Sense Project puts brave new spin on sex-ed

5 posts / 0 new

Wed, 2007-11-14 05:39

jrose

Wed, 2007-11-14 05:39

jrose

I think my sex-ed experiences may have been far more positive if some of it was taught by peers. More on [url=http://www.rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?sh_itm=79ca240a21da11603c54c6...'s front page.[/url]

quote:

As of the end of October, a unique educational experiment is now playing out in several Montrйal high schools. Local NGO Head & Hands has spent the past two years developing and perfecting a sex education program to be taught in part by students themselves. Their daring new initiative is called the Sense Project.
"That's 'sense' as in sensuality," explains the group's health Animator, Adriana. "Also, it's important to be sexually informed and able to make sensible decisions. Plus, we believe our approach to sex-ed makes sense. So there's a triple meaning.”
Head & Hands is a well-established health-services centre dedicated to youth empowerment, located in the Montrйal suburb of Notre-Dame-de-Grвce (NDG). They devised the Sense Project in response to a recent education reform which struck formal sex-ed from the Quйbec curriculum.

Also, [url=http://news14.com/content/headlines/589254/peer-sex-ed-program-helps-inf... sex-ed program helps inform kids[/url]

Sat, 2007-11-17 02:28

Michelle

This looks fantastic.

You know, the thing about some parents being uncomfortable about teaching kids about condoms and distributing them really gets me.

I learned how to use a condom in either grade 7 or 8. (Can't remember which). Health educators visited our school and showed us how to put on a condom by putting one on a banana. It was humourous, but it got the point across, and they showed us how to do it right, making sure there was no air in the tip by pinching it, explaining why, etc.

And you know, that stayed with me until I was 18 - the first time I needed to USE one. And when I did, I did it right. And used them every time. It was just part of sexual intercourse for me. And that's how it SHOULD work.

Sun, 2007-11-18 07:02

Tommy_Paine

I think the sex ed I was exposed to, and how the public system still teaches it, is good on the technical side, such as the importance and how to use a condom properly.

However, it touches little on the important emotional aspects. It's like high school sex ed is sex ed for established adults in a stable relationship, and not for furtive groping that turns into spontaneous intercourse that neither party gave much previous thought to.

There was a documentary on T.V. a few weeks ago, dealing with the various first time sexual experiences of women, and the reasons why they had sex at that time.

Along with technical information, these are the kinds of things that should be discussed.

Wed, 2007-11-21 11:31

I was heavily involved in this program at U of O –back during my studies. The biggest impact beyond the presentations in residences though, and the various (creative) outreach methods used, was that the peer educators end up carrying those lessons with them for a long time and continue to teach what they learned in to their friends.

I'm told that more and more post-secondary schools are catching on.

[url=http://www.uottawa.ca/health/promotion/programs.html]uOttawa: Peer Education Program[/url]