High School Sex Ed

[MsBlueStreak]

I can think of one version of a question that shouldn’t be answered – because high school students, giggling and inappropriate:

Can you show me how to <insert sexual act>?

While students need to be informed…. they don’t need the Monty Python Meaning of Life edition.

[Kit]

Haha @MsBlueStreak! Hands on workshops should definitely stop there! But I think that also brings up a good point: without explicitly running a how-to guide, educating to listen, communicate, and be empathetic would probably help with consent and broader respect of others. If it happens to make people more rounded sexual beings then hooray for their education. Does anyone else think that would be beneficial – to learn the interpersonal aspect?

[mak_trouble891]

Lol @MsBlueStreak definitely.  But would it be ok to then explain what that sexual act was if they didn’t know?

[NickiPower]

Sex Ed also fell under PE class (the theory side of it), and I swear it was a 45 minute “this is a vagina, this is a penis” scenario and then put a condom on a banana. So I feel that it could have been handled so much better, by that stage you kind of already know the machinery, you need to know how to operate and look after it. 

There was also a time when all the girls had to remain behind after an assembly to get information on periods and sanitary pads while the boys got packets of skittles as they made their way out of the hall. 

[mak_trouble891]

@NickiPower do you think boys should be made to learn about periods too or should it be just for females?

[NickiPower]

Maybe it needs to be part of the overall education @mak_trouble89, then we’ll all know about sex during period, PMS (instead of it just being that crazy time) etc. 

[Curiosity]

@NickiPower @mak_trouble891 Think of all the baffled men standing in the feminine hygiene isle  trying to figure out which item they are meant to buy. Tampons, regular? super? Pads? with wings? super? ??? haha

I even get baffled over all the options available for me as a girl

[mak_trouble891]

I really enjoyed this discussion, and thought it would be good to reintroduce. I started at my new job this week, and part of it involves talking to young people about sex and sexual health. It got me thinking again about my experiences in high school and the things I wished school would have taught me. For example at my new job, we discuss the influence of porn on sex and our sexual expectations. As a teen I would have loved to learn about the influences of porn, and that I don’t have to be like a porn star. So what would you have liked or like to see included in high school sex ed?

[Kit]

Great point @mak_trouble891. Porn definitely plays a role, one way or another, in the sexual education of a lot of teens growing up. I have a weird thought that for some girls their experience of sex comes through boys first, or boys’ exposure to porn, and not any other method. Do you think that would be accurate?

[mak_trouble891]

Well @Kit speaking from both personal experience and the many discussions I’ve had with young girls, I definitely think that for some girls boys are their first experience of both sex and porn, which can certainly influence their ideas of how sex ‘should’ be and what they should do and enjoy.
I think even in todays society it is still really difficult to escape stereotypes. Self exploration is important in understanding what one likes and enjoys about sex, and its important for girls to do it to.

[Kit]

mak_trouble891 said:

Self exploration is important in understanding what one likes and enjoys about sex, and its important for girls to do it to.

Yes!

It really sucks when girls don’t feel empowered to learn or know about sex and their bodies. Regardless of how good Australia might think it is compared to other countries, there’s still a lot of shame applied to sex education.

[Kit]

Oh! How topical and sad is this? -> http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/teachers-often-embarrassed-awkward-when-teaching-sex-ed-outside-experts-preferred-say-students-globally/news-story/a9604eac1e9bee6fc50b4fe831815c16

1. Scientific, rather than reality
2. Humiliating amongst peers
3. Perpetrating stereotypes
4. Pretending students don’t have sex…

[mak_trouble891]

@Kit I can’t access the link

[Kit]

@mak_trouble891 Yeah, it didn’t work the second time I looked at it either but it basically covered everything we’ve mentioned in this thread from a recent study of teachers/sex education standard. And the four points above being the main issues identified with high school sex ed. It’s not just us that thinks it’s broken!

[Kit]

Omg have you seen this?

https://www.ted.com/talks/al_vernacchio_sex_needs_a_new_metaphor_here_s_one

I love the idea of thinking about sex as pizza! How much more positive and affirming is that metaphor? <3 Do you think this approach would have changed how you felt about sex in high school?

[Author]

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