‘Spring into Sex’ is nowadays a nationally recognised concept, but on our school’s timetable, sex education actually falls in winter. Both second-year and fourth-year pupils get the full treatment, from falling in love to contraception and from desire to LH. Before we dive into the ‘hard’ physiology and endocrinology, the ‘softer’ side also gets its turn: feelings and how to express them, boundaries and how to respect them, physical intimacy and how to make it enjoyable.
To make a lesson like this work, you want to create an open, safe atmosphere in your classroom. That is the hardest part of the whole operation. You can set rules and agreements to your heart’s content, tell the pupils it’s really not such a big deal – but ultimately what matters is whether the children themselves manage to approach the subject with a degree of lightness.
Last year around this time, for instance, I had a well-behaved second-year gymnasium class. We had reached the contraception practical. Alongside every form of contraception you can think of, the male condom naturally features as well. We have a few fine silicone suction-cup dildos for demonstration purposes; the pupils themselves receive polystyrene versions to practise with. What follows is cheerful chaos: a classroom full of contraceptives, with everyone busily experimenting and consulting one another. I was walking around when I heard a strange sound behind me.
Poenk
Poenk
PLOP
I turned around and made eye contact with a somewhat bewildered-looking girl. She had a large silicone suction-cup dildo – one I had left lying around – stuck squarely in the middle of her forehead. Because the thing was skin-coloured, she looked rather like a human unicorn, and the round suction mark stayed for two days. Both the pupils and I were in stitches, and she herself laughed the loudest. That was when I knew this class would be just fine.
Reinder Bosman (1997) is a biology and research & design teacher at the Goois Lyceum in Bussum. He shares his experiences in and around his classroom and in the field here.
