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Cleveland kindergarteners to receive sex education

Categories: Pregnancy & birth, Development, Media, Education

I remember my first sex ed class. I was in eighth grade and the teacher was this former professional boxer with a broken nose, a cauliflower ear and a speech impediment. He was awesome. The class, however, was kind of confusing. All we did was watch that National Geographic movie with the micro-camera that follows the sperm from inside the penis into the, as my teacher said, into the "you know." That movie ended with an explicit birth scene, and my first vision of a real live "you know" was very hairy and very bloody and involved a small baby hurtling forth from within. The class seemed designed around instilling the idea that the end result of sex is very bloody and very painful.

Well, deciding that the eighth is far too late to instill that important lesson, the Cleveland Public Schools are expanding their sex education program down to the kindergarten level. Cleveland has high rates of both teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among teens, so school officials hope this early education will be an ounce of prevention. The new classes will address self-esteem and peer pressure as well as the biological aspects of human sexuality. Children in grades K-3 will learn about how viruses work and appropriate and inappropriate touching. Grades 4-6 will start learning about menstruation and other aspects of reproductive health. In grades 7-12, the programmed discussion will shift to relationships, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy and respect for sexual orientation.

It's one of the only sexual education programs in the country that targets every grade level.

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