Episode 9: So You Want to Teach Sex Ed (SYW)

“How can I bring my school’s sex ed program into the 21st century?” Justine led a workshop in November 2021 with the Massachusetts Healthy Youth Consortium (MAHYC), an advocacy organization, discussing how to bring comprehensive sexuality education to the elementary level in the modern era. SYW stands for Show Your Work. This is the second episode in the Show Your Work series, where Justine talks to experts (in this case, she’s the expert).

Anyone who is interested in bringing sex ed into the modern era, whether a parent, school nurse, teacher, school administrator or sex ed expert, can gain something from this workshop. In it, Justine tells the story of how the Community of Practice she organized then piloted changes to the sex ed curriculum at their elementary school in Arlington, Massachusetts, and how the school district has continued the discussion and curriculum updates since then.

Show Notes:

Sexuality Information & Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) shares guidelines for creating comprehensive sexuality education at every grade level; check out this publication and others on their website, siecus.org
What do we mean by comprehensive? From the guidelines above: “SIECUS believes that comprehensive school-based sexuality education should be part of the education program at every grade. Such programs should be appropriate to the age, developmental level, and cultural background of students and respect the diversity of values and beliefs represented in the community. Comprehensive school-based sexuality education complements and augments the sexuality education children receive from their families, religious and community groups, and health care professionals.”
CDC’s Division of Adolescent & School Health (DASH) offers a resource called “What Works in Schools: Sexual Health Education“
A Community of Practice (CoP) is defined as “a group of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis.” (CDC, 2015)
CDC’s resource on creating SMART objectives
List of sexuality education curricula, many of which are free
3Rs (Rights, Respect, Responsibility) & Amaze.org videos
Find sexuality education trainings in your area
Roadmap to building a sexuality education program at the elementary level:
1. Start a conversation
2. Convene a community of practice
3. Identify goals
4. Determine objectives & topics
5. Select curricula
6. Offer training
7. Strengthen partnerships
Something you can do now to help improve program: consider mixing genders for all lessons
- GLSEN offers gender-inclusive lesson ideas
“Waiting until eighth grade algebra to first introduce the subject of math would be absurd. The same is true for sex education. Basic foundational concepts such as personal boundaries, different family structures, healthy friendships, treating others with respect, and social-emotional skills need to be introduced early in elementary school. These become the building blocks for more sophisticated discussions in later grades.” –Eva Goldfarb, PhD
Consent for kids video, by Blue Seat Studios
Thank you to Beth Williams-Breault and MAHYC for hosting my workshop. You can find more of Beth’s work and how to connect with her by visiting her website
If you would like to share parts of your work that you think we should be talking about more, reach out! You can email us at podcast@somenerve.blog or DM on Instagram (@somenervepod) or Twitter (@somenervepod).

Some Nerve is a weekly podcast for people who have the nerve to show up, talk about hard things that matter, and share our secrets. On Some Nerve, we discuss all the stuff your grandmother wouldn’t have wanted you to talk about at her bridge party. Topics will include whatever makes us feel human, like mental health, grief, trust, boundaries, and joy. We hope that understanding each other better will help us build deeper connections in our lives.

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