For parents of teens taking college level courses.

[bjcheung77]

I would tread carefully, it all depends on the maturity level of the student, age is nothing but a number really. If the student seems more mature than the average 13 year old and can "stomach" newer yet "more out of their comfort zone subjects/topics", then sure - have them take the courses LAST from the Sophia.org offerings. By the end of all the Sophia.org courses and maybe in a few more months, he would have matured probably to the level of an average high school graduate mentally.

I mean, there are prodigies out there that learn this stuff before they even turn 13... don't limit the experience of learning just for subject matter you think is inappropriate, speak with him on it before deciding, hey he may agree to just take those two/three courses last. Since he has the yearly membership, I would work on easy to hardest courses and subjects that he and you discuss would be best.

[inkleind]

So much of prohibition and restriction of sexual topics lead to abnormal psych, I know that's what led me down the deviant path. I grew up very religious right in the mid-90's when dial-up internet was just starting to become a thing. I was never taught about sex or sexuality and when I discovered it on my own it was a whole new world of naughtiness and easily accessible 'sin' on the interwebz.

Had I been taught to appreciate form and beauty in a artful and artistic way at a young age, I think I would have approached those subjects with a lot more maturity in my teen years. But maybe not, the teenage mind is a unknowable thing.

[Clepking100]

can we go ahead and get this thread deleted?

[Merlin]

Hmmm, I'm not sure what is going on with all the dots since the original message had content and the message doesn't show that it has been edited. I am considering just restoring the original post here and in the other topic this is occuring.

With my kid enrollment on sophia, was wondering how do you guys handle adult issues/content in some of the courses.

A couple of courses on sophia, specifically Art History II and Psychology contain some parts that are not really suited for a 13 year old.

In art I am not talking about paintings of naked people, I am talking about some things in modern art that could have been omitted for the purpose of a course, they went too much into specifics of a certain art exhibit and really, even as an adult, I thought it wasn't quite necessary to describe.

Psychology was a little less but it touched on some abnormal psychology aspects that may come across a little disturbing.

I understand this is higher education but websites like sophia allow enrollment at a certain age so they are aware of their audience so to speak.

How other parents in this forum deal with these few instances?

It's going to be a little subjective, but I think the only thing you can do as a parent would be to audit the course ahead of time and decide if you feel it is appropriate for your child or not. Obviously you can't just make them skip those parts without hurting their grade and you can't do those sections for them without violating their academic integrity. I haven't taken Sophia's Psyche course but psychology in general is a little disturbing so maybe they shouldn't be studying that subject until they're older(unless you can find a child appropriate/censored version through another course provider like SDC, but you'd still probably have to audit the topics of concern yourself to decide if you want your child to learn from that material.)

This is one thing that always struck me as a bit problematic when parents decide to use college courses as homeschool material for their underage kids. Or when they encourage their kids to take college prep courses while they are still in junior or senior high school to earn credit early. While most courses are tame, there are courses that will refer to adult material and topics since they are intended for adult college students who are expected to be to at least 18 if not older.

While it is nice to say you should audit the course ahead of time, that isn't always possible due to the way the material is presented or the fact that most licensing agreements do not give parents the legal authority to review course material since only the account holder (which is the kid if they are earning the credit) is licensed to access.

So this is a problematic subject at least. It isn't realistic to ask the course providers to censor their material since children are not the intended audience. More likely, it will result in more providers limiting access to 18+ since they don't want to deal with the issue.

can we go ahead and get this thread deleted?

Personally, I think this is an important topic for anyone who is considering allowing their underage children to have access to adult college course material. I don't see any reason to delete it off hand.

[LongRoad]

There was an art exhibit in the halls of a government building. One of the "rules" for the art was no nudes.

I LOVE how one of the artists handled the censorship. One of the sponsors of the show had had legal problems for bad behavior, not just a technicality, that were reported in the newspaper. The artist did a cut out of the news paper article - of La Grande Odalisque, as I recall!

Was it Shakespeare who wrote something to the effect, "...it is neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so.

[BrianFallon]

With my kid enrollment on sophia, was wondering how do you guys handle adult issues/content in some of the courses.

A couple of courses on sophia, specifically Art History II and Psychology contain some parts that are not really suited for a 13 year old.

In art I am not talking about paintings of naked people, I am talking about some things in modern art that could have been omitted for the purpose of a course, they went too much into specifics of a certain art exhibit and really, even as an adult, I thought it wasn't quite necessary to describe.

Psychology was a little less but it touched on some abnormal psychology aspects that may come across a little disturbing.

I understand this is higher education but websites like sophia allow enrollment at a certain age so they are aware of their audience so to speak.

How other parents in this forum deal with these few instances?

It's going to be a little subjective, but I think the only thing you can do as a parent would be to audit the course ahead of time and decide if you feel it is appropriate for your child or not. Obviously you can't just make them skip those parts without hurting their grade and you can't do those sections for them without violating their academic integrity. I haven't taken Sophia's Psyche course but psychology in general is a little disturbing so maybe they shouldn't be studying that subject until they're older(unless you can find a child appropriate/censored version through another course provider like SDC, but you'd still probably have to audit the topics of concern yourself to decide if you want your child to learn from that material.)

If your child is not ready to be exposed to material that challenges their thinking, exposes them to uncomfortable topics, or causes them to think a bit more, they simply aren't ready for college material.  Better they wait.

If you think they ARE ready, then YOU are the one who is not ready.   And, perhaps they should wait.

Either way, in my experience, I have found uncomfortable situations in my life were true learning moments.  As the parent of three teens - one IN college, and the other two taking college level classes in high school - if they came to me and explained they were uncomfortable with material or concepts, I would tell them to get over it and complete the work.

What's the point of an education if your pre-held beliefs are not challenged?

Perhaps best the 13 year old waits.