Most teachers don’t get proper training to deliver sex education
In Canada, and likely elsewhere, most teachers delivering sex education in schools have little-to-no training. While this does happen in other areas, (e.g. when a teacher friend of mine was assigned to teach French 8 after not taking a French class since high school), it is particularly problematic for sex education. Poorly done sex education can harm people for decades to come. Or in my case, they can result in a drive to make it better!
In BC, where I grew up, elementary school goes from K-7 and high school is 8-12. In grades 6, and 7, I have hazy memories about sex ed, but nothing particularly horrible. The one thing that stands out for me was that one day the girls were all taken to a separate class with a female teacher who talked to us about periods. We got a little package that had information and a maxi pad. The boys were very curious about what had happened when we left the room and wondered why all the girls were coming back with pastel packages. I remember feeling like it had to be a secret, not something to be shared with boys. This should not happen. Everyone should learn about the menstrual cycle because likely someone in their life will have one! Separating boys during these talks sets up menstruation as this terrible secret that must not be discussed. Teach everyone about periods!
The worst sex ed experience for me was Grade 9 Physical Education (P.E.) class. At this point, I was well into listening to Sex, Lies, and Audiotape on the radio and felt like I knew everything about sex already. My teacher certainly was not on the same page. My memory of my Grade 9 P.E. teacher is that she was a very young, tiny, blonde woman from the prairies, who seemed very innocent to my very-wise 14-year-old self. We did the usual Canadian sex ed thing of watching the Degrassi Jr. High episode where Spike gets pregnant and talked about using condoms. My teacher was definitely uncomfortable during these conversations. It was palpable. But the worst came when she allowed us to use an anonymous question box to write down questions for her to answer.
It has been 26 years since I was in that classroom, but I still vividly remember her horror and bungled responses at some of the questions. Here are a few examples:
Student Q: Can you have sex during your period?
Teacher A: (turning red, fumbling for an answer): Um, uh, I don’t know. I mean, I never have, but I am sure you can.
Student Q: How do you have anal sex?
Teacher A: (slightly angry): This is not an appropriate question!
Her lack of knowledge, training, and comfort with the subject matter conveyed clearly that talking about sex and sexual health was something to be ashamed about. When I worked for the Sex Sense phone line, we were trained to treat all questions as valid and real, even when the person on the phone was giggling and indicating it was a prank call. Letting people know that all sex questions are ok and providing them with clear answers is one way to help people be more comfortable about sex.
There is no education on how to teach sex education in most education degrees. Teachers who want this information have to seek it out on their own. My sister is a high school teacher who opted in to teach sex ed because she thinks its important, but she didn’t receive any training before starting to teach the curriculim. A couple of years into her teaching sex ed, she was able to attend a 1-day training session with experienced sex education trainers. To this date, that is all the training she has had.
While my sister volunteered to teach courses that included sex education, many teachers are not given a choice, as it is just part of the curriculum in science, P.E., or life and career development classes. I believe this was the case with my Grade 9 P.E. teacher. I still wonder if she was traumatized by having to teach sex ed and also wonder how it affected the other students in that class.
Sex education curriculum has improved since 1994, but the training of teachers is still very limited. Some districts or schools bring in outside experts to teach sex ed, which I think is the best option. Of course, it is expensive to hire outside educators, so many schools just go with the teachers who are already there. In a world where we don’t have real conversation about sex, it is so important for young people to have access to shame-free, reliable sources of sex education. Teachers providing sex education should be that for students. Parents can also do this for kids.
Parents and teachers can also advocate for better sex ed training for their students and children. If we want to build a safe world, we need to be able to have open and comfortable conversations about sex, sexual health, and sexual diversity. Studies show that most teens are not satisfied with their sexual health education, and it can be particularly harmful for girls and for LGBTQ youth. We need to do better.