I'll try to keep my .02 on this topic short. There are several different sets of information that kids this age (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th grade) want/need to have. These might include: A. The nuts and bolts of sex education (anatomy, what goes where, what part does what, how does pregnancy happen, where does the baby come out?) B. The risks of being sexually active at any age: pregnancy, diseases, emotional stress, reputation (is the last one quaint??) C. What is happening to my body as it grows and develops and goes through puberty? Am I normal in terms of what is happening, when it is happening, and how I feel about it? I think this third context is the best one to talk about breast development, how it relates to growth in height, pubic hair growth, axillary (underarm) hair growth, menstruation, etc., and to talk about what breasts are really for. This is also a class that can be conducted with both boys and girls of any age, and include information for boys on growth and development, penis/testicle growth, pubic hair growth, axillary hair growth, facial hair growth, changing voices, etc. It is often the case that boys this age are less far along the path to adulthood than girls, so the girls are often taller in 5th and 6th grade. It is also the case that some children will mature early, and thus be tall in 4th grade, but end up as short adults, or be very short in 6th grade, but end up as tall adults. Some girls will have their periods and be wearing bras in 4th grade, while others will still look like little boys. Some boys in 8th grade will be needing to shave, others will still look like short little boys. I really think that a discussion of how breasts develop and what they are for is better taught in a discussion of physical growth and development and not mentioned at all in any classes having to do with "sex education." The points about sex education curricula being closely monitored and controlled are exactly right. I don't know of anyone though who has much of anything to say to kids about the physical growth of their bodies, and certainly discussing what the relationship is between early puberty and shorter adult height, the variation in when puberty occurs, the function of breasts to feed babies, etc., has nothing to do with sexual activity or the controversies surrounding how one teaches "sex" education. You could also teach about the function of breasts in a nutrition lecture. If I were you, I'd compliment the school on the sex ed class, and then offer to give a lecture on growth and development. I did this last year in my son's 6th grade class, and the kids were full of questions. Interestingly, almost all of them knew exactly what breasts were for, and several of them had breastfed into toddlerhood or longer. :) There is hope. Kathy Dettwyler _________________________________________________________________ Get business advice and resources to improve your work life, from bCentral. http://special.msn.com/bcentral/loudclear.armx *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html