Flashback Friday: Sex Ed
Towards the end of my fifth grade year, there was a lot of chatter about the day that the boys and the girls would get split up for a mysterious and most likely dirty lesson. This was a much-anticipated event. In fact, I think for us fifth-graders it was right up there with "field day." (Field day was a yearly event and it was much better. It is the only time that I excelled on any sort of field. I recall winning ribbons in both the 50-yard dash AND the potato sack race.)
Anyways, we all knew this sexy day was coming. And I think I can speak for many of my former 5th grade classmates and say that we were pretty excited about it. I had heard of sex education, but being 10, did not have a very clear idea of what that might entail. Some of the students with older siblings had heard rumors, but all I had gathered was that there was some sort of video involved. Sexy videos for 10-year-olds? Take that, religious right.
When the day finally arrived, the Ledgeview Elementary rumor mill was working overtime. I'd say it was almost entirely fueled by one extremely loud and obnoxious girl, who I'll call Rochelle. Rochelle was in the first group, before lunch, to hear the talk, and she spent most of recess regaling the playground with her version of the lesson. I don't know how accurate her re-telling was, but it was thrilling nonetheless. (It's worth mentioning that I recently heard it through the grapevine that Rochelle had a baby not too long ago and that she didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor. Odd. I wonder now if she was in the right room on that fateful day in 5th grade.)
That afternoon, the boys were led out of our classroom and an extremely old woman came in. She had short gray hair and we were told that she was a registered nurse. Much to my dismay, she started saying words like "menses" and "fallopian." It really doesn't get any less titillating than looking at diagrams of the reproductive system and listening to a 60-year-old nurse explain your lady stuff.
She did offer a brief one-sentence description of intercourse, which I found enlightening, but that was it for the actual dirty stuff. Then we watched the much talked about video. Unfortunately, the video was also about menstruation. I think the plot was something about a girl getting to go to a school dance and then, well, you can probably guess where this is going.
Then Nurse Esther showed us a sanitary napkin. She also told us about some other lady contraptions that I had never even heard of. Something about a belt? I had no idea what she was talking about and I suspect that she was a little behind the times. (I don't know if her name was Esther, but it seems appropriate.)
But all in all, I have to say, this was the most disappointing day of my entire elementary school career. I don't think I ever heard what went on in the boys' room, but I imagine that they handed out Playboys and said, "You've got 40 minutes. Have at it!" Oh the injustice.
Anyways, we all knew this sexy day was coming. And I think I can speak for many of my former 5th grade classmates and say that we were pretty excited about it. I had heard of sex education, but being 10, did not have a very clear idea of what that might entail. Some of the students with older siblings had heard rumors, but all I had gathered was that there was some sort of video involved. Sexy videos for 10-year-olds? Take that, religious right.
When the day finally arrived, the Ledgeview Elementary rumor mill was working overtime. I'd say it was almost entirely fueled by one extremely loud and obnoxious girl, who I'll call Rochelle. Rochelle was in the first group, before lunch, to hear the talk, and she spent most of recess regaling the playground with her version of the lesson. I don't know how accurate her re-telling was, but it was thrilling nonetheless. (It's worth mentioning that I recently heard it through the grapevine that Rochelle had a baby not too long ago and that she didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor. Odd. I wonder now if she was in the right room on that fateful day in 5th grade.)
That afternoon, the boys were led out of our classroom and an extremely old woman came in. She had short gray hair and we were told that she was a registered nurse. Much to my dismay, she started saying words like "menses" and "fallopian." It really doesn't get any less titillating than looking at diagrams of the reproductive system and listening to a 60-year-old nurse explain your lady stuff.
She did offer a brief one-sentence description of intercourse, which I found enlightening, but that was it for the actual dirty stuff. Then we watched the much talked about video. Unfortunately, the video was also about menstruation. I think the plot was something about a girl getting to go to a school dance and then, well, you can probably guess where this is going.
Then Nurse Esther showed us a sanitary napkin. She also told us about some other lady contraptions that I had never even heard of. Something about a belt? I had no idea what she was talking about and I suspect that she was a little behind the times. (I don't know if her name was Esther, but it seems appropriate.)
But all in all, I have to say, this was the most disappointing day of my entire elementary school career. I don't think I ever heard what went on in the boys' room, but I imagine that they handed out Playboys and said, "You've got 40 minutes. Have at it!" Oh the injustice.
Labels: disappointment, sex
posted by lady at 6:36 PM
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