CREDENTIALS

We live in an age of free expression where it is important to ask: by which credentials does this author or that celebrity write?

Good question, but it has always been important to ask: From where does your expertise arise?

Ever since the dawn of the internet I taught my students to be skeptical of what populated their screens. Don't believe it just because it's there. Always ask questions.... and don't just believe me because I'm a teacher.  Always ask questions and see what happens. Vet* your sources.

So too this site: SEX EDUCATION. Is it credible? Is it written by a 5 year old? No criticism of 5 years olds but you wouldn't go to a child this young for investment advice or for expertise in sex education.  How do you know the expertise of what's written online?  You've got to vet* your sources. You've got to vet* your sources. You've got to vet* your sources. You've got to vet* your sources. You've got to vet* your sources.

So here are my credentials:

I've taught sex education since the 1970's. It began when a group of senior high school students petitioned our K-12 school for a sex ed course.  I'd been teaching Biology, Anatomy and Physiology among other classes but students wanted to know more than what they learned in an Anatomy/Physiology survey course where the reproductive system was only one of 10 anatomical systems college textbooks covered in a 101 level survey course. Now that they've taken a year of Anatomy and Physiology, they hungered for a year of Sex Education.

At California State University Los Angeles, I'd just complete one of the first college level sex ed courses and was in possession of a very thick file of materials (sex ed books were not yet on the market). Perfect timing.

*Words related to vet   accomplished, capable, competent, mature, professional, qualified, seasoned, skillful, sophisticated, trained, veteran, wise, effective, efficient, certified, disciplined, equipped, experienced, knowledgeable

 

 

Within a week following the first day of our new Sex Ed class for 9-12th grade students, I found a 5th grader at my classroom door an hour before school.  He had heard his older friends talking and wanted to attend my class.  I told John he had a great idea and all we needed was permission from his parents.

Same time, same place the next day, John sat by my classroom door holding a message from his parents. He was the first kid in the door that afternoon.

A few weeks after John's first day in Sex Ed. I noticed a very interesting pattern. The seat next to John was frequently empty as kids piled into class. But, right at the bell, someone would slip into the empty seat.

Once class was under way, I noticed an older student lean close and whisper into John's ear. Then that seat next to John would be vacated. As soon as it was empty, John's eagerly waving hand would shoot up. He could hardly wait to ask.

 

This became a hallmark of that classroom experience. It reminded me of Art Linkletter's TV Show and book by the same name:  Kids Say The Darnedest Things.

 

Come back soon for kids questions from my Sex Education courses.

Here's a link to Art Linkletter's shenanigans with kids.

 

By the way, it not just kids say the darnedest things,  100 year olds do too.