Sex Ed Class. Better known as, “Okay kids, just get your giggles out now and then we’ll get on with it!”

Just to be clear, I’m not blogging about getting to go to two Sex Ed. Classes just because I know you’ll all be jealous (heehee). It’s actually because I was so impressed by the teacher and the students.  When the teacher told me the Health and Career 9 class was just about to start their 3 or so days of Sex. Ed, I thought it would be a great chance to see how a teacher delivers this information to a group of 13-year olds with the constant comments/giggling. I remember doing this class in middle school, and that reaction seems to be part and parcel to the class- so I was interested to see how this teacher handled it.  I also thought that, despite our subject areas, we may be asked one day to teach this subject to our students- and to some people, the idea of going over private parts in detail to 30 Grade 9’s is a nightmare-ish concept. So I was hoping that I would get to see a teacher that made it look easy- even a bit fun.

The first day was going over male/female body parts, bodily functions that accompany puberty, condom use, and then anonymous Q&A’s at the end. The teacher did a fantastic job of getting through the material and handling every question with such a patient and relaxed (yet serious to the topics) attitude.  Rather than deliver the material to the students as if none of them had ever heard of these topics before, she gave them the information very honestly and was very open to any questions they had.  I think that by delivering it in this manner that respected the students, it in turn gained her more respect and willingness to participate from them. Rather than vilifying the topic (“You’d better NOT be having sex!”), she taught the information with a balance of caution and openness.  When I asked her afterwards how she taught it so effectively, she said that she tried to keep in mind that yes, they shouldn’t be having sex at this age,  but in reality- some of them are.

Surprisingly enough, I was really impressed by the students! That isn’t to say there wasn’t muffled laughter most of the time (and some of the anonymous questions fell into the category of ridiculous), but on the whole the students were attentive, gave thoughtful answers when asked, and successfully completed the assignments.  In Friday’s class, the students had to create Lovers Licenses (yep, like a drivers license)- where they had to write down the traits/qualifications/knowledge they thought someone ought to have before they start having sex. I looked at the cards after they had handed them in…and wow. For 13-years old, some of them were really thinking!  Some of the examples included: Current medical examinations, maturity, commitment, respect for their partner, at least 2 weeks of Sex. Ed classes, even a successful pass of a lie-detector test! The students really seemed to be engaged in the activity. 

This is not to say that all classes are going to be able to work so efficiently and maturely on this topic, but in this case I think all 30 students gained at least a bit more awareness about the bird and the bees.