- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
This letter abruptly jerked me back to Sex Ed that I took in public school in grade 7.
Our math teacher, the diminutive Ms. Gibling also doubled up to teach us about sex. It was a perfect fit. She had 5 kids (in hindsight I think that she was Mormon) was firm yet soft-spoken and was usually munching on something healthy between sentences.
We also had the "too embarrassed to ask this in front of everyone else box". Many boys stuffed it with goofy questions that were meant to be humorous alongside the serious ones but Ms. G managed to keep a straight face and teach us something from each of them.
I guess that is my point. At that age most of us were squirming in our chairs during that class. We knew that we needed to know this stuff (funny urges and new hairy bits were becoming the norm) but at the same time I remember having a very real understanding that the ignorant bliss of childhood was passing and that the next big step was close at hand. It was a daunting prospect.
To this day Ms. Gibling is one of the few teachers that I remember from my foggy school years. Primarily because of the graceful candor that she employed when dealing with such a life-changing subject.
I think that the LW has good instincts to question the other teaching methods with the group. Impressionable and vulnerable young minds and bodies truly require it.
