You live, you learn, you grow

I don't think I've ever read so much about sex and sexual education in my entire lifetime as I have over the past few weeks (it was especially bad because I was also taking a Child Development, and a Human Sexuality and Its Problems class... yikes). We've talked about a lot of things in this space, and I kind of wanted to sum it all up, before we all go our separate ways (I'm getting all misty...I'm going to blame it on exams). Not only did I want to sum it up, but I always wanted to talk about one last thing. 

I tell my mom often (I'm sure she's sick of hearing it) that, when I look back on my first year of university, I feel like I'm looking back at the life of another person. And in some way, I don't doubt that that is true. As you live and experience, you change, you settle into yourself, and you become sure in the identity that you have. I truly believe that identity is built over time, and that school, and the education provided there, are crucial in helping us build that identity. But if we give them nothing with which they can identify during their schooling time, where does that leave them? Settling into yourself begins in adolescents, but if you are not offered a model to "settle into", there can be some serious mental health repercussions. 

In the case of sexual education, we have talked about the need to increase teenage awareness, provide them with more information, and provide a more holistic approach to sexual education. However, all of this has assumed the presentation of information from a heterosexual point of view. What about other sexual orientations? I find that a topic today is diversity and equality in the classroom, and attempting to create a classroom environment that is equally advantageous to all. How many of you have talked about sex from the perspective of a homosexual man? A lesbian woman? How many people have talked about transsexualism, and gender identity disorder in their classrooms? I'm going to guess not many. However, we are ostracizing a minority in the classroom, and by not talking about it, we tacitly condemn it. Bay-Cheng (2003) really hit the nail on the head when she said: "To accept one single way of being as natural is to privilege it and imbue it with a sort of correctness" (p.67). By only acknowledging the heterosexual perspective, we are implying that some of the youth in our classrooms are deviant, and wrong. What does this do to their identity? Their self-esteem? Their mental health? It certainly isn't good, whatever it is. I appreciate how controversial this would be to implement right now, and how teachers may feel unprepared to discuss these kinds of things in their classes. It all boils down to better pre-service teacher education, something we have touched on before.

Recently, there has been a trend of videos that have been propelling the message "it gets better" to give homosexual youth some hope, and provide support in a difficult stage of their lives. Rick Mercer took it another step further in one of his rants, saying something to the effect of "it has to get better RIGHT NOW". And I agree. We have talked about how saying the word "sex" does not cause kids to go out and do it, and I think a similar train of though can be applied to homosexuality. It is important to realize that there may be homosexual youth in the classroom, and by including talk about homosexuality in sexual education programs may help these kids to create their own identities, and not feel like they have to change who they are to fit into the norm that the school dictates is correct. 

In class, we learned about the ideas of Kevin Kumashiro (2008), who talked at length about a phenomenon called "anti-oppressive education". Essentially, he was saying that we cannot talk about emotional issues like slavery, oppression, and discrimination in an object manner. There is going to be some sort of learning crisis that happens amongst the majority students, who will be faced with their own involvement in discrimination and oppression on a day to day basis. Kumashiro (2008) says that this is necessary, even favourable. The role of the instructor at this point is to provide a space where the class can work through this crisis together; actively working together to raise awareness, and to fix the problem that has been presented. I believe that this framework could be brought to the sexual education classroom, i.e. talking about homosexuality, talking about the offensiveness of using the word "gay" as slang, etc. Multiple perspectives should be included everywhere, not just in a history class.

So, to finish up, what have we learned in this space? I think it can be summed up in the following points:

• The word "sex" is not contagious: talking about it will not encourage youth to do it
• Parents and youth alike are in favour of a more comprehensive program, which talks about contraception and STD's as well as abstinence 
• Youth want more information, and they want it from their parents (I know! This finding was even replicated!)
• We need to provide a more holistic program, which not only includes the physical aspects of sex, but the emotional and the relational aspects as well
• Teachers are very poorly trained in how to teach sexual education, and therefore, better programs should be implemented to help them
• Starting earlier is a good idea: we need to talk about things BEFORE they happen

Together, we have learned that our sexual education programs are in serious need of reform. However, these reforms are not unrealistic. It could and can happen. As someone who desperately wants to be a teacher someday (if someone will take me, crossing my fingers SO hard), I cannot wait to try and make some changes in the way sexual education is taught. Parents also have a huge impact in their kids lives, and it has been seen more than once that they wish their parents had talked to them more. Remember parents, if you assume that your child doesn't want to talk about it, they are simultaneously assuming that you don't care enough to talk about it. Teenagers want to know, and we have a responsibility to make sure that they have all the tools they need to act responsibly, to be proactive, and to be mentally healthy. 

Thank you all for tuning into what has been my favourite assignment of my university career. I hope you have all learned something. I know I have. Happy Holidays to all!!!


References (new)

Kumashiro, K., (2008), Teaching and Learning Through Desire, Crisis, and Difference: Perverted Reflections on Anti-oppresive Education, In J. Entin, R.C Rosen, L. Vogt, (Eds.), Controversies in the classroom: A radical teacher reader, New York, New York: Teachers College Press. p. 113-125.