Ed 2500

Issues Presentation Sexual Education Presentation

Carson Van Iderstine
I believe that sexual education is one of the most important things that we
have the privilege of teaching students. Sexuality is dispersed in nearly
every aspect of life from what we wear to what we watch on television,
sexuality has a role to play. To young adults - and adults alike - sexuality can
be an enigmatic social network of difficult decisions. In my opinion, it is the
job of educators to ensure that adolescents have the knowledge and
understanding to make safe choices regarding sexuality.
There are many who resist the teaching of human sexuality within public
schools. In my opinion, human sexuality should be considered the same as
evolution you may not agree with it - and may teach your child otherwise however it is still a part of the teaching curriculum. I would make human
sexuality an opt-out course rather than an opt-in course, like it is at many
schools. By this I mean that it would be a part of the regular curriculum,
receiving a grade as a part of a class, such as phys-ed or science. Parents
could opt-out to teach their child the sexual curriculum in their own way,
but the child would still receive the same testing/knowledge assessment as
the students who were taught in the classroom. By doing this, adolescents
will be better prepared to be safe in future sexual encounters. There would
be significant opposition to this shift, and many would cite the usefulness of
an abstinence only education. I believe there is no excuse for a poor
understanding of human sexuality, and as every scientific study conducted
on the effectiveness of abstinence only education shows adolescents will
still undergo sexual encounters. I also discourage abstinence only education
as it often advocates repressive gender roles and body shaming for natural
human impulses which results in the anxiety, psychological harm, rising
teen pregnancy rates, and many other negative outcomes.
I understand that this is an awkward topic for many this was evident even
within the Ed-2500 university class. To help move past this, I would
incorporate activities, such as the scenarios that were used during the
presentation. I thought that it was a great way to break the ice within the
classroom while simultaneously providing knowledge. Using goofy YouTube
videos (so-long as they are accurate) also represents ways to non-verbally
ease the students into a more knowledge-receptive state. Getting a few
respectful laughs is a great way to make students feel more comfortable. The
presentation was put together well, and has many uses that I can
incorporate into future lessons.

Ed 2500
Issues Presentation Sexual Education Presentation
Carson Van Iderstine
The presentation on sexual education strengthened my resolve and belief in
the necessity of teaching human sexuality to adolescents. It demonstrated
that human sexuality can be taught in many different ways. The lecture was
both full of humour, while simultaneously providing serious knowledge. I
support this approach, as sexuality is an awkward topic, which can make it
difficult for students to engage in class regarding human sexuality. By
incorporating humour and learning together, human sexuality becomes a
much more approachable topic. While it can certainly be awkward, its
rewards are plentiful and serve the best interest of general population. In my
future teaching, it would be my goal to help foster knowledgeable and safe
sexual behaviors, as well as helping students to understand the power that
sexuality holds within society. I would seek to not only explain the actual
mechanics of human sexuality, but to explain how sex really does sell, and
that this results in many different types of downward pressure on students to
become sexual beings. I would be happy to discuss the importance of human
sexuality with parents, and do everything in my power to help their children
be safe in sexual encounters. I would base my teaching on science
meaning I do not incorporate shaming or religious beliefs into human
sexuality classes. This is paramount, as every student should be treated the
same regardless of their traits humans are sexual beings, and should be as
prepared as possible to enter the world of human sexuality.