Two hilarious things to talk about, after another fun day in school :)
Caution, the following post contains graphic language and content. If, like some of my kids, your parents don't want you to learn about this stuff, you need a note in your diary.
Lesson 1 today, PSHE with my tutor group. The hot topic of the day, oh yes, "keeping safe - contraception". Cue the entrance of a shiny sleek rubber willy, a HUGE tub of lube, and four condoms, all in a cardboard box. The kids were pretty hyped up, it was great! Personally, am disappointed with the willy, I think it was only 6 inches or so. Just read that again, obviously I don't mean personally disappointed, stop your dirty mind.
We spend the first 20 minutes getting over the giggles and trying to match up pictures of contraception with their names. I struggle to differentiate between a "cervical cap" and a diaphragm. One of the girls is rather more clued-up than I thought, and helps out here. The kids cringe at my description of an IUD as similar to a "fishing hook". The picture of a condom is weirdly rectangular. We debate the distinction between the contraceptive pill and the morning after pill. D chips in with "Viagra Miss, that's the pill isn't it?" I laugh, despite trying to take the topic seriously. Here begins a lengthy discussion on erectile dysfunction, during which many of the kids laugh at the idea of old people having sex. Bless their young socks.
Later in the lesson one of the girls points out that all the contraception seems to be geared towards women. This leads to a big boy-bashing session, with a number of girls claiming that boys are just after one thing and that the girls are the ones left to deal with the consequences. The boys respond with the idea that girls try and tie them down too early, and that why shouldn't they jump at the chance of sex if they get offered it? It's funny and serious at the same time. It's strange because on the one hand there are kids who are all "Miss, why do we have to learn this, we're not gonna have sex any time soon" and on the other hand there are the kids who say things like "it's ok to give head, you can't catch anything and it makes you a good girlfriend". Not just strange, a bit worrying too.
The last part of the lesson made me laugh again. I was showing them this PowerPoint on contraception that I hadn't looked through yet. Slides 3 and 4 were about myths to do with contraception and sex, including such gems as "you can't get pregnant if you have sex on a boat" and "you can't get pregnant if you're underage". Thankfully the kids laughed at the ridiculousness of all these myths, saying that people must be stupid if they believed those things. However there were some raised eyebrows when I said that you COULD get pregnant even if you were on your period, and also even if he pulls out early.
It was actually a really good lesson, clearly if the kids care about the topic they will learn more, and learn better. Part 2 of this topic after half-term.
The other funny thing was this BBC3 programme called Leave Us Kids Alone. Basically over the summer twelve 17/18 year-olds were given control of a school and a class of 30 Year 8s to teach. The idea was that all these teenagers would have an opportunity to implement all their visions of a perfect school. In truth, many of them realised how hard it was to teach and run a school. I couldn't help but smirk when the rather weak "headteacher", Sam, struggled to get the kids to listen to him in assembly. Similarly when the jokey banter of "drama teacher", Liam, got him into all kinds of trouble with behaviour. It's so true, you need to play act all day at being a big serious adult, else the kids won't take you seriously. That's not to say that you can't be fun, but they need to see the serious side first. Anyway, the school failed its inspection, the headteacher quit, and a new head was appointed. Am interested to see what happens next in the school, and also the story of the dyslexic acting head chef, who felt that school let her down, and now wants to prove her worth in the classroom.
One day to go. Whoop!
Caution, the following post contains graphic language and content. If, like some of my kids, your parents don't want you to learn about this stuff, you need a note in your diary.
Lesson 1 today, PSHE with my tutor group. The hot topic of the day, oh yes, "keeping safe - contraception". Cue the entrance of a shiny sleek rubber willy, a HUGE tub of lube, and four condoms, all in a cardboard box. The kids were pretty hyped up, it was great! Personally, am disappointed with the willy, I think it was only 6 inches or so. Just read that again, obviously I don't mean personally disappointed, stop your dirty mind.
We spend the first 20 minutes getting over the giggles and trying to match up pictures of contraception with their names. I struggle to differentiate between a "cervical cap" and a diaphragm. One of the girls is rather more clued-up than I thought, and helps out here. The kids cringe at my description of an IUD as similar to a "fishing hook". The picture of a condom is weirdly rectangular. We debate the distinction between the contraceptive pill and the morning after pill. D chips in with "Viagra Miss, that's the pill isn't it?" I laugh, despite trying to take the topic seriously. Here begins a lengthy discussion on erectile dysfunction, during which many of the kids laugh at the idea of old people having sex. Bless their young socks.
Later in the lesson one of the girls points out that all the contraception seems to be geared towards women. This leads to a big boy-bashing session, with a number of girls claiming that boys are just after one thing and that the girls are the ones left to deal with the consequences. The boys respond with the idea that girls try and tie them down too early, and that why shouldn't they jump at the chance of sex if they get offered it? It's funny and serious at the same time. It's strange because on the one hand there are kids who are all "Miss, why do we have to learn this, we're not gonna have sex any time soon" and on the other hand there are the kids who say things like "it's ok to give head, you can't catch anything and it makes you a good girlfriend". Not just strange, a bit worrying too.
The last part of the lesson made me laugh again. I was showing them this PowerPoint on contraception that I hadn't looked through yet. Slides 3 and 4 were about myths to do with contraception and sex, including such gems as "you can't get pregnant if you have sex on a boat" and "you can't get pregnant if you're underage". Thankfully the kids laughed at the ridiculousness of all these myths, saying that people must be stupid if they believed those things. However there were some raised eyebrows when I said that you COULD get pregnant even if you were on your period, and also even if he pulls out early.
It was actually a really good lesson, clearly if the kids care about the topic they will learn more, and learn better. Part 2 of this topic after half-term.
The other funny thing was this BBC3 programme called Leave Us Kids Alone. Basically over the summer twelve 17/18 year-olds were given control of a school and a class of 30 Year 8s to teach. The idea was that all these teenagers would have an opportunity to implement all their visions of a perfect school. In truth, many of them realised how hard it was to teach and run a school. I couldn't help but smirk when the rather weak "headteacher", Sam, struggled to get the kids to listen to him in assembly. Similarly when the jokey banter of "drama teacher", Liam, got him into all kinds of trouble with behaviour. It's so true, you need to play act all day at being a big serious adult, else the kids won't take you seriously. That's not to say that you can't be fun, but they need to see the serious side first. Anyway, the school failed its inspection, the headteacher quit, and a new head was appointed. Am interested to see what happens next in the school, and also the story of the dyslexic acting head chef, who felt that school let her down, and now wants to prove her worth in the classroom.
One day to go. Whoop!
