Our attitude to school and sex, and I'm talking globally here, is a total mess. Laws and cultural values of mind numbing inconsistency govern who can have sex with whom, at what age. You might find yourself being able to have sex at 12 – or wait until you're 21, or even never legally permitted to have sex. It depends on your age, the age of your partner, your gender, the gender of you partner, your marital status, your religion and crucially, where you live.
If I was a Martian woman, I'd been very confused, and might want to step back and ask a couple of questions:
Why are practical sex lessons not given? You'd never teach English without getting the students to write, or science without getting the students to do experiments. But with sex, it's strictly theory only (unless you are a sexologist dealing with the problems of sexually dysfunctional adults … wonder how they got like that?).
How can "abstinence" be seriously recommended by some as a path of a rich and fulfilling sexual life? Does not reading make you more literate? Does not driving make you a better driver? Why in sex does not practicing make you perfect?
Why must I, as a teacher, pretend I — personally — have nothing to teach my pupils about sex? Do I draw on personal experience when teaching? Of course I do. Yet when teaching sex, I must remain strangely asexual, despite the fact that my pupils know I've got two kids, and so know I must of done some fucking in my time (in theory).
It seems to me that we are cripplingly coy and absurdly inconsistent when it comes to bringing our children into sexual maturity. What would you expect if you gave a teenager a car and only gave it lessons in the theory of driving, but no practical driving lessons (and no driving test either) - oh, and told them not to use the car till they were 16 (or 12, 14, 18, 21 or whatever)? Ludicrous. It would be madness. But that's how we, in most of the world, think it's best to "teach" our kids about sex, and bring them to a successful mature sexuality.
So in the face of stupidity, schools are unsurprisingly a hotbed of sexual activity. How could it be otherwise with so many people growing into the peak of their physical beauty. Nature didn't construct that beauty just so you could look, but not touch.
So you'll find teachers shagging teachers, students shagging each other,
teachers (and the support staff) shagging students and getting into trouble. You'll find the newspapers
full of it. It's just all very convert and rather shabby. But hidden isn't
the same as non-existent.