Mckall Emery

FHS 1500
U6 Essay Option A: Sex Education | Elevator Speeches
Sex education is severely limited in our society, which is pretty twisted
considering our highly sexualized culture and the commercialization of our bodies and
sex in general. In post-modern America, its now common for young teens to start
engaging in oral sex and full intercourse as young as 14 years old. Although the U.S. rate
of adolescent pregnancy has decreased, it is still higher here in American than in any
other developed nation.1This is pretty alarming to me (and Id hope to most other folks)
and I find that a way to prevent early pregnancies, STDs, and depression, is to normalize
the sex talk as well as starting the conversation early and frequently. In this essay Ive
prepared two hypothetical scenarios for three different age groups (three years old to
eleven years old) in which I will discuss all matters regarding sex/sexuality.

Age: 3
Scenario 1: Im teaching my three year old daughter how to use the bathroom on her own
and she asks me what her private part is.
Statement-Thats your vagina! Isnt that neat?

Scenario 2: Im bathing my daughter and nephew in the same bathtub, when my daughter
points my nephews penis and says, what is that? Why dont I have one? I want one of
those.

Statement- That is his penis and he has one because he is a boy. Only boys have penises.
What you have is called a vagina and only girls have those. Thats what makes boys and
girls different!

Age: 7
Scenario 1: We are in the car and a popular pop song is playing on the radio. The song is
laden with sexual innuendos and has sexually charged lyrics. The song is It Wasnt Me by
Shaggy. Lyrics are, picture this we were both butt naked banging on the bathroom
floor. My son asks me, what is banging?
Statement- Banging is a slang word for having sex. Sex is when two people are in love
and they have sexual intercourse. He then proceeds to ask me what sexual intercourse
means and I respond, sexual intercourse is how babies are made. Mommy and daddy
had sex to make you and that is when daddy sticks his penis in my vagina. Sex is only for
adults and for when they are in love.

Scenario 2: My son comes home to tell me that a classmate of his got into trouble at
school because he was touching his private parts. He then asks, why did Evan get in
trouble for touching his penis?
Statement- Well you arent supposed to touch your private parts in public because it is
wrong to do so. When people touch themselves, that is called masturbation.
Masturbation is when you touch yourself to the point that you get excited. Its not a bad
thing, but you do it in private and not in front of other people because its against the law.
So dont touch your penis in public!

Age: 11
Scenario 1: My 11 year old daughter is in the fifth grade and comes home from school to
tell me about her day. She just wrapped up the Maturation Program and is confused and
somewhat terrified with all of the newfound information regarding sex, sexual hygiene,
etc. She seems flustered and asks me about her period and wants to know when her
menstrual cycle will start.
Statement: Getting your period is a perfectly normal and healthy thing. We dont
necessarily know when us girls are exactly going to get ours, but you should get your
period between the ages of 8-14. Your period is important because it prepares your body
for pregnancy.

Scenario 2: Because my daughter has just finished up the Maturation Program, I decide
that as a parent I want to be proactive and have a more open and intimate discussion
about sex with her. I take her out for dinner and start the conversation. In the middle of
our talk she asks, when is it normal to start having sex?
Statement: Sex is what makes babies, so if you are going to have sex, you better be
ready to accept the idea of getting pregnant. You should only be having sex if you are a
fully realized adult and you are in a loving relationship. Theres nothing casual about sex;
its a very serious thing, so that is why its important to do it with somebody you love and
to practice it safely.
Reference List
1:
Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York,
NY: Worth Publishers.