Sex Ed

All week long I've been subbing for a teacher whose had some stomach problems and teaching her Non-Fiction classes. Today was no different, but there was one extra class I had to teach. That class was health, and todays subject was sex ed.

I was hoping it would make for a good story. My boss told me I could hold a study hall if I was uncomfortable taking on this matter, but teaching and talking about this subject does not embarrass me in the least. I was looking forward to it.

My good friend Pierre was amused that I would be teaching this and sat in on the class. In New York, teachers are required to give out a Do Now- it is supposed to get the students working right away when they enter the classroom in an effort not to lose precious teaching time. The Do Now for Health class had a diagram of three women and three men passing through the changes puberty brings, filling out in various ways as men and women are bound to do. The students had to describe the changes each gender goes through. The kids didn't know how to spell Vagina or Penis and so I had to spell them on the board- but what was more disturbing was what they wrote. Many of them had frightening descriptions.

For class the health teacher had prepared a Powerpoint and we read first about the changes boys bodies go through, covering erections, testosterone and wet dreams. I was confident going in that this would be an easy class because 12 year olds are riveted by this topic. This is a wealth of information that they are dying to know... Which isn't surprising because from their comments their parents and grandparents are providing with them a host of information often referred to as old wives tales. We got to girls and we talked about menstruation and menopause and saw various diagrams of the reproductive organs.

Last night one of our 9th grade students gave birth to a baby boy that she will keep, but that was made in an act of rape. So I hope that this information is just the beginning. I know that this course will go into sexually transmitted diseases and cover the gauntlet of information regarding sex and issues around sex.

Sure, as teachers we laugh at the silly things kids have heard and repeat and we relish in debunking these myths, but regarding sex education there are still people that opt their kids out. Kids need to gain confidence around their bodies in order to respect them, and without a strong knowledge base around this subject they won't.