Schools Are Teaching It Anyway

I just had an interesting exchange with my fourteen-year-old son. We were talking about condoms versus birth-control pills, and stuff like that. And I asked him if they'd ever taught him at school how to use a condom.

Oh, yeah, Mrs. Somebody-or-other showed us how to put one on a banana in health class.

When?

A couple of years ago.

In middle school?

Yeah.

This is interesting for a couple of reasons. First of all, of course, this is supposed to be in a video in the new curriculum, but I find out the teachers are teaching it anyway, showing the kids themselves, with no supporting materials. They're wingin' it. So, as much as I think this is a good thing that the teachers are willing to go outside the system to get the facts to the kids, you really do wish the system would support them.

The second thing is that this wasn't worth mentioning when it happened. He's fourteen now, let's say he was twelve when this was taught. Did he run home traumatized, crying Mommy, mommy, you won't believe what they showed us at school tday? Um, no, he didn't.

It really is no big deal.