Sex Education Talks

Through discussions with the school nurse and my senior health education class which is studying Sexual Health, I came to the conclusion that not only are girls sexually active at a younger age, but that they are talking more risks with unprotected sex. So, 2 of my senior students and myself designed a powerpoint 'Let's Talk About Sex!' We spoke to the year 10, year 9 and year 8 girls on different days and discussed the consequences of being sexually active.

The year 8 girls giggled a bit and keep saying 'yuk', so I think we got the message through. We also said that they could speak to us at any time, and straight after a girl came up and told us her friend from another school in year 8 was pregnant and didn't know what to do. So hopefully, we gave her some supportive advice for her friend, mainly to let the parents know.

The year 10 girls acted like they knew everything, however the girls that we particularly wanted to target (girls that we know have had STI's and unwanted pregnancies) were a bit dumbfounded with the risks that they were taking. I enjoyed watching them squrmish when I discussed genital warts and genital herpes. Hopefully, they will be making sure they use protection from now on.

Today I'm talking to the year 9's girls, many of whom I teach and I'm sure they will be very attentive and I'll increase their awareness on sexual health issues.

I'm very proud of my 2 senior girls who have delivered the speeches with me, because it's not easy to talk about such a personal topic, especially to whole year levels. However, they believe that these girls aren't getting the education from anywhere else and they want to help reduce the risks and improve their sexual health. I also, have enjoyed presenting because I believe I'm the most knowledgable health ed female staff member and I have a good rapport with the kids and most of them will listen to what I say.

My salary may not be huge, but I am responsible for the next generation, the generation that will be running the economy when I retire so I need to instil good values, attitudes and practices to ensure these kids grow up to have a full and prosperous life!