When I was a kid I learned way more than the average kid about the mechanics of sex. When my mother was pregnant for my sister the doctor asked me where the baby was fully expecting me to say "In Mommy's tummy." Imagine his surprise when I said, "In Mommy's uterus." I was two. Precocious little git.
Then I had and loved the book Where Did I Come From? when I was about 4 or 5. I have pictures of me reading it. If you have kids I highly recommend it. It's probably harder for the parents to read it than for the kids to hear it.
From the time I was 10, or maybe even younger, my Mom would borrow The Miracle of Life from the library. You can watch the updated version at that link. The interior footage (i.e. inside the body) is the same but from the small portion I just watched, they've made it a lot more...sexy. John Lithgow narrates.
In 6th grade I got the official sex education class in school. Coed. Giggles. Embarrassment. No one asked any questions of course. This was 1987-88. AIDS was an issue. Pregnancy was an issue.
Everyone taught us the what, but we never really got the how. How do you talk to your partner about STDs? How do you get tested? I'm almost 30 and I still don't really know the answer to those questions. Being married so young (21) all I had to worry about was pregnancy. Now I have to relearn everything I didn't have to practice in my 20s. I feel like I'm still in the larval stage of both the physical and psychological consequences of sex. And I knew the word uterus at age 2! What happened in the interim?
They should have sex ed every year in school and part of it should involve role play. Not THAT kind of role play you sick pervert ; ), but role playing the conversations you should have. The first time you've ever spoken to someone about STDs shouldn't be while rolling around on a couch. I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly articulate at that moment. I can imagine it would be embarassing as all hell to have to talk to a classmate about the number of partners they've had (they could make it up or have a sheet to answer from) but is it any less embarassing to do it in real life? In real life you can die from that embarassment. Why not get it out of your system before it has more dire consequences than getting red in the face and getting teased by classmates?
Then I had and loved the book Where Did I Come From? when I was about 4 or 5. I have pictures of me reading it. If you have kids I highly recommend it. It's probably harder for the parents to read it than for the kids to hear it.
From the time I was 10, or maybe even younger, my Mom would borrow The Miracle of Life from the library. You can watch the updated version at that link. The interior footage (i.e. inside the body) is the same but from the small portion I just watched, they've made it a lot more...sexy. John Lithgow narrates.
In 6th grade I got the official sex education class in school. Coed. Giggles. Embarrassment. No one asked any questions of course. This was 1987-88. AIDS was an issue. Pregnancy was an issue.
Everyone taught us the what, but we never really got the how. How do you talk to your partner about STDs? How do you get tested? I'm almost 30 and I still don't really know the answer to those questions. Being married so young (21) all I had to worry about was pregnancy. Now I have to relearn everything I didn't have to practice in my 20s. I feel like I'm still in the larval stage of both the physical and psychological consequences of sex. And I knew the word uterus at age 2! What happened in the interim?
They should have sex ed every year in school and part of it should involve role play. Not THAT kind of role play you sick pervert ; ), but role playing the conversations you should have. The first time you've ever spoken to someone about STDs shouldn't be while rolling around on a couch. I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly articulate at that moment. I can imagine it would be embarassing as all hell to have to talk to a classmate about the number of partners they've had (they could make it up or have a sheet to answer from) but is it any less embarassing to do it in real life? In real life you can die from that embarassment. Why not get it out of your system before it has more dire consequences than getting red in the face and getting teased by classmates?
Comments
I agree that discussing the awkwardness of the sexual encounter (What's your name again? How many partners? Ever treated for an STD? Birth control? You're into WHAT???) would also go a long way both in prevention of teen pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy and in promotion of good sexual health -- mental and physical -- among our young people. I have given up on the rest of us. So, you write something up. I'll present it to Bill Frist and ...who is out Surgeon General these days??? Oh, Carmona. Yeah, there's a name we've heard a lot in the news during our "National healthcare crisis." Hmmm. I feel a blog entry coming on!