Sex in our schools??

Though the topic may sound mundane to many of my fellow teachers, who walk out of their classrooms and see their students’ sexuality exert itself in forms inappropriate for the hallway, it is also a hot button issue that does not necessarily resonate with other educators, administrators and/or parents involved in the Baltimore City School System. For me, hearing about two children (ages 14 & 15) having sex in the Social Studies bookroom was really a catalyst exploring the expectations we set and the education we provide for our students. When you think about it, it’s a more generic issue—hearing the word “gay” or the word “fag” thrown around as an insult, is likely something most middle and high school teachers in Baltimore City have encountered at some point. This is exactly the lack of education my students represent on a daily basis—although they can be astute and intellectual in the classroom, they change personalities when they encounter something that is not part of their cultural existence thus far.

In response to the portrayed ignorance, my question is-- do we provide adequate education on the issues related to sex and sexuality? Recently, I read an article about revising the sexual education curriculum in Montgomery County to update it so it represents the changing times. Proponents want to have a select group of eighth-graders learn definitions for "homosexual" and "sexual identity," while the high-schoolers will watch a condom demonstration video, talk about anti-gay prejudice, and read and discuss the personal stories of people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender.

In my opinion, addressing the issues of sex, sexuality and prejudice through education opens the community to communication that would otherwise be deficient. Most of my students have been raised to be extremely religious, sometimes in places where the existence of differences in sexuality is not even acknowledged. I feel that as an educational system, we need to be holistic in the education of our children—informing them about how to be safe and allowing them to develop at an appropriate rate. For me, this also stems from having 9 of the 36 girls I taught during my first semester teaching become pregnant at one point or another during the school year last year.

Teen pregnancy is a huge issue we are faced with in urban (and rural) school systems. Moreover, the lack of respect demonstrated in the hallways—the groping, the language and the heightened sexual aggression show me that there is a larger cultural problem that needs to be addressed and, in my opinion, school is the appropriate place to tackle these issues.

Opponents claim that increased sexual education opens a cultural Pandora’s box, leading to changing students’ sexual orientation from “straight” to “gay,” through conversation. According to the article, opponents also claim “that material about ex-gays should be included… [and] would prefer the topic of sexual orientation be stripped from lessons altogether.” I think that the idea of introducing sexual orientation and having the discussion addressing prejudices actually helps teachers address the need for tolerance and understanding between students.

Bottom line: my kids need to learn about sex and sexuality through education, before they learn about it through experience, in order to be safe and tolerant.