The Voices of American Sexuality Magazine blog posted yesterday about an exhibit about sexuality directed at the 9- to 14-year-old set at the French museum Cite des Sciences. You can experience some of the exhibit in an on-line, English-language form: Sex – Wot’s the big deal?
Now, looking over the exhibition site, it is highly evident that this kind and extent of content would never make it into the sex ed classrooms of most 9- to 13-year-olds in America.
I have to admit, I feel pretty ambivalent about some of the exhibition. Check out the “keep an eye out” section and you’ll see what I mean…the video had good verbal content, but I found the animation truly gratuitous in some places. I also found the computer animation of the in-utero experience occasionally creepy (it’s filed under “making babies.”)
But I really liked other parts of it – including the frank and funny discussion of birth control – condoms, the pill, and the morning after pill. I also really liked their presentation on “the panorama of love.” It’s funny, it’s engaging, it’s informative.
All in all, I think it’s a pretty good site for 13-year-olds. And maybe for the occasional 9-year-old. Take a look, and let us know what you think in the comments section.
This is a great site! Thanks for sharing. I’m not sure what your ambivalence was about the incest video. I thought it was handled well. The brief dramatization of inappropriate touching, and the little girl yelling “STOP” made it really clear what was going on. It was direct, to the point, unambiguous and brief.
On the “pill” slides, I was amazed to find out that, “In France the morning after pill is given out free to under age girls by pharmacies, family planning centers and school nurses.” Can you imagine what that would do to teen pregnancies in this country? Wow! Talk about progressive. Hence, your headline. Yeah France.
There is such a general perception that we do things well in the U.S., but in sexuality education and health care in general, we really suck.