Safer sex – we talk about it all the time. We offer condom demonstrations and detailed information about contraceptive options. We give away condoms. We take trips to clinics to teach about STI testing. So much goes into the education we provide about safer sex. And we need to be sure that the conversations that… Read more »
Continuing this week’s focus on the communication lessons from Teaching Safer Sex (volume 1, section 4), today’s lesson has one of those classic and timeless titles. It gets to the point, it reminds you what you’re there fore, and it is a lovely little play on our culture’s hang-ups with language. And that’s what it’s… Read more »
This week it’s all about Teaching Safer Sex! Did you know that TSS was the recipient of the AASECT Book Award? Yep. It’s pretty great! All of the Teaching Safer Sex lessons were recently uploaded to the Sex Ed Network, so if you become a Network member you’ll have immediate access to this and hundreds… Read more »
“Am I normal?” “Is it normal to…?” “How often do normal people…?” Regardless of the age of people in my classrooms, they all want to know what’s normal, what’s not normal, and how they and their friends fit into that spectrum. I have a hard time answering their questions, because normal has so many definitions…. Read more »
One of my favorite activities to do in classes with middle and high school students is this kind of role play from the second lesson in Positive Images. I have typically used this kind of lesson to deal with condom use exclusively. So many young people have a deep sense of shame around accessing condoms… Read more »
Ontario Sex Ed Update! In an update on the Ontario, Canada sex ed curriculum revisions, which we brought to your attention in the January 20th Sex Ed Roundup, Premiere Kathleen Wynne held a press on January 26th to announce that the topic of consent has officially been included in the sex ed curriculum that will… Read more »
I’ve been spending a lot of time recently talking with and thinking about parents as sexuality educators. I initially got into sexuality education with the goal of working with parents – and then the parents I was working with started asking me to teach their kids instead of teaching them. It was disheartening. It’s been… Read more »
This week it’s going to be all Positive Images, all the time. I think the title of this manual is sometimes hard to decipher, so we’re going to kick the week off with the introduction to this manual so you can get a feel for exactly what it’s about. These pieces of front matter are… Read more »
I love, love, love the critical thinking and connections that happen during this game. It’s basically the same game as the classic version, but it asks that the game players make connections between ties based on contraceptive information rather than matching numbers. These kinds of real-world putting-together-of-pieces is fantastic. It’s all about the connections, both in… Read more »
I was flipping through Game On!, deciding which lesson to write about today, and came across Name that Contraceptive! I’m a sucker for exciting titles, and this one roped me in with that exciting exclamation mark! And so here we are, learning about this particular lesson together. Name that Contraceptive! by Martha S. Rosenthal, PhD… Read more »
(Okay, so you don’t actually do either of the things suggested in the title. But it is a game show!) I’ve posted about game shows before – or maybe it was reality television? The point is that I have a private love of these things. Oh don’t get me wrong, they’re a complete waste of… Read more »
I’ve been attending basketball games regularly for the first time this academic year. My older daughter is playing basketball – and really loving it! In fact, I just got back from a game tonight. (My daughter wasn’t playing – but we knew many of the girls who were.) It was one of those games where… Read more »
A Call for Contraceptive Education On January 19th, AL.com reported on a recent poll conducted by the Huffington Post in collaboration with YouGov, and online research firm and consulting company, in which 66% of the 1,000 American adults polled thought that teenagers should be taught about birth control in school. Only 15% of respondents thought… Read more »
Yesterday I talked about a lesson that taught about how a young person might perceive themselves – this lesson is about how other people perceive them. Understanding this flip in perception – that someone might see us as other than we are – is not a trivial one. To further it one more step to… Read more »
Teenagers, including younger teenagers, are on a process of self-discovery. Who they feel themselves to be may vary from day to day – and certainly varies from year to year. Acknowledging these shifts in an explicit way lets young people integrate that shift into their sense of self rather than being disconcerted by the changes. This… Read more »
Continuing yesterday’s post from Chapter 8 (Problem Solving and Perception) from Changes, Changes, Changes, today I want to discuss a really fantastic lesson plan. It’s tailored perfectly for the young adolescent – it uses absurd silliness as an entry point for accessing a deeper conversation. ADJUSTING TO CHANGES Objectives: By the end of this lesson,… Read more »
I’ve been thinking about puberty more recently, and how to go about addressing a topic that can range from the very, deeply emotional to something that is barely noticed. My own experience with puberty was relatively easy. I certainly wasn’t traumatized by the experience, but I know people who were. And so this week I am… Read more »
You know those days when you’re feeling down at work, feeling unappreciated, not entirely sure that you’re on the right path anyway? You look around your little work space, dejected, wanting some recognition for everything you put into your company? If nothing else, even a raise would do it for you. It’s not emotional validation,… Read more »
HuffPo’s Best and Worst in Sex List Another New Year, another “Best and Worst” list. But this is one we can get behind! Huffington Post ranked Louisiana State Rep. Patricia Smith’s quote, that “lack of sex education is ‘really a form of child abuse’” as the best Sex Ed moment of 2014. They argue that… Read more »
Merry Christmas-Eve-Eve, if that’s your holiday of choice. It is for me and my family. We usually note Solstice in one way or another. We talk about Hanukah and and Kwanzaa as they relate to families we know. But for us, it’s all about a secular Christmas morning after Santa has visited. We model new… Read more »
