how I educate school kids

As a school educator I think that sex education should go far beyond health issues discussing all the positive sides of sexuality such as love, intimacy, pleasure, sex as a source of joy and energy; sex as simply something that is complex and appears in so many areas in our lives.

Sexuality education also has a strong role to play in preventing children from being victims of sexual abuse by providing them on one hand with a practical definition of sexual violence and rape, and on the other hand teaching skills of how to say, “Yes” and “No!”.

In sex-ed classes:

We reflect on our language and how we commonly use sex-related words in a negative way. We learn how to use different sex-vocabulary for different life situations.

We talk about body image, body awareness, beauty and the role of the media.

We analyze pictures and discuss our different values.

We talk about sexual anatomy not only from a reproductive but also from a pleasure perspective.

We talk about love, friendship and intimacy as well as about sexual orientation and sexual identity.

We never forget to discuss – mostly with boys – the role of porn and their internet use.

Last but not least we talk about sexual health, contraception, and STDs.

In the classroom I use non-formal pedagogical methods based on democratic values. Instead of giving them lectures I ask them first, and we learn together how to share values and opinions and how to accept each other.