Many Middle School students - okay, let’s face it, many Americans - have a hard time holding a serious conversation about sex using correct terminology. Even among adult, many conversations about sex include a lot of insinuations, a lot of suggestive and knowing glances and meaningless phrases like “Well, he … you know … and [...]
Archives for adolescent development
Say “No.” But nicely.
On of the activities I do with my middle school students is have them role-play saying “No” to sexual advances and requests for a date. I do this not because I think they are in the thick of needing to say no to would-be-suitors and would-be-sexual partners, but because they will eventually be in the [...]
Today’s ruminations on age
“How old ARE you??”
“You have KIDS??”
“Wow, I never would have guessed.”
At this International Women’s conference, they have decided to group youth (high school) and young adults (19 through 35 years old) together into a social group they call YAYAs (Youth And Young Adults). This means that I am technically a young adult, and that my [...]
“I had an abortion.”
One of the recent belly pictures I put up was of a woman had an abortion. Her picture included a bit of personal jewelry that she asked me to take out for privacy reasons - she was concerned her young teenage son might see the picture and wasn’t sure she was ready for him to [...]
On Balance
I took last week off, not just from blogging but also from e-mail, grading, presentation planning, and everything else save my personal life. It was lovely.
I spent time with my husband, our two daughters, and our extended families and friends. We sang Christmas carols, went to a Trail of Lights, cooked and ate fabulous food, [...]
My newest trick (no, it’s not what you’re thinking…dirty minds, all of you!)
Oh my goodness, it has been far too long since I’ve written here. But I had a really good reason, I promise! On Saturday, I co-ran a huge holiday fair at my daughter’s school. As some of you may remember but probably not all of you know, it’s a private school for grades K - [...]
Staying interested
The other day the illustrious Paul Sunstone left the following comment on this post:
One of the challenges that I’ve found when talking with teens is boredom on my part. At first, that might sound counter-intuitive, Karen. After all, our sexuality is so important to us that it might be hard to imagine someone could become [...]
Questions
Here are some questions I’ve recently been asked:
What exactly happens to your body during an orgasm?
When a woman gets pregnant, is the orgasm that happens during sex what stops the woman from having her period when she’s pregnant?
Why is it that when boys do gay things like gymnastics or ice-skating people call them gay?
If a [...]
Short advice for parents: How to make decisions
My friend and colleague Laura Olson came and spoke to my Child Development class on Monday. Within her two hour (very informative and fun) lecture, was this gem:
Birth to seven years old: Parents make the decisions.
Seven to fourteen years old: Parents listen to the child, then make the decision.
Fourteen years old through high school: Parents [...]
Why sex education? Why now?
What do your kids know about sex?
It’s often hard to say, particularly around those middle school years and the first years of high school. Much before that, and as a parent you can assume that they’ve learned everything they know either from you, their school, or some other place that you’re aware of. Towards the [...]
