu bwam]

You know, that is definitely behavior similar to how prostitutes think and talk to one another...bragging and comparing notes. It probably won't be long till these girls ARE getting paid for it. I can see it now, a girl says "no" and one of these boys from the suburbs (young, dumb and full of it with more money than sense) offers her money to take care of him...and maybe even more $$ to do it w/o a condom. To me, it's inevitable.

It is quite predictable. But these girls are selling themselves, money or not. I can't imagine any real man wanting to marry a girl who's spent years servicing all sorts of men that way. These girls are cheapening themselves, and they're too stupid (along with their parents) to realize it. How tragic.

[scan58]

Could it be that these girls are gearing up fo a marriage where they are able to please their husbands?

Errr...no. I hope you were kidding with that question.

[steve-b]

Still, all agree the practice is limited to a small number of students, some of whom do not equate oral sex to intercourse.

Where ever did they get that idea...?

[oyez]

Clinton never really hurt himself, but he did plenty of damage to the moral structure of the country trying to cover his #ss.

[steve-b]

Piffle. The people running the cat-box Jihadistans are far more decadent than anything to be found in the West. It's most obvious among the ones who grab a cut of the oil money to indulge themselves.

[yendu bwam]

When you watch the news, you get the impression that there are many parents who would be pleased as punch if their daughters aspired to sexually servicing the most powerful and influential men they could get their hands (or lips) on. Chandra Levy's aunt actually encouraged her niece to have an affair with a married, adulterous man. Monica Lewinsky's aunt was impressed by her getting close (real close) to Clinton. If you want a Chandra or Monica for your daughter, encourage her to go out and service some boys. Don't delay! Millions of other little whores are getting there first.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Its the Age of Clinton.

[boris]

"Valarie Honeycutt Spears"

Hmmm.

[Savage Beast]

You may be right, Steve. Their degeneracy doesn't excuse Western degeneracy, obviously. (I know you didn't mean that.) Decent people here and there deplore all of this decadence.

I guess the teen-age blow-job scene is just so disgusting as to get anybody off-kilter, even a libertarian libertine like me.

With a little help from my friends, like you, I'm sure I'll manage to scramble back onto kilter before long. Thanks.

[Savage Beast]

You make some good points, VB, and well. People like the Clintons have been around since the beginning of the human race, and the human garbage you describe are some of them. Their ubiquity is just one more excellent reason why decent people must be in power (in other words, why character counts).

[Savage Beast]

"Clinton never really hurt himself, but he did plenty of damage to the moral structure of the country trying to cover his #ss."

He doesn't give a damn. He's a psychopath. He thinks it's funny.