Sex/Growth Ed for Middle School

[jnemartin, BSN, RN]

Hi All! I am looking for some advice/guidance about pioneering a sex ed program for middle school.

A little background: my school is private and not affiliated with a district or other schools, so it is a bit of uncharted territory. We have a feeder elementary school that provides some basic A&P and puberty info in 5th grade, and our high school has a mandatory Health class (MS and HS are under one roof).

There *was* a middle school sex ed program in the past, taught by a Catholic women's group, but the administration and parents didn't like the content (abstinence-based, and we are not a Catholic/religious school). But, in general, the staff and parents are in favor of providing sex ed to the middle schoolers - they just prefer something more medically oriented (good for them!). I was hired specifically because I was interested in developing a sex ed program, and leading/teaching the classes.

This year, as a pioneer program, I will have only ONE class period per grade, per gender (70 minutes for 6th grade girls, 70 minutes for 6th grade boys, and same for 7th and 8th). This may expand next year, depending on how it goes. I have decided to use the CDC's critical sex ed topics as a framework. Link here:

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/profiles/pdf/16_criteria.pdf

From your experience, what are some topics that go over well for these age groups, questions I should be prepared for, any good teaching strategies or any other advice and reflections you have to offer. I will post my proposed outline below...

[jnemartin, BSN, RN]

Here are the topics, loosely:

6th Grade

Health & Body

a.Review of terms and concepts (anatomy, puberty, sex)

b.How to access valid and reliable health information, products and services related to health/body; routine preventive care (annual exams, etc)

Psychosocial (a separate class taught by the counselor)

a. Boundaries - a lesson and exercise in appropriate boundaries, possibly taught during advisory

7th Grade

Health & Body, and Psychosocial

a.Review of terms and concepts (anatomy, puberty, sex)

b.Intro to sexuality: LGBT, healthy/respectful relationships, reducing risky behaviors

8th Grade - April:

Health & Body, and Psychosocial

a.Review of terms and concepts (anatomy, puberty, sex)

b.Overview of sexual behavior outcomes: pregnancy, STI, emotional (STI is covered more in US health class, this is just an intro to the idea/existence of STI)

c.Overview of prevention methods: abstinence, condoms, birth control pills, etc

[LikeTheDeadSea, MSN, RN]

I don't do this age group, but for my 4/5/6 graders I pass out index cards about a 2 weeks in advance when I send home the "you child is gonna have a lesson, sign if you refuse" letter. I encourage kids to write any questions they may not want to ask publicly.

Year-to-year you'll notice the common questions based on your demographic and can incorporate those answers right into your lesson :)

[Farawyn]

I remember back in my day, and with my kids, it was the slang they wanted to know. BJs were a big question, IIRC.

[jnemartin, BSN, RN]

I don't do this age group, but for my 4/5/6 graders I pass out index cards about a 2 weeks in advance when I send home the "you child is gonna have a lesson, sign if you refuse" letter. I encourage kids to write any questions they may not want to ask publicly.

Year-to-year you'll notice the common questions based on your demographic and can incorporate those answers right into your lesson :)

I forgot to mention that the school does have a policy on how parents opt out - so at least they have that set up for me haha!

Good idea about the note card - I remember this from when I was a child! Do you pass them out at the beginning and collect them at the end?

[jnemartin, BSN, RN]

I remember back in my day, and with my kids, it was the slang they wanted to know. BJs were a big question, IIRC.

I anticipate some of that. Many of these kids are pretty sheltered. I assume letting them ask and simply saying "BJ is a slang term for oral sex" is the best way to handle that...?

[LikeTheDeadSea, MSN, RN]

Good idea about the note card - I remember this from when I was a child! Do you pass them out at the beginning and collect them at the end?

I do mine the day I send home the letter. I just pop into the classrooms and say that the Growth/Development lesson will be in the next few weeks, and I'll be by to collect the cards on (date) Fold them in half and teacher will collect over that time.

I did it before the lesson once and skimmed them while the movie played, but I like getting them in advance to mull over my answers.

[jnemartin, BSN, RN]

One thing I'm committed to is that I'm straight forward with the kids and try to normalize the content and their questions as much as possible. I recently had a sixth grade girl come to me and say she had her period. She is a FF, so I thought maybe she was just informing me. I asked if she'd like a tampon or a pad and she said she didn't know the difference. It was then I realized it was her first period, which she confirmed, and we were able to have a teaching moment. Point being, I will have to spend a little more time on some of the basics, but I can foresee that it may be hard to balance the kids who are more "advanced" (asking about slang, etc), with kids like her who are total blank slates. (At least she wasn't embarrassed to come to me!)

[OldDude]

If you don't have an objection to an attachment to religion...our church puts on "Created by God." It's a very, very, in-dept program, with references and explanation to slang terms, masturbation, STDs, as well as the A&P stuff. The program can involve the parents but doesn't have to.

[jnemartin, BSN, RN]

If you don't have an objection to an attachment to religion...our church puts on "Created by God." It's a very, very, in-dept program, with references and explanation to slang terms, masturbation, STDs, as well as the A&P stuff. The program can involve the parents but doesn't have to.

Cool! Do you have a link? Even if I don't end up using specific programs or frameworks, I'm interested to see what others are doing.

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

I don't have much to add, but you might consider doing a parental preview of the material (only one night or afternoon or whatever). If parents can see what you're teaching the kids they usually realize the kids are better off attending than not.

[OldDude]

Cool! Do you have a link? Even if I don't end up using specific programs or frameworks, I'm interested to see what others are doing.

You can just google it and the book will come up.