Sex ed OMG

OldDude · Jan 29, 2015

I'd be more apt to try and teach social etiquette to a pack of wolverines than I would teaching "growth and development" to a room full of kids.

enuf_already · Jan 29, 2015

As a high school junior of 17, I chaperoned a school camp for 4th graders (9-10 year olds). Let's just say they were much more 'informed' than I. This was 38 years ago when it was still taboo to be a pregnant teen.

I would want no part in teaching sex education. Maybe the kids should teach the class!

Actually, it might not be bad to have them write a list of topics they would be interested in learning about as well as questions they have about the topics. Rules of course would be that conversation would remain respectful.

There are so many things kids worry about that we don't consider. Sometimes they have just enough knowledge about a subject to be dangerous. This is where you can help guide them and separate fact from fiction.

Good luck!

Wave Watcher · Jan 30, 2015

Trying to keep a sex ed class on track and the kids focused on what is important and not whats in their pants is like herding cats into a box.

No spank you.

jaycam, RN · Jan 30, 2015

I was apart of a peer education group when I was in high school. I joined it because I was from a conservative area and had far to many friends who got pregnant during school. I believe the scariest thing I heard as part of the group was all the different "you can't get pregnant if" folk remedies that kids actually believed.

jaycam, RN · Jan 30, 2015

I was apart of a peer education group when I was in high school. I joined it because I was from a conservative area and had far to many friends who got pregnant during school. I believe the scariest thing I heard as part of the group was all the different "you can't get pregnant if" folk remedies that kids actually believed.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2015

I am teaching sex ed to 7th and 8th graders this year. It is challenging, but I love every second of it.

My school did send me to training first to get my sex educator certificate - I am using the Get Real Curriculum designed by Planned Parenthood, which has been pretty great.

I have an anonymous question box and I've gotten some...interesting questions in it thus far. But I don't ignore a question, just often do some rephrasing :). The kids thus far have been far more mature about it than I feel some people give them credit for. Unlike some other subjects at school, some kids are truly interested, once you can get past the giggling. I have a group rule that laughing can last no more than 5 seconds and if you are unable to compose yourself in that time, you may put your head on the desk until you can. It has worked pretty well!

Of course, kids can "What if" you to death with sex related questions! And you are always intrigued about what they know vs. what they don't, but to be honest, after working with kids in an urban area, nothing surprises me anymore!

As for "scary" stories - nothing I'd call "scary" thus far, but see my sentence above. I did get a card in my question box that stated: "Why do you say the word sex so much? If I had a dollar for every time you said the word sex, I would be a millionaire." Hehe - I laughed at that card. I will probably frame it at home for every time I need a smile...

Kittery · Jan 30, 2015

I have an anonymous question box and I've gotten some...interesting questions in it thus far. But I don't ignore a question, just often do some rephrasing :).

I haven't taught any sex-ed, but this is how I get through puberty lessons! Except I *do* ignore some of the questions. :)

Flare, ASN, BSN · Jan 30, 2015

i do the 4th and 5th grade puberty class with the health teacher and the kids come equipped with lots of questions. Our mission is to keep the class focused on topic and encourage a dialogue at home.

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2015

i do the 4th and 5th grade puberty class with the health teacher and the kids come equipped with lots of questions. Our mission is to keep the class focused on topic and encourage a dialogue at home.

^Yes! I often stop a "what if" session with..."You have some wonderful questions, but I need to move ahead. You can ask these questions at home to a caring adult, or consider one of these questions to put in the anonymous question box at the end of class."

Alnitak7 · Jan 31, 2015

If they're lucky they're not still learning the same fallacies that were going around in the old days. That might be a way to keep them from getting pregnant and other things like that.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2015

Do they KNOW about these acts or did they hear someone talking about it and want to know what these phrases mean? I recall a middle school sex ed class where classmates convinced the smartest kid in our grade to ask the health teacher what "69" meant.