What is your most memorable experience of sex education?
The Netflix TV series has boosted the profile of sex education in recent times but prior to this was sex education all weird cartoons and metaphors? Does anyone really understand what the birds and the bee’s is about?
We often do not realise the impact a good sex education has on our lives. The spectrum of experience became apparent to me whilst on my sexual health rotation in medical school.
“Do you guys remember the annual class chlamydia and gonorrhoea screening in PSHE from about year 9 onwards?”
Silence met my question.
“No...” Replied one brave soul eventually
“Really? No-one...? That’s not a national screening programme?”
I looked round at the blank faces including the confused looking consultant.
“Cool,” I replied moving on quickly, as memories of glow in the dark sperm keyrings hanging off backpacks entered my mind.
During my time studying at Newcastle University, I discovered the charity Sexpression:UK, which the university had a branch of as a society. The charity was aimed at facilitating all-inclusive sex education to school children. The idea was a pretty good one. Generally, the pupils felt more comfortable being taught by university students than their teachers who had originally signed up to teach maths and were now awkwardly trying to fit a condom on a banana wondering how their job description had progressed to this. Furthermore, there was the opportunity to ask trained volunteers anonymous questions without feeling embarrassed. These would be answered to the class with correct reliable information as opposed to whatever the internet decided to come up with.
I am not sure what spurred my interest in learning to facilitate sex education. It was possibly the rather high teenage pregnancy rates in my hometown or the fact that one of my closest friends insisted a tampon was a valid form of contraception... It probably related to the rather high pregnancy rates thinking about it. A tampon is not a valid form of contraception just in case you were wondering so cross that one off the list.
Anyway, once I started teaching, I realised it was kind of my calling in life, balancing education with humour. There was this awesome feeling of being able to answer the questions I always had growing up but been too embarrassed to ask and now I was out of my horribly awkward adolescent phase I had absolutely no issues openly discussing things anymore. Like some sort of unique superpower. It is a niche one but not everyone can fly, I guess.
When starting at Birmingham University I discovered the Sexpression branch here had been closed and I was keen to revive it. I somehow talked a few of my friends into forming a committee and helping with the paperwork. By the end of the first year, we had a fully-fledged society facilitating LGBT+ inclusive sex education to hundreds of students. I was slightly apprehensive as Birmingham had only just gotten out of the media regarding LGBT teaching, however it was something I felt strongly passionate about. We found as a society that the service was quite in demand. We were a group of mainly medical students, but other degrees were welcome to join as volunteers as well. The Sexpression volunteers were keen to provide a solid foundation of knowledge to empower young people to make their own choices later in life and the feedback we were receiving from the students and the schoolteachers was overwhelmingly positive.
It was interesting to hear about what pupils wished to learn about. Sex education has moved on so much from my virtually non-existent classes to the rise of social media and new law’s regarding revenge porn; I found myself reading up on such a variety of topics the students wished to learn about. We developed lesson plans based on the society’s guidance. One key topic being consent, opening the discussion surrounding various situations where it was used and normalised asking for consent (FRIES is a great acronym for consent - look it up). We asked the students what they wanted to learn about and the most popular answer by far was what to do if you were sexually assaulted. This was something that as far as I am aware none of my friends had ever covered in school and does this say something about society today? Is consent a taboo subject? Is sex still a taboo subject?
As COVID struck I became busier with the medical side of things. Trying to do your finals and qualify as a doctor whilst there is a global pandemic going on is far from ideal timing. I realised it was time to hand this wonderful project over to someone who would give it the attention it deserved. That person is Amy who is the current Birmingham Sexpression President and, alongside her fabulous committee, is continuing to put on events and keep the society up and running. Go check out their social media to find out how to get involved and see how they are navigating the COVID waters.
OK that is all from me. Stay healthy and safe and remember sex education does not stop at school, it’s a lifelong process. It is ok not to know everything and if you are not comfortable with something trust your gut. Instinct is an incredibly powerful thing.
If you would like to find out more about Birmingham Sexpression please follow the link below!