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Author Topic: Sense Project puts brave new spin on sex-ed
jrose
babble intern
Babbler # 13401

posted 14 November 2007 05:39 AM      Profile for jrose     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think my sex-ed experiences may have been far more positive if some of it was taught by peers. More on rabble's front page.

quote:
As of the end of October, a unique educational experiment is now playing out in several Montréal high schools. Local NGO Head & Hands has spent the past two years developing and perfecting a sex education program to be taught in part by students themselves. Their daring new initiative is called the Sense Project.

"That's 'sense' as in sensuality," explains the group's health Animator, Adriana. "Also, it's important to be sexually informed and able to make sensible decisions. Plus, we believe our approach to sex-ed makes sense. So there's a triple meaning.”

Head & Hands is a well-established health-services centre dedicated to youth empowerment, located in the Montréal suburb of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG). They devised the Sense Project in response to a recent education reform which struck formal sex-ed from the Québec curriculum.


Also, Peer sex-ed program helps inform kids


From: Ottawa | Registered: Oct 2006  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 17 November 2007 02:28 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This looks fantastic.

You know, the thing about some parents being uncomfortable about teaching kids about condoms and distributing them really gets me.

I learned how to use a condom in either grade 7 or 8. (Can't remember which). Health educators visited our school and showed us how to put on a condom by putting one on a banana. It was humourous, but it got the point across, and they showed us how to do it right, making sure there was no air in the tip by pinching it, explaining why, etc.

And you know, that stayed with me until I was 18 - the first time I needed to USE one. And when I did, I did it right. And used them every time. It was just part of sexual intercourse for me. And that's how it SHOULD work.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Tommy_Paine
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 214

posted 18 November 2007 07:02 AM      Profile for Tommy_Paine     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think the sex ed I was exposed to, and how the public system still teaches it, is good on the technical side, such as the importance and how to use a condom properly.

However, it touches little on the important emotional aspects. It's like high school sex ed is sex ed for established adults in a stable relationship, and not for furtive groping that turns into spontaneous intercourse that neither party gave much previous thought to.

There was a documentary on T.V. a few weeks ago, dealing with the various first time sexual experiences of women, and the reasons why they had sex at that time.

Along with technical information, these are the kinds of things that should be discussed.


From: The Alley, Behind Montgomery's Tavern | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Guêpe
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4757

posted 21 November 2007 11:31 AM      Profile for Guêpe   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I was heavily involved in this program at U of O –back during my studies. The biggest impact beyond the presentations in residences though, and the various (creative) outreach methods used, was that the peer educators end up carrying those lessons with them for a long time and continue to teach what they learned in to their friends.

I'm told that more and more post-secondary schools are catching on.

uOttawa: Peer Education Program


From: Ottawa | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged

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