The first time we asked readers of our weekly e-newsletter, Minnesota Parent This Week, to share their memories of sex ed, we got nothing. Just the heavy silence of an empty inbox. (Okay, it’s never actually empty.) But, ever the optimist, I thought, “Surely that can’t be right. Surely the words “sex ed” themselves should elicit some reaction.” So we asked again.
Boy, howdy.
You guys remember sex ed. And, shockingly, not all of your memories are cringeworthy. You remember teachers who were open to having those difficult discussions. You remember cold, clinical lessons in human anatomy. Some of you remember a “Just say no” message that you don’t think will be helpful to your own kids. Others say that’s exactly what you want your kids to learn. Some of you remember proudly the moment when you decided that sex before marriage was not for you.
(I’m impressed, by the way. My memory is so faulty, I can’t even say for sure whether we had sex ed.)
Now, our random solicitation of reactions is hardly scientific, but it did line up with a survey of Minnesota parents that Monica Wright cites in her article on page 16 on proposed changes in the state’s sex ed standards. Parents — largely — want comprehensive sex education in the schools. We want teachers talking to our kids about abstinence, about sexually transmitted infections, and about contraception. We want our kids to make healthy choices — that’s parent code for, “Wait! Please, please, wait!” — and we want them to make those choices armed with all the information they can handle.
Even if it makes them cringe.
