Quote:
Originally posted by Ginger
A question for those whose schools did offer sex-ed...
was it mandatory, or an elective? If it was mandatory, did the schools offer parents the opportunity to not have their children in the class?
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It was mandatory. Sex Ed was part of health class which we had in fifth grade, sixth grade, ninth grade and senior year.
Fifth grade taught the basics of how our bodies work (egg and sperm, periods), and sixth grade continued that.
Ninth grade focused on drug use (the consequences of everything from tobacco to heroin)although they also covered sexual topics. They didn't get graphic, they just laid out the basic facts of the pill, diaghrams, spermacide and condom use.
Senior year was hardcore in terms of consequences. It was really centered on diseases- the most moving class occurred when a teacher came in and told us about a friend who had died of AIDS (in a really small secular private school setting we could do things like this). By the end of the class both the teachers and the class were in tears. To this day I remember the occasion as the most influential sex education I ever had. It became real. I would never ever ever even think about having unprotected sex and I credit that class. That year they also had a lot of women's issues classes- what a pap smear is, the equipment used, etc. (it was an all girls school).
College was a whoooole different story. Freshman year orientation included a seminar where everyone had to practice putting a condom on a wooden prop. I know I wouldn't have been able to handle that with a straight face in high school....